Patuxent Partnership Annual Meeting, Oct. 28 – Southern Maryland Supports our Veterans
The Patuxent Partnership (TPP) will host its Annual Meeting Oct. 28 with the theme “Southern Maryland Supports our Veterans.” Presenters will include Operation: Tohidu, Greenwell Foundation, and a wounded warrior perspective on transitioning from active duty to civilian life.
The Annual Meeting will take place at the Southern Maryland Higher Education Center, California, Maryland, from 8:00 to 9:30 a.m. and is open to the public. Check-in begins at 7:30 a.m.
Operation: Tohidu is a rehabilitation program designed for a growing population of warfighters living with post-traumatic stress, mild-to-moderate traumatic brain injury and other deployment-related issues. A holistic retreat, Operation: Tohidu is, allows veterans to share a common experience and heal in a safe environment.
The Greenwell Foundation provides inclusion where everyone participates and belongs in activities that occur in the beauty of nature. To expand upon the mission to provide inclusion to veterans, the Greenwell Foundation is developing the Camp Host Homes, An Outdoor Health Initiative with the support of the community.
TPP Executive Director, Bonnie Green and Board of Directors President, Gene Townsend, will provide a review of TPP’s 2015 initiatives, outreach and programs. Attendees will be the first to receive TPP’s 2015 annual report.
The Patuxent Partnership, St. Mary’s County Chamber of Commerce and Southern Maryland Navy Alliance host upcoming program “Preparing for BRAC”
The mention of BRAC, or Base Realignment and Closure, can stir uneasiness in any military community, and Southern Maryland is no different.
In an effort to get out in front of a potential BRAC, the Patuxent Partnership, the Southern Maryland Navy Alliance and the St. Mary’s County Chamber of Commerce are hosting “Preparing for BRAC,” Nov. 10 at 8:00 a.m. at the Southern Maryland Higher Education Center.
George Schlossberg, a partner at Kutak Rock, LLP’s Washington, D.C. office, and author of “How Congress Cleared the Bases: A Legislative History of BRAC,” will deliver an hour-long presentation, covering criteria used to determine which bases will be on a BRAC list and what citizens can do ahead of time to avert a potential BRAC in their community.
BRAC is a process through which the Federal Government reorganizes its base structure to more efficiently support its force structure, increase operational readiness and facilitate new ways of doing business.
More than 350 installations have been closed in five BRAC rounds: 1988, 1991, 1993, 1995, and 2005.
The 2005 Commission recommended that Congress authorize another BRAC round in 2015, and then every 8 years thereafter. In 2012, the House Armed Services Committee rejected Pentagon calls for base closures outside of 2015 round by a 44 to 18 vote, and in 2014, it was attempted to fund another round of BRAC, although funding was not approved in a vote in May of that year.
Earlier this year, the Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations and Environment addressed the possibility of a future BRAC, indicating that the DOD, Defense secretary Ashton Carter was requesting authority to conduct another BRAC.
Schlossberg serves as Chair of Kutak Rock LLP’s Federal Practice and National Security Law Group and represents a number of state and local governments, federal departments and agencies and private entities in connection with the reuse of military installations, government and commercial property transactions, government contracts and financing government and commercial facilities.
Prior to joining Kutak Rock LLP, Schlossberg served for 10 years in various positions in the Pentagon, including Senior Counsel in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. While with the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Schlossberg was instrumental in the drafting and policy implementation of the original 1988 Base Closure Act, the Defense Authorization Amendments and the Base Closure and Realignment Act.
There is no cost to attend this program. Advance registration is requested. To register, please visit www.paxtpartnership.org.
TPP Receives $850,000 ONR Grant to Support STEM
Education has evolved greatly from the 1800s, where the core curriculum was “the Three R’s”- reading, writing, and arithmetic. While still crucial, educators are expanding well beyond the basics as employers are taking a keen interest in curriculum development to build their future workforce.
In alignment with The Patuxent Partnership (TPP) mission to collaborate with government, industry and academia on initiatives in science and technology and support workforce development, TPP has been awarded a grant in excess of $850,000 from the Office of Naval Research (ONR).
The grant will be used to develop a “STEM for all” pipeline, engaging students in middle and high school by teaming with the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD), St. Mary’s County Public Schools (SMCPS), St. Mary’s College of Maryland (SMCM) and the University of Maryland (UMD) to successfully deliver the three-year grant. STEM for all programs include curriculum development and educational support in: unmanned air vehicles (UAV); cyber security; augmented reality (ART); and classical sciences.
UAV
The UAV component of the project builds relationships between NAWCAD and local schools to establish relationships between students and NAWCAD mentors. UMD is developing a UAV course as part of the Mechanical Engineering curriculum which will be taught at the Southern Maryland Higher Education Center, aimed at acquiring the skills associated with the design, analysis and testing of small, low speed UAV aeromechanics.
