George Mason University Students Serve as Assessors During Technology Readiness Experimentation (T-REX)
NEWS RELEASE: September 27, 2024
While companies readied their technology over the summer for the rigors of Technology Readiness Experimentation (T-REX) 24-2, several college students participating in a new internship program trained to help serve as technology assessors.
The program, Experimentation & Prototyping Institution Consortium (EPIC), is sponsored by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD (R&E)) and is growing to include universities from around the country. The students traveled to Camp Atterbury, Indiana, to participate in T-REX 24-2, Aug. 19 to 28.
“We would like for the program to foster collaboration between OUSD(R&E) and academia so we can expose the next generation of science, technology, engineering and math expertise to government service,” said Rob Brake, a senior technology readiness program adviser who leads the program for OUSD(R&E) Mission Capabilities. “We want to excite them about careers in defense by giving them hands-on exposure to technology.”
Representatives from George Mason University first pitched the idea to Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Heidi Shyu in March to expose students to national security careers.
The program took off quickly after that.
Demissew Yaregal, a senior IT cloud computing major at George Mason University, found out about the program through the university’s College of Engineering.
“It developed rapidly after that,” Yaregal said. “I loved the idea of getting involved with the government.”
After 14 students were identified, they underwent classroom and lab instruction. They integrated into OUSD’s Prototypes and Experimentation Assessment Academy to learn more about what assessors look for. They conducted site surveys, tabletop exercises and underwent situational training exercises, in addition to participating in T-REX planning conferences.
“We started getting into the assessor mindset,” said Wesley Pan, a biotechnology post-graduate and the team’s lead student. When they went to the planning sessions, the students had the opportunity to be “flies on the wall” to learn what they could from the military “green suitors.”
“We began to understand the different domains and looked for the technologies we wanted to be assigned to,” Pan said. Each student was assigned to a technology with a lead assessor who mentored the students.
Sami Rao, a George Mason University sophomore and cyber major, said he had a little bit of “imposter syndrome” when he first started the program being the youngest in the group and in a military environment.
“I was definitely intimidated by it all,” Rao said. Rao has always wanted to go into public service and T-REX solidified his desire to work in the Department of Defense rather than in another federal agency.
“The reason I prefer government work over a commercial industry is I’m working on problems that matter,” Rao said. And the problems are unique and unseen involving “cool” technology.
Pan will return to T-REX. He is taking a position as its lead at George Mason University and plans to promote the program with other universities. He will also work on refining and organizing the program’s curriculum.
Brake said next steps for the program include formalizing a national engineering assessment certificate for students, led by George Mason University in addition to formalizing the consortium with at least 12 schools by late 2024.
For Rao, T-REX is definitely something he would love to do again to be surrounded by new technology, like the autonomous aerostat. “We drove 20 miles out and called back to the forward operating base – and they could see us [from the aerostat]. To me that’s mind-boggling.”
One of the students has accepted a position with an industry partner to support assessments going forward. The four participating seniors have submitted resumes for positions within OUSD(R&E). Others are working through the security clearance process.
Read about how the Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve Exercise Assesses Dozens of Multi-Domain Capabilities at Camp Atterbury.
PDASD(MC) Marcia Holmes presented certificates to interns during T-REX 24-2. The interns underwent classroom and laboratory training ahead of traveling to Camp Atterbury, Indiana, to serve under mentors as technology assessors. The participating interns were both post-graduate and current students from George Mason University, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Maryland.
*Click information or full screen for image captions.
Office of the Under Secretary of Defense,
Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E))
3030 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-3030
Contact Us
Contact Us
Information for the USD(R&E):
Contact OUSD(R&E) Staff
For website issues: Contact Webmaster