By: Abdul Nuhu, Chief Engineer, Engineering, Science & Technology, 做厙勛圖

Introduction
In today’s rapidly evolving technological landscape, the Department of Defense (DoD) faces numerous challenges in transforming and modernizing its operations to maintain its military superiority. Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) has emerged as a powerful methodology that can significantly accelerate this transformation. By leveraging the benefits of MBSE, the DoD can enhance decision-making, streamline development processes, and optimize resource allocation, ultimately driving efficiency and innovation across its complex systems. This article explores how MBSE can expedite the transformation and modernization efforts in the DoD.

Enhanced Decision-Making
MBSE provides a holistic and integrated framework for capturing, analyzing, and visualizing system requirements, architecture, behavior, and performance. This enables decision-makers to have a comprehensive understanding of the system and its dependencies, facilitating better-informed decisions at every stage of the system���s lifecycle.

One key advantage of MBSE is its ability to facilitate quicker Analysis-of-Alternatives (AoA) and trade-off analysis. Decision-makers can use MBSE models to assess different design alternatives, evaluate their impact on system performance, cost, and schedule, and make decisions based on objective and quantifiable metrics. This approach allows the DoD to optimize system designs, balance competing requirements, and allocate resources effectively.

Furthermore, MBSE enables effective collaboration and communication among multidisciplinary teams. By utilizing a common modeling language and a shared repository of system models, stakeholders from different domains can collaborate seamlessly. This collaboration improves the exchange of information, promotes shared understanding, and reduces the risk of miscommunication. Decision-makers can leverage the collective expertise of the team, leading to better decisions that reflect a broader range of perspectives.

MBSE also supports decision-making in the context of system sustainment and evolution. By maintaining an up-to-date model of the system, decision-makers can assess the impact of proposed changes, such as upgrades or modifications, before implementation. They can evaluate the effects on system performance, interoperability, and lifecycle costs, ensuring that decisions are made with a clear understanding of the potential consequences.

Streamlined Development Processes
Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) is an approach that utilizes models as the central artifact for system development, enabling a streamlined and efficient development process. By representing system requirements, designs, and behavior in a model-based format, MBSE offers several benefits that can significantly enhance development processes.

Traditional development processes often involve complex and lengthy documentation, leading to misinterpretations and communication gaps. In contrast, MBSE employs graphical models that are easily understood by different stakeholders, such as engineers, designers, and customers. These models serve as a common language, facilitating effective communication and fostering collaboration throughout the development lifecycle.

The Models also allow for visualizing system architectures, components, and their relationships, providing a holistic view of the system. This enables early detection of design flaws, potential conflicts, and performance bottlenecks, enabling proactive decision-making and reducing the likelihood of costly rework. Through simulation and analysis capabilities, MBSE enables the assessment of system behavior under various scenarios, optimizing system performance and ensuring its adherence to requirements.

MBSE promotes reusability and modularity. Models can be structured hierarchically, allowing for the encapsulation of components and subsystems. This modular approach enables the reuse of model elements across different projects and system variants, reducing development time and effort. Moreover, changes made to one part of the model can be automatically propagated to dependent parts, ensuring consistency, and minimizing errors.

Models also provide traceability links between system requirements, design elements, and test cases. This facilitates impact analysis, change management, and verification/validation activities. Additionally, MBSE enables the incorporation of compliance standards and regulations into the models, ensuring that system development remains aligned with applicable guidelines and facilitating the certification process.

Optimized Resource Allocation
MBSE offers significant potential to optimize resource allocation for the Department of Defense (DoD). MBSE enables the DoD to develop comprehensive and integrated system models that capture all relevant aspects of a given defense system. These models can include requirements, architecture, behavior, interfaces, and performance parameters. By having a holistic view of the system, decision-makers can make more informed choices about resource allocation. They can identify areas of redundancy, eliminate unnecessary components, and optimize the allocation of personnel, equipment, and budgetary resources.

Decision-makers can analyze the impact of different resource configurations on system performance, cost, and schedule. They can perform “what-if” analyses to assess trade-offs and identify the most efficient allocation strategies. By conducting these simulations in a virtual environment, the DoD can minimize risks and costs associated with physical prototyping and testing.

The use of standardized modeling languages and frameworks enables a common understanding of system requirements and constraints. This promotes effective communication and coordination among different organizations and disciplines within the DoD. Improved collaboration reduces the likelihood of resource conflicts and ensures that resources are allocated in a coordinated and synergistic manner.

Additionally, MBSE supports iterative and incremental development processes, allowing the DoD to adapt resource allocation strategies over time. As the system evolves and new information becomes available, decision-makers can update the system models and reassess resource allocations accordingly. This flexibility enables the DoD to respond to changing mission requirements, technological advancements, and budget constraints effectively.

