The Trustees Of The Stevens Institute Of Technology

CORE RESEARCH AT THE ACQUISITION INNOVATION RESEARCH CENTER

AS ESTABLISHED IN THE FY23 NDAA AND SUBSEQUENTLY FUNDED, €œTHE PURPOSE OF THE DEFENSE CIVILIAN TRAINING CORPS (DCTC) IS TO TARGET CRITICAL SKILLS GAPS NECESSARY TO ACHIEVE THE OBJECTIVES OF EACH NATIONAL DEFENSE STRATEGY REQUIRED BY SECTION 113(G) OF THIS TITLE AND EACH NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY REQUIRED BY SECTION 108 OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY ACT OF 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3043) BY PREPARING STUDENTS SELECTED FOR THE DEFENSE CIVILIAN TRAINING CORPS FOR DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE CAREERS RELATING TO ACQUISITION, DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES, CRITICAL TECHNOLOGIES, SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, FINANCE, AND OTHER CIVILIAN OCCUPATIONS DETERMINED BY THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE.€Ͽ½ PURDUE UNIVERSITY IS PLEASED TO BE ONE OF THE FOUR UNIVERSITIES REQUESTED TO JOIN ACQUISITION INNOVATION RESEARCH CENTER (AIRC) IN DEVELOPING AND PILOTING THE DCTC PROGRAM. OUR EFFORT FOCUSES ON IN-COLLEGE STUDENT PILOT PARTICIPANTS (10 TOTAL STUDENTS IN THIS PILOT EFFORT) AND OUR SCOPE INCLUDES STUDENT MANAGEMENT/SUPPORT, CURRICULA DEVELOPMENT AND DELIVERY, STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIPS, AND CONTRIBUTION TO THE STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT, DEFINITION, AND COMMUNICATION OF THE DCTC PROGRAM. WE ARE EAGER TO HELP LAUNCH A TRULY TRANSFORMATIVE DOD PROGRAM IN THIS CRITICAL NEED AREA. PURDUE BRINGS EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE AND DEMONSTRATED CAPABILITY TO THIS PILOT EFFORT. OUR PROPOSED EXECUTION APPROACH WILL LEVERAGE SUCCESSES OF SEVERAL TALENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS INCLUDING OUR SENIOR RESERVE OFFICERS€„¢ TRAINING CORPS (SROTC) AND OTHER PROGRAMS THAT ARE DESIGNED TO ATTRACT TOP TALENT AND PREPARE THEM FOR DOD PUBLIC SERVICE CAREERS. FOR EXAMPLE, PURDUE IS ALREADY EXECUTING THE PREMIER WORKFORCE TRAINING PROGRAM IN DEFENSE MICROELECTRONICS THROUGHS ITS OSD MANTECH / NSWC CRANEFUNDED EFFORT CALLED SCALABLE ASYMMETRIC LIFECYCLE ENGAGEMENT (SCALE; HTTPS://RESEARCH.PURDUE.EDU/SCALE/). PURDUE HAS ALSO PIONEERED A DEFENSE SYSTEM MASTER DEGREE PROGRAM DELIVERED TO NSWC CRANE PERSONNEL. IN ADDITION, THE PURDUE MILITARY RESEARCH INSTITUTE (PMRI) PROGRAM HAS FACILITATED THE ACHIEVEMENT OF ADVANCED DEGREES FOR MORE THAN 100 MILITARY OFFICERS VIA A SET OF PROGRAMS SUPPORTING AND A €œCOHESIVE CADRE€Ͽ½ WHERE PARTICIPANTS FEEL A SENSE OF SHARED MISSION - A SENSE OF BELONGING AND MUTUAL SUPPORT FOR THOSE OFFICERS IN THE PROGRAM - AND CAN DRAW ON A POOL OF RESOURCES FROM ACROSS CAMPUS TO SUPPORT SUCCESS.

THE RESEARCH PROJECT PROVIDES PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND SYSTEM ENGINEERING SUPPORT, OPERATIONAL ANALYSIS, ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS ENGINEERING AND LOGISTICS PLANNING, AND ESTABLISHES A SPECTRUM LABORATORY TO EVALUATE, VALIDATE, AND INTEGRATE EMERGING TRAINING TECHNOLOGIES IN SUPPORT OF SPECTRUM PROJECTS DOD-3450-5 AND -6. DOD-3450-5, SPECTRUM MANAGEMENT MODERNIZATION, WILL IMPROVE SPECTRUM MANAGEMENT, EFFICIENCY, AND SITUATIONAL AWARENESS FOR DOD TRAINING RANGES. DOD-3450-6, MULTIBAND CONSTRUCTIVE ELECTRONIC WARFARE (EW) SIMULATOR, WILL DEVELOP AND DEMONSTRATE A BLENDED LIVE, VIRTUAL, AND CONSTRUCTIVE (LVC) PROTOTYPE, CLOSED-LOOP SOLUTION THAT WILL REDUCE THE NEED FOR SPECTRUM-RELATED USE, THEREFORE ALLOWING THE JOINT FORCE TO CONDUCT NEAR-PEER EW TRAINING IN A RESTRICTED SPECTRUM ENVIRONMENT.

VIRGINIA TECH WILL UTILIZE ITS FULLY ESTABLISHED DCTC PROGRAM IN SUPPORT OF THE AIRC (ACQUISITION INNOVATION RESEARCH CENTER) TASK: WRT-2511: RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF THE DEFENSE CIVILIAN TRAINING CORPS (DCTC) PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT, PILOTING, AND INSTRUMENTATION. NOW IN ITS THIRD YEAR, VIRGINIA TECH HAS A FULLY ENGAGED STAFF, INCLUDING DIRECTOR, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, PROGRAM MANAGER, AND FACULTY TO RECRUIT AND EDUCATE, AND INSPIRE GROWING COHORTS OF DCTC SCHOLARS. A KEY COMPONENT OF THE STAFFING APPROACH IS THE PURPOSEFUL COLLABORATION BETWEEN VTNSI AND VTCC TO CAPITALIZE ON THE NATIONAL SECURITY EXPERTISE RESIDENT AT VIRGINIA TECH.

