Lynn Speaks on Advanced Manufacturing at Carnegie Mellon

By Karen Parrish

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 25, 2011 – Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III gave the defense perspective on advanced manufacturing yesterday while attending the launch of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

President Barack Obama created the partnership to bring together industry, universities and the federal government to invest in the emerging technologies that, according to a White House statement, will “create high-quality manufacturing jobs and enhance our global competitiveness.”

The president’s plan, which leverages existing programs and proposals, will invest more than $500 million to jumpstart this effort, bringing together leading universities and companies to invent, deploy and scale these cutting-edge technologies.

In his remarks at the event, Lynn said the history of advanced manufacturing in the Defense Department can be told through three individuals: the inventor Eli Whitney, former Lockheed Martin CEO Norman Augustine, and Regina Dugan, director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Before Whitney had success with the cotton gin, the deputy secretary said, he went to Congress in 1801 with a proposal to build muskets with interchangeable parts.

Whitney took 10 muskets to Congress, disassembled them, and threw all of the parts in a pile, Lynn said.

“And then he reassembled them, with different parts constituting each new musket,” he added, “something that had never before been done. Congress was impressed.

“Eventually, the Department of the Army issued a contract for 10,000 new muskets to be built using this method,” he continued. “It was one of the first widespread uses of standardized parts, and it contributed enormously to the advance of manufacturing in the United States.”

In 1984, Augustine published a book called "Augustine's Laws," which Lynn said is well known in defense circles.

One of the laws charted the cost increase in high-performance jets and tactical aircraft against the increase in the defense budget, Lynn said, noting the lines crossed in 2054.

“What that meant was that in 2054 we would have to spend the entire defense budget to buy one airplane,” he said. “He observed that we could work this out. The Navy would get it for three days a week, the Air Force for three days, and the Marines would have it on Sundays.”

Costs have continued to rise at roughly the rate Augustine predicted, Lynn said, noting much of the reason is the time it takes to design and approve new equipment.

“The time horizon of design and development is increasing at a similar pace,” he said, “which brings us to Regina Dugan, the current director of DARPA.”

Under Dugan’s leadership, DARPA has focused on an advanced manufacturing effort that uses integrated circuits manufacturing as a model for open design and configurable foundries, Lynn said, leading to the ability to crowd-source design.

“Altogether, we think this can significantly speed up the manufacturing timeline -- on the order of dividing it by a factor of five,” the deputy secretary said. “That is to say we could do it five times as fast, which could yield enormous cost-savings.”

Lynn said the pilot of a vehicle DARPA built in less than 90 days was on display at yesterday’s event.

“This is a pilot, not yet a complete vehicle,” he said. “But for DOD, this pilot has the ability to undo Augustine's law and yield advances in manufacturing equivalent to what Eli Whitney ushered in during the early 19th century.”

The department will continue to work as part of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, Lynn said, to “develop this approach to manufacturing for DOD and to understand its broader implications for U.S. manufacturing.”

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Lynn: Defense-Energy Team Leads National Effort

By Lisa Daniel

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 26, 2011 – A partnership the Defense and Energy departments formed last year to conserve energy in the military is the perfect union to lead the nation in conservation, Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III said at the White House Energy Security Forum today.

“The key to this partnership is focusing [the Energy Department’s] unique knowledge on meeting defense requirements,” Lynn said. “By taking technologies from labs to the battlefield, the Department of Energy can enroll its scientific ingenuity in the service of our nation’s most important national mission: national security.”

Additionally, Lynn said, the departments’ collaboration can improve the operational effectiveness of the armed forces and serve as a catalyst for the civilian world. “By serving as a sophisticated first user and early customer for innovative energy technology,” he said, “the military can jump-start their broader commercial adoption, just as we have done with jet engines, high-performance computing and the Internet.”

Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel B. Poneman agreed.

“Through our national laboratory system, the [Energy] department brings tremendous scientific expertise to bear across a whole portfolio of national energy and scientific priorities,” he said. “Coupled with the scale of the Defense Department’s operations and its potential to act as a test bed for innovative technologies, this partnership is a crucial vehicle to strengthen our national security and to build a clean energy economy for America.”

Forum speakers noted the importance President Barack Obama has placed on energy conservation, but added that the issue goes back at least as far as the administration of President Richard M. Nixon, who acknowledged that American reliance on foreign oil raises national security risks. NATO’s ongoing military operations in Libya and the spike of oil prices due to political unrest in the Middle East is just the latest example of the problem, Poneman said.

Under the departments’ agreement, a committee of Defense and Energy leaders will steer investments into conservation-related technologies for U.S.-based installations and battlefield operations, Lynn said. Dorothy Robyn, deputy undersecretary of defense for installations and environment, and Sharon E. Burke, assistant secretary of defense for operational energy plans and programs, are leading those efforts and took part in the forum.