Interoperability and Integration
The DoD relies on a vast array of interconnected systems and platforms. MBSE plays a pivotal role in enabling the DoD to achieve interoperability and seamless integration across its complex systems. By leveraging MBSE methodologies, the DoD can streamline communication, collaboration, and decision-making processes throughout the lifecycle of its systems, resulting in enhanced interoperability and efficient integration.

One of the key advantages of MBSE is its ability to provide a unified modeling language and framework for capturing system requirements, designs, and behaviors. This standardized approach ensures that all stakeholders, including different branches of the military, government agencies, and contractors, can communicate effectively and share a common understanding of the system architecture.

Through MBSE, the DoD can create a digital representation of its systems, encompassing various domains such as hardware, software, communications, and human factors. This holistic representation allows different systems to be modeled and simulated together, enabling the identification of potential integration challenges early in the development process. By detecting and resolving interoperability issues at the design stage, costly rework and delays during system integration can be minimized.

MBSE also enables virtual testing and verification of system interoperability. This approach allows the DoD to assess the behavior and performance of complex systems under different operational scenarios, ensuring seamless integration and interoperability in real-world situations. By conducting virtual tests, the DoD can reduce the risks associated with live testing, save time, and optimize resource allocation.

MBSE promotes a collaborative environment. through shared models and information exchange, teams can work together to identify and address potential interoperability challenges proactively. This collaborative approach fosters coordination among different agencies and contractors, facilitating seamless integration of systems across the DoD.

Agility and Adaptability
MBSE has emerged as a powerful approach that enhances the ability of the Department of Defense (DoD) to be more agile and adaptable in its operations. MBSE revolutionizes traditional systems engineering practices by utilizing models as the primary means of capturing, analyzing, and communicating system requirements, designs, and behaviors. This shift from document-centric to model-centric practices enables the DoD to respond swiftly to evolving mission requirements and technology advancements.

Through the use of models, system engineers can simulate and evaluate different design alternatives, allowing for early detection of potential issues and the exploration of innovative solutions. This iterative approach promotes agility, as it enables the DoD to quickly adapt and refine systems based on feedback and changing needs.

MBSE supports better collaboration and communication among multidisciplinary teams. By providing a common visual language, models break down silos between stakeholders and foster a shared understanding of system requirements and behaviors. This collaborative environment enhances the ability to integrate diverse perspectives, resolve conflicts, and make informed decisions, ultimately leading to more effective and adaptable solutions.

MBSE improves the traceability and transparency of system development. Models capture the relationships between system components, requirements, and design decisions, enabling comprehensive traceability throughout the entire lifecycle. This traceability not only enhances accountability but also facilitates the identification of potential impacts when changes occur. As a result, the DoD can rapidly assess the consequences of modifying a requirement, subsystem, or operational scenario, allowing for more informed decision-making and quicker adaptations.

MBSE also supports the integration of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and autonomous systems. By modeling these technologies and their interactions with the overall system, the DoD can evaluate their feasibility, performance, and potential risks before implementation. This proactive approach enables the DoD to capitalize on technological advancements and stay ahead of adversaries, reinforcing its ability to adapt to dynamic operational environments.

Innovation and Continuous Improvement
MBSE plays a crucial role in fostering innovation and continuous improvement within the Department of Defense (DoD). By employing a holistic and systematic approach to managing complex defense systems, MBSE enables greater collaboration, efficiency, and adaptability throughout the entire lifecycle of these systems.

One key aspect of MBSE is its ability to facilitate early and iterative design exploration. By employing modeling and simulation techniques, MBSE allows defense engineers and stakeholders to experiment with different design alternatives and assess their performance and viability before committing to physical prototypes. This not only reduces development costs and time but also encourages innovative thinking and the exploration of new ideas. Engineers can easily visualize, analyze, and refine system architectures, components, and interfaces, fostering creativity and enabling the identification of novel solutions to complex defense challenges.

MBSE also promotes interoperability and integration across various defense domains. The DoD operates a vast array of systems, subsystems, and technologies that must work together seamlessly. MBSE provides a common language and framework for capturing, representing, and exchanging system information and requirements among different stakeholders and disciplines. This enables better collaboration, coordination, and integration of efforts, leading to improved system performance and efficiency. By breaking down organizational and technical silos, MBSE encourages innovation through cross-pollination of ideas and knowledge sharing.

