2008 ONR Partnership Conference Day 3 Video Transcript - 5 Minutes
Speaker Key:
Millick: Dr. Sujata Millick, Deputy Director, ONR Research
Swiergosz: LCDR Matthew Swiergosz, Warfighter Performance Department (Code 34)
Boyd: Mallory Boyd, CTO NAVAIR Weapons Division
Laswell: Col Jim Lasswell (Ret), USMC, MCCDC / MCWL
Flagg: Dr. Melissa Flagg, Director, ONR Strategy and Policy
Reddick: Calvin Reddick, Office of Transition (Code 03T)
Morrison: Peter A. Morrison, Deputy Department Head, Naval Air Warfare and Weapons (Code 35)
Col Kelley: Colonel Frank Kelley, USMC, PM Training Systems
Junker: Dr. Bobby Junker, Department Head, Command, Control, Communications & Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance (C4ISR) Department
Narrator: As the fifth annual Office of Naval Research Science and Technology Partnership Conference drew to a close, presenters and attendees alike looked back on an exciting week.
Millick: This conference has been another opportunity for us to build a gateway to ONR. We’ve had an excellent opportunity to engage with prospective researchers, particularly ones that aren’t as familiar with ONR and what we do in the Department of the Navy, but also small businesses and our industry components – I think everything that will allow us to benefit for the future.
Narrator: Over 1,400 people came to the three-day event to exchange ideas and create partnerships for the future. For the first time in the partnership conference history, the number of participants more than doubled.
Swiergosz: We have all kinds of partnerships between industry and education and our undersea medicine program, particularly, and the noise-induced hearing loss. So I mean they play an important role. I mean that’s the future of all S&T
Boyd: The partnership opportunities here are all based on relationships that you establish with the different ONR representatives, but there’s an important piece as well with industry that we’re seeking partnerships. It’s a good way to leverage each other and do more for the warfighter.
Narrator: The focus for the final day of the conference was the future role of science and technology to support the warfighter. An expert panel of military and civilians discussed emerging threats and challenges, and ways to out-think and out-adapt the enemy.
Lasswell: If you want to talk about silver bullets for this, one of them that keeps coming back is we would love to have language translation devises that will allow us to go voice to voice instantaneous translation because we’re going eyeball to eyeball with the local inhabitants when we’re in this kind of a role.
Narrator: Participants included professionals from the Department of Defense, private industry, small business and academia. Attendees visited over 40 exhibits, getting up close and personal with the combat technology vehicle, a non-lethal Taser weapon demonstrated by the Coast Guard and the NightHawk, an unmanned engagement vessel, part of the NEO exhibit -- all the while, networking with like-minded experts in the field of science and technology.
Flagg: I think one of the primary advantages that this conference has brought to the table is that when you really do have 1,300 people sitting around in a space together caring about the same thing, you really do get innovation.
Reddick: It’s been a very good exchange today. A lot of people are interested in our programs. It’s a good thing that ONR did and I think it’s going to be very productive in the future. I think everything went good.
Narrator: Among other benefits of the conference, ONR offered visitors the chance to pitch ideas to an ONR principal.
Morrison: Pitch a Principal’s main focus is your chance to one-on-one have a discussion with us, the research program officers responsible for doing naval science and technology. It gives you a chance to do it in a manner where you’re one-on-one. It’s a personal inter-relationship between you and the program officer – someone like myself or my fellow program officers.
Narrator: ONR encouraged attendees to submit ideas for the CNR $1M Challenge competition. This year’s conference also displayed the latest and greatest in the ONR S&T Portfolio with direct access to program managers.
Col. Kelley: When you come out into the breakout sessions and you’re able to talk to ADM Landay for a few seconds, George Solhan for a whole lot longer than that, that’s gold. You can’t put a price on that.
Narrator: Another highlight of the ONR event was the presentation of the Vice Admiral G. Bowen Award conferred to four recipients for their collaborative work leading to the invention of the torpedo-mounted dispenser which incorporates a shock-mount bumper.
Narrator: And in the event finale, ONR presented Dr. Bobby Junker with the Fred E. Saalfeld Award for Lifetime Achievement in Science.
Junker: ONR has been a great place to work. All of these things that you talk about and hear about – you don’t accomplish any of these things alone. It’s really with other people. It’s that kind of thing that ONR let’s you do – really think out the box and go off to do exciting stuff. The underlying thing isn’t any individual. The key thing is we hire smart, motivated people.
Narrator: For more information about ONR’s S&T Strategic Plan, results of the CNR Challenge or future ONR events, please visit onr.navy.mil.