The Defense Department is a world leader in energy consumption, Lynn said, noting that it accounts for 80 percent of U.S. federal energy use and consumes more energy than is used by two-thirds of all the nations on Earth. With annual energy bills reaching into the tens of billions of dollars, conservation could produce significant savings, he said.

“Everything we do, every mission we perform requires significant amounts of energy,” Lynn said.

Energy dependence has grown in the military, burdening budgets, logistics and individual service members. More than 70 percent of convoys in Afghanistan are used to transport fuel or water and are easy targets for insurgents’ roadside bombs, Lynn said. More than 3,000 U.S. troops and contractors have been killed or wounded protecting them, he said.

Ground forces’ increased use of electronics has doubled their use of batteries in recent years, Lynn said, so that today’s soldiers typically carry 18 pounds of batteries on a 72-hour foot patrol in Afghanistan.

But although the Defense Department consumes much energy, it also is a leader in conservation, Lynn said, as noted last year by the Pew Charitable Trusts think tank.

The department is building energy performance parameters into weapons systems requirements, including the cost of fuel for operations, Lynn said. Within the services, he added, the Navy is leading the way with more efficient propulsion technologies, including hybrid drives, and alternative energies that use biofuels.

The Marine Corps last fall deployed to Afghanistan’s Helmand province with flexible solar panels developed at the Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Mass., which allowed the Marines to run two patrol bases completely on solar power and cut diesel fuel consumption at a third base by more than 90 percent, Lynn said.

“New energy technology makes our warfighters more agile, allowing them to focus on the mission rather than their logistics chain,” he said.

At Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Base, Calif., Marines are demonstrating new microgrid technology, a system of self-generated electricity and intelligent controls that can be operated independently of the commercial power grid that military bases rely on, Lynn said.

Under its partnership with the Energy Department, DOD can continue with such innovations and do more, Lynn and Poneman said. Under the agreement, DOE will fund innovative projects, and provide advisors to combatant commands to share information and training, Poneman said.

Already, DOE auditors have found $15 million in savings through energy conservation at some of DOD’s 307,000 buildings, he added.

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Women in Technology Panel with Valerie Jarrett

We invite you to join White House Senior Advisor and Chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls Valerie Jarrett as she moderates a panel on Women and Technology live online on facebook. The panel will take place shortly following President Obama’s facebook town hall on Wednesday, April 20th at 6:15 pm ET / 6:15 pm PT.

Here are the details:

When: 3:15 pm PT / 6:15 pm ET, shortly after President Obama's facebook townhall

(These times are approximate and subject to change)

Who:

Sheryl Sandberg, COO, Facebook

Jocelyn Goldfein, Director of Engineering, Facebook

Theresia Gouw Ranzetta, Accel Partners

Jessica Herrin, CEO & Founder of Stella and Dot

Moderated by: Valerie Jarrett, White House Senior Advisor and Chair of the White House Council on Women & Girls

Where:

Watch and participate live online at: https://apps.facebook.com/facebooklive/ or www.facebook.com/WhiteHouse

Why:

More diversity in technology companies means more innovation, increased competitiveness and greater business success. Join us to hear about what the public and private sectors are already doing to reap the benefits of more women in tech roles, and what more can be done

How you can participate:

RSVP now and submit a question on facebook or submit a question live during the event at: https://apps.facebook.com/facebooklive/.

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NASA Releases Status On Open Government Initiatives

Katherine Trinidad

Headquarters, Washington

WASHINGTON -- On the one year anniversary of NASA's Open Government Initiative, the agency is releasing a detailed assessment on the status of its projects to increase transparency and accountability to the American public.

The assessment marks the agency's progress toward more than 150 milestones on 19 open government projects and three flagship initiatives and is available at http://www.nasa.gov/open.

"We are creating new ways to engage the public in solutions to problems of interest to NASA and the nation and striving to incorporate open government into every facet of our mission," said Beth Robinson, NASA's chief financial officer and senior accountable official for Open Government.

The report also includes new information about NASA's Freedom of Information Act process, released data sets, and social media use.

"NASA continues to innovate on its approach to open government," said Nick Skytland of NASA's Open Government Initiative. "Our commitment to experimenting with and embracing new participatory ways of collaboration begins with our efforts to infuse open government into the U.S. space program."

NASA's Open Government Plan has been recognized as one of the best in federal government. NASA was among a few agencies recognized with two Leading Practices Awards from the White House for achievement above and beyond the requirements of the Open Government Directive in the categories of "Participation and Collaboration" and "Flagship Initiatives." The White House issued the Open Government Directive calling on executive branch agencies to become more open and countable in December 2009. To learn more, visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/open.

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