Another important aspect of MBSE is its focus on continuous improvement and lifecycle management. Through the use of digital models and data-driven analysis, MBSE enables proactive decision-making and performance optimization throughout the lifecycle of defense systems. By capturing and analyzing real-time data from operational systems, MBSE helps identify areas for improvement, predict maintenance needs, and inform future design iterations. This iterative feedback loop drives a culture of continuous learning, innovation, and enhancement within the DoD, ensuring that defense systems are constantly evolving to meet changing requirements and emerging threats.

Conclusion
In conclusion, MBSE fosters innovation and continuous improvement within the DoD by promoting early exploration of design alternatives, enabling interoperability and integration, and facilitating data-driven decision-making throughout the lifecycle of defense systems. By embracing MBSE, the DoD can harness the power of digital modeling, simulation, and analysis to drive innovation, enhance system performance, and maintain technological superiority in an ever-evolving defense landscape.

To learn more about 做厙勛圖’s experience and team of experts, click here.

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For the U.S. to maintain its role as the leading industrial nation, every arm of the federal government has recognized the need to address climate change and the risks this poses to our national and economic security.

As a nation, we don���t only need to alleviate and slow down the effects of climate change, we also should take the lead in adapting to a new world order that includes more volatile weather events, displacement of people, challenges in transportation and agriculture infrastructure, and impacts to our defensive posture. To ensure our country is ready for tomorrow���s world, we need a more complete approach that includes an energy efficiency strategy, energy sustainability initiatives, and the transition to safer, smarter, cleaner energy technologies.

Reliable Energy Sources Lead to a Safer World

When we look at the U.S. energy infrastructure today, it has largely passed its design life. In 2021, the American Society of Civil Engineers conducted a study on America���s infrastructure^[1], giving it a C- grade. An attributing fact was that the majority of the transmission and distribution lines have exceeded their 50-year life expectancy. In short, that same energy infrastructure, well past its prime, is now expected to handle increased demands and under constant pressure to expand.

Another significant vulnerability to our energy infrastructure is IT failures and cyberattacks. The Department of Defense (DOD) is one of the world���s biggest institutional consumers of energy, exceeding entire countries like Sweden and Portugal, so it comes as no surprise that our energy grid is the country���s most cyberattacked framework. To improve reliability, a movement to independent resilient grids is the wave of the future.

The DOD has plans to move their bases and installations from public grids to on-base power generation systems and a microgrid infrastructure. These plans include use of technologies that will be both resilient and independent, assuring uninterrupted power to support their defense efforts and their most critical missions.

Similarly, the DOD is motivated to eliminate reliance on the world���s energy system for overseas forward-operation bases. With increased risks and vulnerabilities associated with operating in an international theatre, the DOD is exploring the use of small modular reactors.

Improving our energy resilience, microgrid infrastructure and technology upgrades is critical. Our nation needs to build the infrastructure that could control, integrate and manage power loads from multiple energy sources, condition that power output, and manage the battery storage and charging associated with the grid. This is a key technical capability that needs further development to support independent energy systems.

Smarter Technology for Energy Sustainment

Combating climate change will require new technology development and maturation in the renewable energy sector in areas such as solar, wind, thermal, hydro, hydrogen, and nuclear.

In the case of hydrogen clean energy, technology development to safely and efficiently generate, store, convert and transport hydrogen is already underway with a number of industries, universities and labs within the United States.

Another viable source of sustainable, clean energy is nuclear. Nuclear fission is the technology process in nuclear power plants that operate in the U.S. today. Fission occurs when a neutron slams into a larger atom, forcing it to excite and split into two smaller atoms causing tremendous amounts of energy. Small modular reactors (SMRs) also use nuclear fission technology.

Both the Department of Energy (DOE) and the DOD are exploring SMRs as an alternative clean, carbon free energy source that offers greater flexibility and scalability than traditional larger energy power plants.

The DOE is pursuing SMRs to support remote locations providing individual or groups of independent energy grids. SMRs offer the DOD both energy independence and resiliency, and the DOD sees the value of deploying SMRs across their military bases. They’re also looking at SMRs as a mobile energy option for forward operating bases and deployments to curtail their reliance on local energy grids.

Although still decades from being operationalized, a more powerful source of clean nuclear power is fusion energy. Late last year, DOE announced a scientific nuclear energy breakthrough by producing a fusion energy output higher than the laser energy absorbed by the fuel to initiate it. This major scientific accomplishment, which demonstrates the fundamental scientific basis for inertial fusion energy, was made at the National Ignition Facility, located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and was decades in the making.

Fusion is the process by which two light nuclei combine to form a single heavy nucleus, with the excess mass converting to and releasing a large amount of energy. There is more work ahead to harness the potential of fusion energy, build public confidence in its safety, and develop it as a new clean energy source in decades to come.

