Armed with Science | Tag Archive

Air Force Welcomes First Female Chief Scientist

Filed under Education & Culture by jtozer on June 18, 2013 at 7:11 am {no comments}

The Air Force has appointed the service’s first female chief scientist to lead the way in the technology and science fields.

The Air Force appointed Dr. Mica Endsley as its first woman chief scientist to lead the way in the technology and science fields.(Photo provided by the U.S. Air Force)

Dr. Mica Endsley assumed her new duties and responsibilities as the Air Force’s 34th chief scientist June 3 in support of Air Force senior leaders and airmen across the service.

“Having served on the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board for many years, I’ve had the pleasure of working closely with the current and several former Air Force chief scientists,” Endsley said.

“I know this is a tremendous opportunity to help the Air Force excel in its goal of maintaining the critical technological edge that gives our airmen a strategic advantage.”

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III emphasized the important role Endsley will play in continuing the Air Force’s legacy of innovation.

“I’m pleased to have Dr. Endsley as a part of the Air Force team,” Welsh said. “She follows in the footsteps of many superb minds that have advanced our technological edge and provided much-needed capabilities to our airmen. Although she arrives at a very challenging time, I’m confident she’ll continue a proud legacy of chief scientists who use innovation and strong leadership to keep our Air Force the world’s finest.”

Successfully maintaining that technological edge Welsh mentioned is a key job, Endsley said, and she plans to use every available resource to effectively and cost efficiently get the job done in support of airmen.

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The Science Fair

Filed under STEM, Videos by jtozer on June 7, 2013 at 7:38 am {no comments}

This isn’t your average science fair. This is a science fair, U.S. Navy STEM-style.

Video provided by the U.S. Navy YouTube channel

With STEM-related fields (science, technology, engineering and math) projected to add more than one million jobs by 2020, it is more important than ever to make sure our children are properly prepared for the future job market. Watch and share our PSA to help inspire our kids to stay interested in STEM.

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Disclaimer: The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the Department of Defense of this website or the information, products or services contained therein. For other than authorized activities such as military exchanges and Morale, Welfare and Recreation sites, the Department of Defense does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this DoD website.

Coast Guard Robotics Competition

Filed under Robots, STEM, Videos by jtozer on May 21, 2013 at 7:27 am {no comments}

A U.S. Coast Guard base hosts a robots competition that is part of a DoD outreach program to get kids interested in science, technology, engineering and math. And what better way to encourage and foster an interest in STEM than with robots I ask you?

How about robots under WATER:

Video provided by U.S. Coast Guard

Robots underwater: bleep-bloop at its STEM best. Want to check out more STEM stories? Click here!

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Fostering STEM Interest With Robots

Filed under Robots, STEM, Videos by jtozer on May 19, 2013 at 7:49 am {no comments}

Everything is more interesting with robots, don’t you think?

The U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command’s Edgewood Chemical Biological Center hosted a Mathematics with Robotics seminar! The seminar presented by the National Center for the Advancement of STEM Education taught Cecil Country Maryland teachers how they can use robotics to make teaching math fun.

Video provided by RDECOM YouTube Channel

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The Unmanned Way Of Warfare

Filed under Featured, Robots, Technology by jtozer on May 17, 2013 at 7:48 am {no comments}

I think we need to come to terms with the fact that the age of AI is upon us.

From the indifferent-yet-dulcet tones of Siri, to the soda machine robot that lets you pick grape-cream-diet-vanilla-pepper, these so-called intelligent machines are taking a larger part in the way we live our lives.

The same can be said for modern warfare.

Imagine the noise – or lack thereof – that these things would make. (Graphic illustration from www.airpower.au.af.mil)

I’m talking about remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The use of these cool flying robots is nothing new per se, but the advancement of an unmanned fleet is becoming more and more of a reality.

So will we see legions of flying robots patrolling the skies?

