news – DoD Research & Engineering, OUSD(R&E)

2nd Annual Defense Technology Review Conference

July 8-9, 2024
University of Maryland

Come hear from DoD leaders – including Mr. Maynard Holliday, PTDO Assistant Secretary of Defense for Critical Technologies, Dr. Radha Plumb, Chief Digital and AI Officer, and Dr. Kimberly Sablon, Principal Director for Trusted AI & Autonomy, alongside industry leaders from Google, IBM, Microsoft and more, as they share their vision for the future of federated AI.

DoD's Manufacturing Innovation Institutes: Changing Lives and Enabling Warfighting Capabilities

Dr. Steven G. Wax, Performing the Duties of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Science and Technology, meets with the leadership at Advanced Functional Fabrics of America during a recent Manufacturing Innovation Institutes engagement in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to learn more about the MII's partnership with academia, government and industry.

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TIDE Event

The Department of Defense and other U.S. interagency representatives met with 117 technology developers in an invitations-only Technology Discovery Event Aug. 30 in Chantilly, Virginia.

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DTRAM, Version 6.4

The Defense Technical Risk Assessment Methodology, Version 6.4, updates Version 6.3 by strengthening Corrosion Prevention and Control.

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Crowd facing conference stage and speaker at podium

FY 2023 Research Awards to Minority-Serving Institutions

DoD announced awards totaling $61.7 million to 82 university researchers under the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 DoD Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions (HBCU/MSI) Research and Education Program.

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DOD Official Describes How Capabilities Are Generated for Warfighters

Taking joint warfighting concepts and translating them into the capabilities that are needed for the future in a highly contested fight is a key focus, said Heidi Shyu, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, who spoke today on a panel at the Sea-Air-Space summit at National Harbor, Maryland.

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DoD Manufacturing Strategy

The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, informed by the 2022 National Defense Strategy and Executive Order 14081 (Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy) spearheaded development of the DoD Biomanufacturing Strategy.

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Fiscal Year 2023 Research Funding Awards

The DoD announced $220 million in awards for basic research projects as part of the Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) Program.

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Value Engineering Workshop

Aug. 19-23, Louisville, Ky

OUSD(R&E) seeks DoD Component participants to provide implementation considerations and develop a comprehensive strategy for rollout of updated DoD Instruction DoDI 4245.14 and SD-24 on Value Engineering. To register, contact course POC listed on informational flyer.

See Information Flyer for Registration Information

Updates from Across the R&E Enterprise

DOD Announces First Award for the Distributed Bioindustrial Manufacturing Program
July 10, 2024

Today the Department of Defense (DoD) announced the first award for the Distributed Bioindustrial Manufacturing Program (DBIMP) to expand the domestic supply of ingredients and materials for US-national supply chains and bolster the bioindustrial manufacturing base, as outlined in President Biden’s Executive Order 14081, "Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy."

OUSD R&E Seeks Industry Collaboration to Close Critical Capability Gaps
June 24, 2024
The Department of Defense released its Blanket Other Transaction Announcement (BOTA) announcing the opportunity for businesses to partner with DoD for research and development in the physical, engineering, and life sciences June 12.

DoD Releases Online Cyber Resilient Weapon Systems Body of Knowledge Version 4.1 for Engineering Workforce
May 29, 2024
The Department of Defense released Version 4.1 of the Cyber Resilient Weapon Systems (CRWS) Body of Knowledge (BoK) on May 29. This free online resource assists public- and private-sector workforces in designing, engineering, and safeguarding CRWS.

Hicks Establishes SBIR/STTR Due Diligence Policy and Implementation Guidance
May 24, 2024
Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks signed a memorandum to establish policy and provide implementation guidance for the Defense Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Due Diligence Program May 13

FutureG Office to Invest $1.8 million
May 24, 2024
The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering’s FutureG office will invest approximately $1.8 million in the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) to bolster research and development of open source 5G/FutureG software for expeditionary operations.

Annual Hypersonics Consortium Offers University Partnerships and Student Networking Opportunities
April 19, 2024
The University Consortium for Applied Hypersonics (UCAH) held its annual spring technical exchange on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, March 11-14.

Face of Defense: After 50 Years of Service, A DoD Engineer Bids Goodbye
April 9 2024
In a heartfelt farewell to 50 years of unwavering service, Dr. Steven G. Wax, the acting lead for science and technology within the Office of the Under Secretary of Research and Engineering, has bid goodbye to his tenure, leaving behind an indelible mark on the Defense Department’s R&D enterprise.

DOD’s Hypersonic Career Opportunities, Partnerships with Academia, Continue to Grow
January 26, 2023

The Department of Defense's strong partnerships with the academic community expand opportunities to co-research and- develop efforts within the defense innovation ecosystem, including for hypersonics, one of the 14 critical technology areas for the DoD.

DoD Releases Online Cyber Resilient Weapon Systems Body of Knowledge Version 4.0 for Engineering Workforce
January 24, 2023

The Department of Defense released Version 4.0 of the Online Cyber Resilient Weapon Systems Body of Knowledge January 24, 2024. This free resource assists the public and private sector workforce in designing, engineering, and safeguarding CRWS.

Version 4.0 adds new features, design and usability upgrades, and security improvements to encourage and enhance user engagement. The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense’s System Security Directorate launched this vital resource in May 2021 for the system security engineering and science and technology communities. Since then, SysSec has released several version updates to improve the CRWS-BoK user experience.

Released: DoD Instruction 5000.97, “Digital Engineering”
January 2024
SE&A Policy and Workforce completed and USD(R&E) approved DoD Instruction 5000.97, “Digital Engineering,” available from the Washington Headquarters Services website. Digital engineering supports the systems engineering process by moving the primary means of communicating systems information from documents to digital models and their underlying data. Digital engineering is a critical practice in an environment of dynamic threats, system complexity, and rapidly evolving technologies. The DoD instruction establishes policy, assigns responsibilities, and provides procedures for implementing digital engineering in the development and sustainment of defense systems. Specifically, the issuance directs program managers to implement digital engineering practices to maximize the benefit and to support a comprehensive systems engineering program. SE&A info sheet summarizing DoDI 5000.97