2021 Defense Manufacturing Technology Achievement Awards

The Department of Defense Manufacturing Technology Program (DoD ManTech) and the Joint Defense Manufacturing Technology Panel (JDMTP) recognized the hard work and outstanding performance of nominees and winners of the Defense Manufacturing Technology Achievement Awards (DMTAA) at the 2021 Defense Manufacturing Conference in Denver, Colorado from December 13-16. The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) ManTech Program in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering oversees the DoD ManTech Program and the JDMTP.

Manufacturing directly supports the Department’s priorities, from producing new technologies to enabling cost-effective system sustainment. These awards spotlight success by defense employees, industrial base partners, and researchers in executing and delivering manufacturing technology solutions for DoD.

For 65 years, the goal of the DoD ManTech Program has been to look beyond the normal risk tolerance of industry and to help provide the crucial link between technology invention and industrial applications. The JDMTP coordinates strategy, planning, and requirements across all the ManTech programs in the DoD Services and Agencies. The JDMTP is also responsible for establishing a process to effectively transition technology by identifying and prioritizing requirements for advanced manufacturing technologies and processes; conducting joint program planning; and developing joint strategies for the ManTech programs of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), Missile Defense Agency (MDA), and the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). For more on the JDMTP, visit the new DoD ManTech website at DoDManTech.mil.

These annual DMTAA awards are given to teams comprising government, industry, and academia employees responsible for outstanding projects in manufacturing technology. These projects demonstrate technical accomplishments and provide a responsive world class manufacturing capability that affordably meets the warfighter’s needs throughout the defense acquisition lifecycle. The DMTAAs were established in 1999. Nominations are typically made by JDMTP subpanels every year, although they can be made by any member of the JDMTP community.

The 2020 and 2021 awardees successfully demonstrated the importance of manufacturing to our national and economic security. The winners were selected based on three criteria: demonstrating critical, unique, and outstanding results that directly impact DoD’s mission; having a high probability of research-to-product implementation; and demonstrating significant benefits to DoD, such as reduced cost or improved products for performance. In 2020, due to the pandemic, the awards were presented virtually to the winning teams.

This year, the Selection Committee reviewed and scored 13 nominations from the ManTech community in five categories: Technology Enabler, Cost/Rate/Safety Improvement, Enhancing Military Capability, Readiness Improvement, and Supply Chain Improvement.

The full list of awards and recipients:

2020

• Technology Enabler: Development of Large Diameter Silicon Carbide Substrates (Air Force Research Laboratory, lead)
• Cost Reduction and Rate or Safety Improvement: Agile Manufacturing Cell with High Energy Buried Arc Welding for Vehicle Structures (Army Research Laboratory, lead)
• Enhancing Military Capability: Novel Ultra-Strong Low-Cost Film Manufacturing Technology for Superior Warfighter Protection (Program Executive Office Soldier, lead)
• Readiness Improvement: Hatchable Cold Spray Technology for Naval Shipyards and Marine Corps Depots (U.S. Navy, lead)
• Supply Chain Improvement: Integrated Casting Ordering Network (ICON) Portal Enhancement and Supply Chain Development (Defense Logistics Agency, lead)

2021

• Technology Enabler: Production Bill of Material Quality Assurance Using Artificial Intelligence (Office of Naval Research, lead)
• Cost Reduction and Rate or Safety Improvement: VIRGINIA Class Submarine (VCS) Alternative Coating and Surface Preparation Solutions for Air-System Ball Valves (ONR, Penn State Applied Research Laboratory, lead)
• Enhancing Military Capability: Polymer Gradient Index Lenses for Military Optics (OSD, U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Armaments Center, lead)
• Readiness Improvement: Advanced Radome Diagnostic System (ARDS) (Air Force Research Laboratory, lead)
• Supply Chain Improvement: MDA ManTech Curbs COVID Impact on Advanced Laser Diode Manufacturing (MDA ManTech, lead)