Computer Science Study Panel members posed with SEC Director Mr. Ned Keeler (second from right) on May 2, 2012. The Panel met with C4ISR partners, including SEC, to discuss technology innovations, as well as challenges, and to seek mutual areas of interest for collaborative research. (Photo Credit US Army CECOM)

On Wednesday, May 2, the CECOM Software Engineering Center hosted the Institute for Defense Analysis’ Computer Science Study Panel (CSSP) during its annual visit to Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. The Software Engineering Center along with several other Team C4ISR partners including the Army Research Lab (ARL), Communications-Electronics Research, Development, and Engineering Center (CERDEC), Program Executive Office Communications, Command, and Control Tactical (PEO C3T), Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC), and the Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM), engaged in discussion and shared demonstrations on technology lifecycles. The purpose of the visit was to present the panel with technology innovations, as well as challenges, and to seek mutual areas of interest for collaborative research.

This year’s panel was composed of 12 professors of computer science and engineering from universities throughout the United States including Princeton, Northwestern, and University of Maryland at College Park. The professors were accompanied by their mentors, both current and retired members of the DoD, as well as the Director of the CSSP Lt. Gen. (R) Peter Kind. The C4ISR partners presented and discussed topics such as technology insertion within the DoD, security and dependability of software, and the future of cloud computing as it pertains to the Warfighter. The presentations aim was to foster not only immediate discussion between the leadership within Team C4ISR and professors, but also to encourage an ongoing dialogue ultimately leading to long-term research and innovation in common areas of interest.

CSSP mentor and Former Acting United States Secretary of the Navy and Retired Air Force General Hansford T. Johnson said the visit “provided the young university computer science professors tremendous insights into your activities, challenges, and how they might help the Department of Defense.” In regards to their visit to APG, as well as to several other military installations throughout the country, Johnson went on to say “we all benefit from the visits, most importantly, our troops and our country [benefit].” Dr. Lynn Hansen, SEC’s Operations Directorate, Initiatives Support Division Chief, who coordinated the event on behalf of SEC and our Team C4ISR partners, said “all of our participants did a great job discussing their challenges” and believes that SEC’s ongoing partnership with the CSSP is “a tremendous opportunity for all involved, and particularly for the Warfighter that may one day benefit from technologies we discussed here today.”