View non-flash version
36 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News FEATURE US NAVY OFFICE OF NAVAL RESEARCH ent weapons that fit through the interface. What kind of research or technology development is ONR investing in to learn about how to make those open, adaptable ships? Carr: There are several projects we have that are trying to do exactly that. One is called Integrated Topside (InTop), which seeks to get rid of all antennae on a ship and replace them with scaled apertures built into the superstructure. Instead of having one antenna for one specific band- width, you would be able to manage your use of the spectrum through a resource allocation manager that also manages in the time dimension. You can think of InTop as VLS for information domi- nance. It’s the Velcro that allows us to readily adapt to meet the requirement. Additionally, InTop is contractually writ- ten in such a way that industry members are working together and partnering, and the contract can be easily handed off to acquisition at the end of the science and technology (S&T) cycle. It’s a model program for open innovation. What kind of research and development is the Navy engaged in regarding titanium ship structures, composites and new types of ship materials and designs? Carr: Titanium is very expensive and very difficult to work with, so I’m not sure I see large-scale use of titanium for ship structures. We are very interested in composites. The deckhouse for the Zumwalt-class destroyer is composite, and it’s the Navy’s first look at a com- posite deckhouse. We are interested in other technologies possibly for compos- ite hulls up to 300 feet if the Navy were to be interested in a smaller class of ship to supplement the LCS, for example, or even smaller missions. But, if you could make a hull out of composites, you can do it in a very highly automated, repeat- able way, which may help us save money in shipbuilding. It’s an effort to look at technologies that may allow us to think about a new class of ship in the future, should the Navy decide to go that way. How can small companies get involved with ONR research efforts? Carr: That’s a great question. As I men- tioned, the vast majority of our research is done with small business. We really embrace small businesses. The best place to start is our website, www.onr.navy.mil, or one of the many conferences we host or participate in. Some of our readers would be interested in market projections. Where will you be investing? Carr: I’ve got a couple broad categories that you may think of as market projec- tions. They are autonomy for unmanned systems, of course, and with autonomy you’ve got to have reliability. We need systems that operate autonomously with the necessary processing power. They need to be like a satellite: if you send them off for months or years, they have to be very reliable and have robust, redun- dant systems. Power and energy is al- ways of high interest. As Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus has said, we need to treat power and energy as a strategic re- source, reduce our dependence on for- eign imports and lengthen our own legs. What are some of the Navy’s initiatives in the STEM disciplines? Carr: STEM is a very important area for us because none of this happens without a healthy scientific, engineering and tech- nical talent base. Today that talent may be in the fourth or fifth grade, and they need to be inspired to pursue the hard, important technical careers. Once in- spired, they need to be assisted, nurtured and mentored. Right now, half of all col- lege students that begin to major in a sci- ence or technology course of study don’t complete it. Of the 2.5 million high school graduates that this country pro- duces each year, approximately two mil- lion of them go to college, about one million begin to major in science and technology, approximately 480,000 grad- uate and only about 180,000 go on to ad- vanced degrees. Two years ago, we awarded more advanced technical de- grees to non-U.S. citizens than to U.S. citizens for the first time in U.S history. Clearly, it’s very important not just for the Navy but for the country that we have a healthy STEM base among the student population, so we help with that. The Man Rear Adm. Nevin Carr is a surface war- fare officer, a Naval Academy graduate and the Navy’s chief innovation officer. Carr graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy with a bachelor’s of science degree in naval architecture. He earned a master’s of science degree in opera- tions research from the Naval Postgrad- uate School and completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. He has spent his Navy career at sea in cruisers and destroyers, operating in the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, Indian Ocean, Arabian Gulf, North and South Atlantic, South Pacific and Baltic, Caribbean, Arctic and Red Seas. Ship- board tours included USS King (DDG 41); USS McCandless (FF 1084); USS Thomas S. Gates (CG 51); USS Vella Gulf (CG 72); Cruiser/Destroyer Group 8 staff embarked in USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69); and the 2nd Fleet staff embarked in USS Mt. Whit- ney (LCC 20). He commanded USS Ar- leigh Burke (DDG 51) and USS Cape St. George (CG 71), winning Battle Effi- ciency Awards and Golden Anchors in both tours. While in com- mand of Cape St. George, the ship par- ticipated in combat operations in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in both the European and Central Com- mand theaters. Ashore, Carr has served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense where he worked on the Arleigh Burke, Ticon- deroga and Seawolf programs and sev- eral Ballistic Missile Defense system programs. He later served in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations as re- quirements officer for the Aegis Cruiser and Destroyer programs and was exec- utive assistant to the commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command. Following pro- motion to flag rank in 2006, he was as- signed as the deputy director of surface warfare for combat systems and weapons and later as deputy assistant secretary of the Navy (international pro- grams) and director, Navy International Program Office. In December 2008, he became the 22nd chief of naval research with additional duties as director, test and evaluation and technology requirements. Rear Adm. Nevin Carr, Chief of Naval Research, discusses undersea science and technology with students from Wilson High School at the National Museum of the U.S. Navy at the Washington Navy Yard. (U.S. Navy photo by John F . W illiams/Released)