So glad you asked…

Air Force Lt. Col. Peter Garretson is the Division Chief for Air Force Irregular Warfare Strategy, Plans and Policy (and previously the Chief of Future Science and Technology Exploration for Air Force Strategic Planning). Recently he published a paper titled A Range-Balanced Force, An Alternate Force Structure Adapted to New Defense Priorities. The topic on hand was, you guessed it, RPAs and UAVs.

More specifically, the important and growing role that they are playing in modern warfare.

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Investing In Science To Focus On Innovation

Filed under Cyber Security by jtozer on May 12, 2013 at 7:14 am {no comments}

The acting assistant secretary of defense for research and engineering said that to meet the Defense Department’s 21st century security objectives, its science and technology funding will focus on innovation and industry.

In remarks at the National Defense Industrial Association’s 14th annual science and engineering technology conference, Alan Shaffer said mitigation, affordability and surprise technology lay the foundation for the DOD’s science and technology commitments.

Shaffer noted a rise in the commons known as technology enablers that include space, cyberspace and the oceans. “These are the places that no one owns and yet enable all our operational systems,” he said.

In electronic warfare, Shaffer explained, the United States has enjoyed pre-eminent electronic detection systems with its allies, but now must maintain balance in the electromagnetic spectrum for its systems to operate.

“Increasingly, a space communications layer is vulnerable to being jammed,” he said. “Space is contested. Space is no longer assured — nobody owns cyber, but it certainly will [affect] how we’re thinking about the world.”

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Saturday Space Sight: Solar Electric Propulsion System

Filed under Photos, Space by jtozer on May 4, 2013 at 7:38 am {no comments}

Using advanced Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) technologies is an essential part of future missions into deep space with larger payloads.

The use of robotics and advanced SEP technologies like this concept of an SEP-based spacecraft during NASA mission to find, rendezvous, capture and relocate an asteroid to a stable point in the lunar vicinity offers more mission flexibility than would be possible if a crewed mission went all the way to the asteroid.

NASA’s asteroid initiative, announced as part of the President’s FY2014 budget request, integrates the best of NASA’s science, technology, and human exploration capabilities and draws on the innovation of America’s brightest scientists and engineers.

It uses current and developing capabilities to find both large asteroids that pose a hazard to Earth and small asteroids that could be candidates for the initiative, accelerates our technology development activities in high-powered SEP and takes advantage of our hard work on the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft, helping to keep NASA on target to reach the President’s goal of sending humans to Mars in the 2030s.

Image Credit: Analytical Mechanics Associates

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Discovering DARPA

Filed under Featured, Technology by jtozer on May 2, 2013 at 7:19 am {no comments}

(Graphic photo provided by DARPA)

If you’re familiar with the advancements in science and technology in any way, chances are you’ve heard a thing or two about the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. You might know them better by their buzzworthy acronym DARPA.

Ah, DARPA.

Mother of the cheetah robot. Creator of magnificent stealth machines. Problem solving with science so spectacular it brings science fiction to life in front of our very eyes. Yes, this agency is one that makes my life – all our lives, really – more exciting. As a science journalist, the word DARPA is to me what the word Enterprise is to a Star Trek convention: immediately interesting and intrinsically on topic.

But for as much as I love the robotastic DARPA, there are a lot of people who don’t really know what the agency is, or what they do.

That, my friends, is about to change.

Surprising satellite was surprising. Also, frankly, pretty neat looking, too.

Let’s start with a little bit of history. In 1957, the Soviet Union surprised the world with their launch of Sputnik 1, the world’s first artificial Earth satellite. Shortly after that (in 1958), President Eisenhower founded the Advanced Research Projects Agency – what we now know as DARPA. It’s mission? To be at the forefront of scientific and technological development. Basically, he wanted to make sure that there would be no more, ahem, surprises.

Basically, this institution was designed to put the government in a position where they would be seeking and exploring science and technology, rather than learning about it second hand.

And now, 55 years later, they’re still doing just that.

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