Working with quadcopters, high school students will build a UAV from a kit comprised of a quadcopter frame, an autopilot system, mission planner software and various sensor technologies. A course that teaches basic engineering and science concepts with an aeronautical theme will result in the students design and creation of a UAV built to perform a search and rescue mission.
Leslie Taylor, executive director of NAWCAD, is enthusiastic about STEM for all.
“An essential component of growing our NAWCAD workforce is to offer these programs to students in the local community and creating relationships between the students and NAWCAD mentors,” Taylor said.
Cyber Security
The demand for qualified cyber security employees remains a top priority for the Department of the Navy (DoN) according to Vice Adm. Jan Tighe, Commander, Tenth Fleet. Tighe spoke to more than 70 local high school students earlier this year emphasizing the importance of mathematics, cyber studies and engineering to meet the needs of the DoN and the nation.
The TPP grant allows for course development in cyber security as well as summer camps and field trips for middle and high school students. The intent is to spark interest at an early age and feed the pipeline of future cyber experts.
“The interest in cyber security is vast,” Scott Smith, SMCPS superintendent, said. “Students exposed to this field earlier in their academic endeavors are more apt to pursue it beyond high school.”
ART
ART is a laptop-based demonstration that uses camera vision technology to overlay digital representations of physical objects on a video feed, creating the illusion that digital objects are actually present in the 3D space.
The TPP grant provides funding for a video demonstrating how ART is used and discussing technologies the DoN is currently developing around ART, including an overview of the career opportunities available that utilize this technology.
NAWCAD and other partners will incorporate the ART devices into their STEM activities, organize demonstrations for students and utilize ART to recruit student interns.
Classical Sciences
Since 2003, NAWCAD and the physics department at SMCM have collaborated under the direction of Dr. Frank Narducci, a physicist at Patuxent River Naval Air Station.
Under the ONR grant, TPP will expand this model for collaboration, adding two additional academic departments, chemistry and mathematics. The primary objective is to build a self-sustaining program to develop future workforce.
“Students will be identified early in their studies for internships, with the intent to rehire them each year as interns until graduation, at which time they could be hired as civilian service employees,” Narducci said. Students and recent graduates would have familiarity with Navy practices and programs and six months or more of training and experience.
Introducing Barbara Ives, ONR Grant Manager
Barbara Ives has joined the TPP staff as the grant manager and will oversee the project development by communicating with stakeholders and other interested parties.
A U.S. Navy veteran, Ives brings more than nine years of academic experience, previously serving as the academic dean for St. Mary’s Ryken High School. In her tenure at Ryken, she adapted the curriculum to focus on STEM for all and incorporated several STEM intense academic tracks for Ryken students.
Ives also has extensive experience in grant implementation, having acquired and executed over $25,000 in grant funding for STEM related programs and activities at Ryken.
Win $1,000 in the biennial Technology Handbook cover contest
With $1,000 and bragging rights at stake, the St. Mary’s County Department of Economic Development is giving artists a chance to design the cover of one of the most referenced books in the county in this year’s Technology Handbook cover contest.
“Designing the cover of the Technology Handbook provides great exposure within the technology industry which advances the mission of the Naval Air Warfare Center,” said Chris Kaselemis, director of the St. Mary’s County Department of Economic Development. “This opportunity is a highly sought after chance to have your artwork land on the desk of every technology company in the area.”
The contest, open to everyone who lives or works in St. Mary’s County, ends at 4 p.m. Friday, November 6 and will be judged by the Patuxent Partnership Board of Directors based on relevance to the industry, suitability for use, mass appeal, visual appeal and overall creativity.
“Every two years we look forward to seeing the creativity, style and interpretation that artists bring to the field of technology in St. Mary’s County,” said Gene Townsend, president of The Patuxent Partnership (TPP), a nonprofit, member organization that works with government, academia and private industry to advance STEM-based initiatives. TPP is the sponsor of the $1,000 cash prize for the cover contest. “For us, the hard part begins when we have to select a winner from all the excellent entries showcasing our community’s technical capabilities.”
First printed in 1995, the Technology Handbook published biennially by the St. Mary’s County Department of Economic Development, profiles more than 200 technology businesses in the county. The highly sought business-to-business reference tool is available both in print and in a digital PDF format as well as a searchable database at http://www.stmarysmd.com/ded/handbook/index.asp.
Participants can submit multiple entries, but each entry requires a separate entry form, available at http://www.stmarysmd.com/docs/TechnologyHandbookCoverContestEntryForm_1.pdf. All entries must be original works and/or royalty free. Entries become the property of the county and could be used in future marketing.
For complete rules and guidelines go to http://www.stmarysmd.com/docs/CoverContestRules2016-2017.pdf or contact Carly Brockinton at 301-475-4200, ext. 1401 or via email to carly.brockinton@stmarysmd.com.