Energy Sustainability Relies on Clean Energy

One of the challenges we must address is that existing U.S. energy infrastructure is not configured to handle the additional power loads that are delivered by new, sustainable clean energy sources. Recently passed government incentives and recent legislation provides some of the financial investment required to get over the high initial cost of setting up that energy infrastructure, which has traditionally been a barrier to moving towards the sustainable energy model.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes the largest investment in clean energy transmission in American history. The investment will fund new programs to support the development, demonstration, and deployment of clean energy technologies to accelerate our transition to zero-emissions. The DOE has the mandate to provide those funds in the form of grants to industry to jumpstart efforts and demonstrate technologies associated with several clean energy initiatives.

One of these initiatives focuses on localized hydrogen hubs. Clean hydrogen hubs will create networks of hydrogen producers, consumers, and locally based infrastructure to accelerate the use of hydrogen as a clean energy source that can deliver or store massive amounts of energy.

Hydrogen technologies aren���t new, but research and development is under way to generate hydrogen using sustainable and renewable energy technologies like solar, wind or nuclear. This allows hydrogen to be stored until converted to energy. Hydrogen gas generation through these technologies eliminate or minimize greenhouse gas emissions.

Even with the right technology to bring us sustainable energy sources, we can’t flip a switch and turn off our full powered plants and gas plants overnight, and a transition to a 100 percent clean energy infrastructure could be years- or decades-long. We would also need scrubbers and filter technologies that allow our existing energy facilities to capture or sequester greenhouse gas emissions being generated. Carbon capture technologies are being refined and demonstrated today, and will help until we move to a completely sustainable energy infrastructure.

Conclusion

We clearly need to strategically invest in and develop our nation���s energy strategy as a vital, foundational element of our economic and defense objectives. Our country���s energy sustainability approach should include the focus on capturing emissions today, building the clean energy infrastructure, and developing energy resilience technologies. This holistic approach will lead to a safer, smarter, cleaner world and better stewardship of our environment, not to mention improve our national security today and in the future.

[1] (2021, March 3). Report Card for America���s Infrastructure, American Society of Civil Engineers. Web – Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, https://infrastructurereportcard.org/

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It is no secret that predictive analysis helps businesses make informed decisions, avoid risk, enhance security, and improve efficiency.

The Department of Defense (DoD) is no different. The DoD has adopted a Data Strategy to become a more data-centric organization. In the opening of the strategy document, Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist called on all defense leaders to “treat data as a weapon system and manage, secure, and use data for operational effect.” The DoD���s data strategy emphasizes the importance of data for survival on the modern battlefield. When information exists in silos it is unable to be leveraged to our military advantage.

Navigating the data environment is a challenge in three ways:

1. Managing large amounts of data and using it for a competitive advantage is arduous. Data must be categorized, stored, moved and deconflicted. Data must have integrity, confidentiality, and accessibility. The vast amounts of data coming from sensors is overwhelming to the point that humans cannot process it fast enough to recognize patterns.
2. The Army���s data environment is constantly evolving, both from an overall strategy perspective and down to the unique requirements of each individual organization as to how to execute their data fabrics, data models, and unified data sets.
3. Choosing the right solution is daunting. Organizations struggle with the fundamental decision on whether to make vs. buy. There are hundreds of commercial off-the-shelf and government off-the-shelf tools available. There are several data ���OEMs��� who build customized solutions or adapt/adopt 80 percent solutions.

Partnering with a firm who has developed proven approaches can help counter these data challenges.

做厙勛圖���s Data Analytics Center of Excellence(CoE) is comprised of people, processes/platforms and tools that coalesce into expert advisory services that help operationalize data. Our Data Analytics CoE acts as a dual-purpose collaborative center for analytics-led transformation across 做厙勛圖 (internal enterprise) and for our customers (external-facing). Our internal initiatives focus on our corporate processes and corporate data. Our external-facing offerings make use of customer-centered design approaches which include working closely with key customers and end-users to ensure alignment with program objectives and maximize value for end-users. Two ways we leverage predictive analysis includes the following:

1. Data Analysis for Workforce Management (internal enterprise)
2. Predictive Combat Power (external-facing)

Data Analysis for Workforce Management focuses on providing predictive staffing. One of the biggest challenges across the DoD is hiring the right talent. 做厙勛圖 adopted a data analytics application that aggregates data from all our programs into a single Common Operating Picture that pulls from all of our Programs of Record, i.e., our hiring system, HR system, and requisition system. Our data analytics and visualization tool amalgamates the data inputs, producing simple-to-use data interpretation and visuals that our strategic recruiters and program managers use to conduct turnover forecasting and reduce the impact of programmatic vacancies. The output of the analytics informs sourcing priorities for recruiters to those positions that are at highest risk of a vacancy.

