Research NewsletterIssue: ORN-2023-48

Defense Manufacturing Conference (DMC) 2023

Nashville, Tennessee, December 11-14, 2023

https://www.dmcmeeting.com/

DMC is the nation’s annual forum for enhancing and leveraging the efforts of engineers, managers, technology leaders, scientists, and policy makers across the defense manufacturing industrial base. Leaders and manufacturing subject matter experts from government, industry, and academia exchange information and perspectives on defense manufacturing policies, strategic direction, best practices, funding opportunities, and the latest manufacturing innovations that will benefit our warfighters.

Attendees range from CEO- and Flag Officer/SES-level to working-level manufacturing-oriented engineers, scientists, and business practice/policy makers and include technology implementers, system designers and representatives of the warfighters. Typical attendance is over 1,000 primarily government and industry participant with a smaller complement from academia.

The DMC Conference agenda, registration, and lodging information will be posted on this website. The expanded Exhibit Hall will include all the leading organizations from the DMC community.

NSF: Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI-2024/25); Incorporating Human Behavior in Epidemiological Models (IHBEM); International Research Experiences for Students (IRES); Designing Synthetic Cells Beyond the Bounds of Evolution (Designer Cells)

NIH: Modules for Enhancing Biomedical Research Workforce Training (R25); Miniaturization and Automation of Tissue Chip Systems (MATChS) (U43/U44); Graduate Research Training Initiative for Student Enhancement (G-RISE) (T32)

Department of Defense/US Army/DARPA/ONR: Young Faculty Award (YFA) 2024; The Department of Defense (DOD) Fiscal Year 2025 Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP)

Department of Commerce/EDA:  Climate Program Office (CPO) Adaptation Sciences Program FY2024

Department of Energy: NOI: Distribution Communication and Control Technologies Research, Development, and Demonstration; Buildings Energy Efficiency Frontiers and Innovation Technologies (BENEFIT)

NASA: MUREP Institutional Research Opportunity (MIRO); ROSES 2023: F.5 Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology

What is quantum advantage? Quantum advantage is the milestone the field of quantum computing is fervently working toward, where a quantum computer can solve problems that are beyond the reach of the most powerful non-quantum, or classical, computers. Quantum refers to the scale of atoms and molecules where the laws of physics as we experience them break down and a different, counterintuitive set of laws apply. Quantum computers take advantage of these strange behaviors to solve problems. There are some types of problems that are impractical for classical computers to solve, such as cracking state-of-the-art encryption algorithms. Research in recent decades has shown that quantum computers have the potential to solve some of these problems. If a quantum computer can be built that actually does solve one of these problems, it will have demonstrated quantum advantage.

            Central to quantum computing is the quantum bit, or qubit. Unlike classical bits, which can only be in states of 0 or 1, a qubit can be in any state that is some combination of 0 and 1. This state of neither just 1 or just 0 is known as a quantum superposition. With every additional qubit, the number of states that can be represented by the qubits doubles.

            Quantum computing has a range of potential uses where it can outperform classical computers. In cryptography, quantum computers pose both an opportunity and a challenge. Most famously, they have the potential to decipher current encryption algorithms, such as the widely used RSA scheme. More information is posted on the NextGov website.

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DOD strategy warns emerging tech is ‘at the forefront’ of information threats: The Pentagon publicly released its strategy for operating in the information environment — which covers both physical and digital sources of information — on Friday, outlining how the agency plans to modernize its collecting, processing and sharing of data to better counteract adversaries’ weaponization of the internet and emerging technologies. DOD “must embrace a cultural shift wherein information is a foundational element of all military strategies and [operations, activities and investments], and where the consistent integration of informational and physical power becomes the norm,” the document states. “This change ensures DOD’s capability to positively affect the drivers of human and automated system behaviors, shaping operational environments and reinforcing the strength and credibility of the United States." More information is posted on the NextGov website.

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Inside DARPA’s search for an 'autonomous scientist' to support its researchers: The powerhouse innovation agency within the Department of Defense is asking for help in developing artificial intelligence software to support scientists and their research efforts by creating an “autonomous scientist.” The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency issued an opportunity earlier this month intended to solicit AI research concepts from industry that can do for science what the technology is already beginning to demonstrate in computing.  Dubbed an “autonomous scientist,” DARPA officials said that this tool is not looking to supplant internal researchers, but help them efficiently develop new working theories trained on diverse sets of data.  “What we're trying to do is replicate the success that we've seen for automatic code generation,” Alvaro Velasquez, DARPA’s program manager for Foundation Models for Scientific Discovery, told Nextgov/FCW.  “Right now, software engineers and coders enjoy these tools from OpenAI and Microsoft that help automate the generation of code. We would like to come up with a tool that helps automate the process of scientific discovery.” More information is posted on the NextGov website.