NORTH CAROLINA AGRICULTURAL AND TECHNICAL STATE UNIVERSITY (N.C. A&T) IS PREPARED TO CONTINUE ITS PARTNERSHIP WITH THE STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY TO DEVELOP THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (DOD) DEFENSE CIVILIAN TRAINING CORPS (DCTC) PROGRAM. THIS INITIATIVE ALIGNS WITH OUR COMMITMENT TO FOSTERING STUDENT SUCCESS AND PREPARING FUTURE LEADERS FOR HIGH-IMPACT CAREERS WITHIN OUR STATE, REGION, NATION, AND ACROSS THE GLOBE. AS THE NATION'S LARGEST HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY (HBCU), WE RECOGNIZE OUR ROLE AND THE SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION THIS INSTITUTION MAKES IN EDUCATING AFRICAN AMERICANS IN KEY PROFESSIONS. THEREFORE, WE UNDERSTAND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PARTNERSHIP AND THE IMPACT OF OUR RELATIONSHIP ON PREPARING HIGHLY SKILLED DOD CIVILIANS THROUGH COMPREHENSIVE TRAINING, LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT, AND HANDS-ON EXPERIENCES.

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA (UOFA) WILL CONTINUE THE DCTC PILOT PROGRAM IN SUPPORT OF THE AIRC (ACQUISITION INNOVATION RESEARCH CENTER) TASK: WRT-2511: RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF THE DEFENSE CIVILIAN TRAINING CORPS (DCTC) PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT, PILOTING, AND INSTRUMENTATION.

VIRGINIA TECH NATIONAL SECURITY INSTITUTE (VTNSI) AND VIRGINIA TECH CORPS OF CADETS (VTCC) WILL PARTNER TO PILOT THE DEFENSE CIVILIAN TRAINING CORPS (DCTC) PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT AT VT. VTNSI AND VTCC WILL PROVIDE LEADERSHIP, STRUCTURE, AND CONNECTIONS TO VT ROTC PROGRAMS. THE TEAM WILL WORK WITH ALL THE COLLEGES ACROSS CAMPUS TO RECRUIT AND DEVELOP A DIVERSE DCTC SCHOLAR COMMUNITY. THE TEAM WILL ALSO TAP INTO FACULTY EXPERTISE ACROSS CAMPUS TO DEVELOP DCTC CURRICULUM AND CREATE NOVEL EXPERIENCES FOR DCTC SCHOLARS.

WORKING THROUGH SERC, THE USC/ISI RESEARCH TEAM, UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF PI MICHAEL OROSZ WILL PROVIDE THE SSC SPONSOR WITH MISSION ENGINEERING RESEARCH EXPERTISE TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE IMPACTS ON PROCESSES, METHODS, AND METRICS OF AGILE/DEVSECOPS IN THE AREAS OF VELOCITY, SECURITY AND USE OF AI AND AUTONOMY IN MISSION CRITICAL CAPABILITIES AS THE SSC ENTERPRISE TRANSITIONS FROM TRADITIONAL DOD DEVELOPMENT TO AN AGILE/DEVSECOPS REGIME.

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA (UARIZONA) WILL ESTABLISH A DCTC PILOT PROGRAM IN SUPPORT OF THE AIRC (ACQUISITION INNOVATION RESEARCH CENTER) TASK: WRT-1080: RESEARCH IN SUPPORT OF THE DEFENSE CIVILIAN TRAINING CORPS (DCTC) PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT, PILOTING, AND INSTRUMENTATION.

PROJECT PROPOSAL OVERVIEW: SERC PROPOSES TO IDENTIFY, INVESTIGATE, ANALYZE, AND OPTIMIZE SOCIAL AND TECHNICAL FACTORS THAT ACT AS BARRIERS OR LEVERS TO EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT DIGITAL ENGINEERING TRANSFORMATION. OUR HYPOTHESIS IS THAT EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT TRANSFORMATION REQUIRES ALIGNMENT BETWEEN DATA, PEOPLE, PROCESSES, TOOLS, AND PRODUCTS. TO TEST THIS HYPOTHESIS THE SERC SHALL: (I) CREATE A TRANSFORMATION FRAMEWORK FOR COLLECTING, SHARING, AND MANAGING KNOWLEDGE, INFORMATION, AND DATA (II) COLLECT KNOWLEDGE, INFORMATION, AND DATA (E.G., LESSONS LEARNED) ON PAST, CURRENT, AND FUTURE TRANSFORMATION EFFORTS; (III) ANALYZE THE DATA FROM THE KNOWLEDGE COLLECTION; AND (IV) PRODUCE ACTIONABLE RECOMMENDATIONS AND ROADMAP FOR EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT IMPLEMENTATION OF DIGITAL ENGINEERING TRANSFORMATION.

IN SUPPORT OF THE DIRECTOR, OPERATIONAL TEST AND EVALUATION (DOT&E) AND THEIR ASSOCIATED STRATEGY AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN TO ENSURE OPERATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS, SUITABILITY, SURVIVABILITY, AND LETHALITY IN THE WARFIGHTING CAPABILITIES THAT ARE PROVIDED TO THE JOINT FORCE, THE ACQUISITION INNOVATION RESEARCH CENTER (AIRC) COLLABORATION OF UNIVERSITIES WILL PROVIDE RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY, PROCESS, AND POLICY ADVANCEMENT FOR TEST AND EVALUATION (T&E).