ERDC Named Army's Best Laboratory

5 Oct 2005 -- Vicksburg, MS -- The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) has been selected as the 2005 Army Research Laboratory of the Year, the highest Army research and development award given. ERDC was commended for outstanding accomplishments in technology and management.

The Honorable Claude M. Bolton, Jr., assistant secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, presented the award to Dr. James R. Houston, ERDC director, on Oct. 2 at the Army Acquisition Corps' Annual Awards Ceremony in Arlington, Va.

Technical Accomplishments

ERDC was cited for several technical accomplishments, including Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) Cleanup Technology. ERDC successfully developed, tested and demonstrated non-intrusive dual-sensor UXO detection and discrimination systems. Researchers made a major advance in UXO detection by fusing two detection approaches -- magnetometer and electromagnetic induction (EMI) systems -- into a single system that can be used simultaneously to sweep a UXO field and measure co-registered data despite the traditional problem of EMI measurements interfering with magnetometers. This technology was transitioned with three systems built and tested in fiscal year 2004 -- a towed array, a man-portable wheeled system, and a hand-held system. The new dual-sensor systems are a significant advance in sensor technology and will result in substantial cost reductions in UXO cleanup at current and former military installations around the country.

C-RAM Technology:

Experimental evaluation of overhead protective structure and fielded example in Iraq

Successful rocket pre-detonation sequence from validation experiment, Ft. Bliss, Texas	Protected troops in Iraq, 48 days after full scale validation experiment, only 12 weeks after the initial tasking

Other technical accomplishments cited were Joint Rapid Airfield Construction and Micro-Encapsulated Phase Change Material Technology for Pumped Thermal Transfer.

Buckeye Technology:

This aerial image, taken with the Buckeye, shows IEDs found in Iraq

The ERDC was also commended for its support to the Global War on Terrorism through its work on the BuckEye Improvised Explosive Device Change Detection System; the Urban Tactical Planner; the Counter Rocket, Artillery, and Mortar program; the Joint Antiterrorism Planners Guide; protection of civil works infrastructure from terrorist attack; support to the Department of Homeland Security and the Immune Building Program; and development of antiterrorism blast technologies.

Management Accomplishments

In 2004, ERDC led the effort to develop world connectivity for the Corps as a seamless organization, fielded technology for secure portable offices, and established enterprise control over all information resources.

The ERDC established a virtual private network for the entire Corps of Engineers, including the Corps' Gulf Region Division in Iraq, and installed a Corps-wide active directory with an online address book for 37,000 Corps employees. The ERDC is also leading the Corps-wide implementation of a project management system designed to drive the Corps' real-time financial system.

Methods are also being implemented to reduce the number of supervisors and organization layers across the ERDC, encourage continuing education, and ensure the balance of skills necessary to execute the organization's mission. These efforts enable ERDC to maintain a competitive advantage in resources and capabilities.

The ERDC is the premier research and development facility for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It consists of seven laboratories at four geographical sites, with over 2,000 employees, $1.2 billion in facilities, and an annual research program approaching $700 million. It conducts research in both military and civil works mission areas for the Department of Defense and the nation.