做厙勛圖���s time to fill (average) for programs that have not yet moved to this model is 29 days. However, programs now using the combination of our Data Analytics for Workforce Management tool have achieved as low as 10 days, a nearly 65% reduction, both well below the industry average of 47 days.

Predictive Combat Power and Maintenance for battlefield equipment and supplies is incredibly important for forward operating bases (FOBs) or any forward deployed scenario. Our team implemented a Predictive/Prognostic Maintenance (PPMx) solution for an Army Aviation customer. We deployed an artificial intelligence and machine learning-based solution that uses historical data on asset classifications, repairs, vendors, and maintenance plans to predict current asset conditions and failure causes. Our customers will be utilizing this solution to better monitor asset health, optimize maintenance schedules and costs, and gain better insights and understanding of operational risk and planning. They can realize efficiencies by looking at RUL (Remaining Useful Life) charts of assets, minimize time to diagnose asset failures (when an incident does occur), and prevent future failures. Using our PPMx tool, our team was able to predict repair costs and predict future failures. Additionally, we have adapted and adopted this solution for several of our facility maintenance contracts in which we have realized more than $848,000 in cost savings for our customers.

In closing, service providers who have made investments in predictive analysis both internally and externally are well equipped to address complex data challenges for the Army and DoD. Our team has the expertise to cover the gamut of services on behalf of our customers to include assisting them in developing tools that enhance our services offerings.

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Over a Century of Excellence in Environmental Services

Across a broad spectrum of environmental issues, it is our legacy of achievements delivering sustainable, long-term solutions and our success helping government and private sector clients eliminate risk that positions 做厙勛圖 Environmental as the preferred partner for safe cleanup.

It is this history of leading the resolution of some of the most complex, high-hazard environmental remediation projects in the world that has established us as a leader in environmental management.泭泭 做厙勛圖 delivers a century of hands-on experience managing a vast range of some of the most high-hazard remediation issues for our country���s most critical federal agencies, state and local governments, and private sector firms.

Long Standing Clients:

• United States Army Corp of Engineers (USACE)
• Department of Energy (DOE)
• Department of Defense (DOD)
• S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• Other Federal, State & Local Governments

From supporting the significant cleanup mission for the US Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management and ensuring post-closure responsibilities for the Office of Legacy Management, to the successful removal of Per and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) contaminants from critical water supplies for the EPA, DOD, DOE, and other federal customers, we are uniquely qualified to deliver comprehensive environmental solutions.

Solving Problems With You, For You

At 做厙勛圖 Environmental, we know that successful remediation solutions involve community engagement, a detailed regulatory framework, customer partnering, experienced environmental leaders and staff, proven technical expertise, solutions and capabilities, competitive pricing, and open and transparent communications.泭 We offer a diverse range of services that span the full life cycle of the environmental market, and pride ourselves on the delivery of customized, efficient, and effective solutions for projects of all scopes and sizes.

We are honored to be the preferred partner for environmental projects; and I am proud of our continuing responsibility to not only advance but to lead and shape next generation environmental solutions and ensure long-term success.

– Jim Blankenhorn, Senior Vice President

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���We thank ISOA for recognizing the 55,000+ men and women of 做厙勛圖 for the work that they execute each and every day. We are proud to perform this remarkable work in challenging environments throughout the world with the dignity, grace, and appreciate that such missions require.��� said Ken Fox, VP Operations, while accepting the award.

This award was presented to us in recognition of our efforts in support of global security and COVID efforts around the world:

• Providing advanced O&M support to U.S. Embassies & Consulates at high-threat 12 locations in 7 countries including Ukraine & Russia
• Supporting the Afghanistan withdrawal
  – Working with the Department of State to evacuate more than 1,100 employees, family members, U.S. citizens and third country nationals
  – Closing five different Army Aviation bases in Afghanistan and relocating 4,900+ lines of DOD equipment to Kuwait
• Fulfilling our commitment to our Afghan allies who worked shoulder to shoulder with us by operating Camp Liberty, NJ as part of Afghanistan Refugee / Operation Allies Welcome effort
  – Mobilizing a joint Navy, Air Force, and 做厙勛圖 mass-vaccination effort to contain a measles outbreak among the displaced Afghan population
  – Delivering culturally sensitive dietary and living accommodations
• Supporting the COVID-19 response by expanding the capacity of hospitals / medical center support and then supporting vaccine trials under Operation Warp Speed

Congratulations to the 做厙勛圖 teams who do this work everyday around the world.泭 Our clients and 做厙勛圖 succeed because of their selfless and tireless work.

