Army news service (Oct. 27, 2005): ordnance detection helps army lab earn top award.

VICKSBURG, Miss. -- New technology to help soldiers find and clean up unexploded ordnance helped win this year's Army Research Laboratory of the Year Award. The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center in Vicksburg, Miss., received the award Oct. 2. Claude M. Bolton Jr., assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, presented the award to Dr. James R. Houston, ERDC director, at the Army Acquisition Corps' annual awards ceremony in Arlington, Va.

ERDC developed several new systems

ERDC was cited for several technical accomplishments in the detection of unexploded ordnance. It developed non-intrusive dual-sensor UXO detection and discrimination systems. Researchers fused two detection approaches--magnetometer and electromagnetic induction systems, known as EMI--into a single system that can be used simultaneously to sweep a UXO field, despite the traditional problem of EMI measurements interfering with magnetometers. The dual technology was used in three systems built and tested during fiscal year 2004--a towed array, a man-portable wheeled system, and a hand-held system. The new dual-sensor systems will result in substantial cost reductions in UXO cleanup at current and former military installations around the country, ERDC officials said. Other technical accomplishments cited were Joint Rapid Airfield Construction and Micro-Encapsulated Phase Change Material Technology for Pumped Thermal Transfer.

Lab helped with IED detection

ERDC was also commended for its support to the global war on terror through its work on the BuckEye Improvised Explosive Device Change Detection System; the Urban Tactical Planner; the Counter Rocket, Artillery, and Mortar program; the Joint Antiterrorism Planners Guide; protection of civil works infrastructure from terrorist attack; support to the Department of Homeland Security and the Immune Building Program; and development of antiterrorism blast technologies.

Management technology helps win award

In 2004, ERDC fielded technology for secure portable offices and established enterprise control over all information resources. ERDC established a virtual private network for the entire Corps of Engineers, including the Corps' Gulf Region Division in Iraq, and installed a Corps-wide active directory with an online address book for 37,000 Corps employees. ERDC is also leading the Corps-wide implementation of a project management system designed to drive the Corps' real-time financial system, officials said.

Methods are also being implemented to reduce the number of supervisors and organization layers across the ERDC, encourage continuing education, and ensure the balance of skills necessary to execute the organization's mission, officials said. They said these efforts enable ERDC to maintain a competitive advantage in resources and capabilities.

ERDC consists of seven laboratories at four geographical sites, with more than 2,000 employees, $1.2 billion in facilities, and an annual research program approaching $700 million. It conducts research in both military and civil works for the Department of Defense and the nation.

Information provided by ERDC Public Affairs.