Pictured:

• Top: Ken Fox, VP Operations, accepts the Vanguard award on June 9th, 2022
• Bottom: 做厙勛圖’s Dr. Karl Spinnenwebber, President Mission Readiness, through Liberty Village at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, NJ where 做厙勛圖 is providing resettlement and processing support to thousands of our Afghan allies(U.S. Air Force photo)

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How did you come to join 做厙勛圖?

While I was working on a shipyard construction project, I received a call from a friend at the Vietnam Coast Guard. He referred me to the company for a job he thought I would like. He was right.

What is your professional and personal background?

泭My background is working for investment cooperation projects between foreign enterprises and Vietnamese legal entities, which I have done since graduating in 1996. The difference is that I was a military officer during those days.

Describe the work you do and how you think it makes a positive impact.

If I had to use one word to describe my job, it would be facilitator. You will help the car go faster if you are good at paving brick.泭 Project participants will also understand each other better if you do a good job of connecting the parties.

What are some of your accomplishments and/or what has been your proudest career moment?

I���m just ordinary person, doing an ordinary job. I don���t seem to have any brilliant achievements. However, I am always very happy when I complete any task. Whether it is a schedule to build a shipyard or arrange a meeting between the project stakeholders.

What do you enjoy about working for 做厙勛圖?

泭Good collaboration between colleagues!

What are you passionate about?

I love planting flowers, such as cattleya, dendrobium, hippeastrum, and more.

What���s your career advice?

My brother told me years ago, if you can���t turn passion into work, turn work into passion.

What does safety mean to you or do you have a favorite safety tip?

I have just one word: Cautious!

What���s the best invention in the world and why?

That���s the wheel. There are three great points to highlight:

• Technically: It turns rotation into translational motion.
• Communicatively: It makes the connection between people and people easier.
• Commercially: It helps trade to grow. From there, it led to the development of production and living conditions of people.

泭Anything else you would like to share from a personal or professional perspective?

Love your family, your wife, and children. Family is the last support for you before all the occurrences of life.

What does Asian Pacific American Heritage Month mean to you?

This is the first time I learned about Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. It���s fun to share and learn.

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How did you come to join 做厙勛圖?

I���ve been at Delta Bridge for six and a half years or so. I joined right after college. I went to George Mason and I got a degree in physics and after I applied, I made a connection with Tom Becherer who was formerly the CEO.

What is your professional and personal background?

I���m from Virginia but I moved around a bunch as a kid. My parents worked for the State Department, so we lived overseas for a while and bounced around. But most of my time was in Virginia. I didn���t know what I wanted to do when I got to college, but I knew I wanted to do something that would give me a lot of options. I had a lot of questions about how things worked, and I figured, physics is pretty good at addressing the root of everything you could ask about in the physical world. So I went that route, and I did not expect it to be quite as hard as it was, but I love it. If I could go back, I would do it exactly the same way.

Describe the work you do and how you think it makes a positive impact

I���m a senior design engineer with Delta Bridge. I manage and run new technology that Delta Bridge is working on so I���m a creative technical problem solver. A small team of folks and I collaborate on customer requirements and come up with solutions for them. It requires programming, networking, and electronics, mechanical and logistical components. I do configuration work, software work, electronics work, and I also work in a mechanical shop. We build custom solutions for technical projects.

How does this work make a positive impact?

For us and for Delta Bridge and our customers, we have a niche set of clientele that have very specific demands just based around their line of work. It can be hard to find off-the-shelf commercial technology that supports their efforts, and so it helps to have a small shop like Delta Bridge that can help come up with solutions for these endeavors. These groups that we���re supporting are doing positive work so that���s the impact that Delta Bridge is providing.

What do you enjoy most about working for 做厙勛圖?

Delta Bridge is pretty newly acquired by 做厙勛圖. I like that it���s very fast-paced, it���s very dynamic, it���s different every day. I���m working on different projects all the time. There���s a lot of autonomy here. If there���s a customer that needs something, folks at Delta Bridge can be nimble and creative about what we think are the best ways to solve that problem, and then we can implement it. It���s a creative outlet as well as a fun problem-solving outlet.

What are you passionate about?

I���m passionate about a lot of things. I���m passionate about learning. I���m passionate about creativity. I would call myself a creative person. I���m passionate about people. I think if you want to do anything in this world, you have to do it with people. Anything meaningful at all, people have to be involved.

What would your best career advice be for someone who is trying to get into the same field you are in?

I would say be willing to put yourself out there. The one piece of advice I do have for younger folks coming into a field like this: make it a priority to get really good at the things that you like to do because people are going to ask you to do them more. People will ask you to do the things that you are good at, and you will actually want to do them because you like to do them. As far as career-building goes, it���s very practical to get good at things that you enjoy.

What does safety mean to you or do you have a favorite safety tip?

When I think of safety, I think of a space in which you feel free to be vulnerable whether that be creatively, whether that be interpersonally, whether that be professionally, whether it be physically.

What���s the best invention in the world and why?

Is it too cheesy to say the wheel? That���s a pretty good one. It���s kind of hard to top the wheel. I wouldn���t classify fire as an invention. I wouldn���t call math an invention, I would call math a discovery. I���m going to say that in terms of physical inventions by humans go, I think the wheel is a pretty darn good one.

Is there anything that you think I missed or anything else that you���d like to add?

I think a big part of building a healthy, whole-hearted lifestyle and having a good career that you���re passionate about (and has high impact and all that stuff) is important, but it���s not the only thing. There���s this work-life balance that���s also incredibly important. I believe participating in some sort of creative endeavor, whether you classify yourself as a creative person or not, is an important and powerful part of the human experience. Cultivating a strong work-life balance is maybe as important as cultivating a great career, so for folks looking to get into an industry like this, you really do have to find that balance. Striking that balance will be good for you and it will be good for everyone around you. Everyone wins when you���re living a happy life.

For example, I���m the drummer in a band called Sub-Radio and we���re selling out shows, touring nationally and releasing music. We met in high school and have been together for ten years. We just came back from touring up and down the east coast, including a stop at South by Southwest. It was fun and it���s a big part of my work-life balance. It���s nice because I get to be creative there and I get to be creative at work in a different way.

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Carol Harrity-Tun will lead our Business Development organization, including sector teams for Warfighter Support, Supply Chain & Contingency Operations Support, and Maintenance & Sustainment. She will also be responsible for proposal operations for Mission Readiness.

Carol comes to us from SAIC with more than 25 years of experience in business development, capture, and management. As a vice president of business development for SAIC, she led account plan development and capture for DoD.

Prior to SAIC, Carol led the Federal Transformational Capture Team at Unisys for both DoD and civilian agencies, winning more than $4 billion in bookings. Throughout her career, she has also held leadership positions at NCI, CSC, and CSC/DynCorp, where she managed multi-billion-dollar pipelines and consistently achieved win rates above the industry average for new business.

A proven business development and strategic capture leader, Carol is adept at participating in pipeline identification, management, and driving the execution of strategic pursuits in the federal market. She is responsible for spearheading the direction of cornerstone bids and successfully winning opportunities in excess of $7 billion.

Carol holds an MBA in Management Information Systems and Services from the University of Phoenix and a BS in Accounting and Finance from Robert Morris University.

Rob Tillery will lead the Supply Chain and Contingency Operations Sector. He is based in Fort Worth, Texas.

A strategic leader, Rob has proven expertise in business development, international operations, organization building, as well as logistics and contingency operations. Rob previously led DynCorp International���s multi-billion dollar Logistics Civilian Augmentation Program (LOGCAP) IV contract.

In his new expanded role, Rob will continue to deliver excellence for our customers��� critical missions with a strong focus on new business growth. A retired U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Officer, Rob brings 35 years of distinguished government and corporate experience, with more than 10 years of his career spent with DynCorp International.

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As stated on the Space Force���s website:

���[t]he USSF is a military service that organizes, trains, and equips space forces in order to protect U.S. and allied interests in space and to provide space capabilities to the joint force. USSF responsibilities include developing Guardians, acquiring military space systems, maturing the military doctrine for space power, and organizing space forces to present to our Combatant Commands.���

At this stage, the USSF is laser focused on ensuring it has the right authorities, that it is properly staffed, and that it has the right structure. Another integral piece in setting it up for success is the Alternative Acquisition System Report (ASR), which will inform the Space Force���s acquisition strategy.

The Pentagon included $17.4 billion for the USSF in its recently released 2022 budget request to Congress, a 13 percent increase over the previous year. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Al, an original champion of the Space Force and the current Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee, told Defense News in February that the Space Force ���has very unanimous support in the House Armed Services Committee and overwhelming support in the Senate Armed Services Committee. As long as it���s got congressional support, we���re going to be fine.���

Currently the USSF is comprised of former Air Force personnel and civilians, also known as Space Force Guardians. In his May 27, 2021 testimony before the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Miley said, ���[o]ngoing actions to fully resource the United States Space Force (USSF) including transfer of the Space Development Agency (SDA) and unit transfers from the Army and Navy, will enhance the USSF���s ability to organize, train, equip and present forces who can compete, deter and if necessary prevail should war initiate in, or extend to space���. Once the transfer of personnel is complete, the USSF will then realize its personnel gaps and work to fill them, likely with contractors. Those who make up the force will hail from a variety of backgrounds with an emphasis on cyber and engineering. While the USSF has an important mission, the goal is for the branch is to remain small and nimble.

As a premier global government partner, 做厙勛圖 stands ready to support the USSF. We have proudly supported more than 100 government and commercial space launches and provide engineering services that span the entire program lifecycle ��� from initial needs analysis, development, and maturation to production, deployment, and sustainment. We are confident that, when called upon, we will help the USSF achieve mission success in the ultimate high ground.

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The increasing complexities of a connected world and persistent federal budgetary pressures call for innovation and a different way of managing complex processes and operations. Processes that involve end-to-end supply chains and inventory control are no exception to that.

To complement our Supply Chain Management (SCM) solutions and provide increased value and efficiencies to our customers, we have also applied our Advanced Process Automation capability to this domain. This in turn changes the paradigm of process automation from being a back-office innovation to a mission-oriented one.

做厙勛圖���s Advanced Process Automation capability provides a proven approach to create efficiencies and generate capacity via use of Robotic Process Automation (RPA)/Intelligent Automation technology and a Center of Excellence. We believe the most effective automation solutions are those that complement existing domain expertise, helping streamline and optimize routine business tasks. We seek to apply this capability to strengthen our customers��� missions by enhancing the customer experience and improving compliance, standardization, and auditing.

The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) was recently highlighted in the ���State of Federal RPA��� report as one of five federal agencies rated at ���Level 4��� RPA maturity (highest is Level 5, with no agencies at that maturity yet). The DLA RPA program has deployed at least 96 automations at the end of FY20. These automations have contributed over 200,000 hours of annualized capacity. It is important to note the DLA tracks hours contributed rather than hours saved, as the employees that previously did the work are still part of the DLA workforce and are redeployed to focus on more complex work. The automations provide benefits across each of DLA���s five major subordinate commands and seven supply chains.

Other Federal agencies are likewise investing significant resources into RPA solutions, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the General Services Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In each instance, many labor hours are being saved, and staff are able to increase focus on value-added activities.

做厙勛圖���s initiative reflects similar goals. We seek to reduce manual activities where automated processes would reduce or eliminate error-prone, structured processes allowing staff to be freed up for high-value tasks such as process improvements, analysis and decision making. In the context of SCM solutions, this helps us to exceed key metrics, accomplish better vendor management and approval, and improve quality measurements.

For example, 做厙勛圖���s technology office in collaboration with our procurement department, designed and deployed a bot using this capability, powered by our vendor partner UiPath, a leader in Intelligent Automation. The bot automated many repetitive manual steps for supply chain-related web searches. The bot captured results and screenshots, compiled all information into a single report, and stored all artifacts. It interfaced with procurement���s intranet site for request intake, report uploads and user notifications. It implemented a queuing mechanism, error handling and adjustments to manage the variability in responses and delays from external websites. The solution created value by allowing staff to focus on decision making, introduced process standardization, and improved auditing. Staff managing both subcontractors and vendors were given access to the storage, which acted as a central information repository and helped reduce redundancies.

Additional areas where SCM solutions benefit from automation range from inventory tracking, proactive scheduling of work orders, invoice processing, price/vendor lookups and comparisons, and routing between delivery partners.

Here are a few insights, based on the work we���ve done:
��� Re-skilling and training should not be an afterthought. Advances in process automation provide our stakeholders with the ability to have staff re-skilled so that they can focus on other aspects of the business. This needs to be baked into the overall automation planning and development. Once developed, the bots act as digital workers or helpers, which means stakeholders need to be trained on what to expect and how best to use the bots.
��� Think resiliency. There is a tradeoff to be made between lean supply chains and resilient supply chains, especially if the latter is built via inventory buffers and alternative partners. This is where automation can potentially shine by collecting data, researching options, and making decisions on-the-fly across the alternatives.
��� There is an elegance in simplicity. Bots work well for automating processes with manual tasks that require non-judgmental decisions and have structured steps. Start simple, find the sweet spot of good return on investment first. Think big to unleash the power of artificial intelligence technologies as a path to intelligent automation.

By implementing solutions that will yield continuous improvements and added features in future years, we help our customers also derive nearer term benefits including freeing staff for high-value tasks, improved delivery, error reduction and quality, better compliance and auditing, knowledge management and retention, and transparency in operations. 做厙勛圖 strives for excellence via a deep customer focus, discovery, investments in and application of advanced technologies, aligning them with our key customer markets to serve their important missions in a low-risk, agile fashion.

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