Publications
Research Reports
PUBLIC RELEASE
November 2024
COMPLETED
September 2024
AUTHORS: Mr. Tom McDermott, Dr. Zhongyuan (Annie) Yu, Dr. Amro Farid, Dr. Dennis Folds, Dr. Nicole Hutchison, Ms. Molly Nadolski, Mr. Gordon Kranz, Ms. Megan Clifford
STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Building on a quarterly research forum conducted with Defense Acquisition University, an AIRC team researched megaprojects – large-scale, complex ventures that typically cost $1 billion or more, take many years to develop and build, involve multiple public and private stakeholders, are transformational, and impact millions of people – to improve their success in the Department of Defense.
PUBLIC RELEASE
October 2024
COMPLETED
July 2024
AUTHORS: Dr. Daniel A. DeLaurentis1, Dr. Jitesh H. Panchal1, Dr. Ali Raz3, Dr. Waterloo Tsutsui1, Mr. Danny Browne2, Dr. Frank Patterson2, Dr. James Arruda2, Dr. Zachary Welz2, Dr. Eric Inclan2, Mr. Derek Carpenter1, Mr. Winston Levin1, Ms. Maddie Gray3, Mr. Trevor Geissler3
PURDUE UNIVERSITY 1, GEORGIA TECH RESEARCH INSTITUTE 2, GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY 2
Three AIRC universities contributed to this research task that developed a portfolio management tool for the DoD’s use of Integrated Acquisition Portfolio Review processes, strengthened support for IAPRs by organizing human and technical data, and explored integrating various levels of autonomy into Systems of Systems using a search and rescue (SAR) mission use case.
PUBLIC RELEASE
October 2024
COMPLETED
July 2024
AUTHORS: Dr. Daniel Selva1, Dr. Theodora Chaspari1, Dr. Alejandro Salado2
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY 1, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2
AIRC researchers enhanced their cognitive assistant tool to support the training of cost estimators in the DoD. They added new instructional materials and validated the tool’s effectiveness by testing student subjects. Results showed that students who used the cognitive assistant scored six points higher than students without access to the assistant, suggesting this technology is promising to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of workforce training.
PUBLIC RELEASE
October 2024
COMPLETED
July 2024
AUTHORS: Dr. Jitesh Panchal1, Dr. Waterloo Tsutsui1, Dr. Dr. Mikhail Atallah1, Dr. Nathan Hartman1, Dr. Daniel A. DeLaurentis1, Dr. Richard Malak2, Dr. Jonathan Weaver-Rosen2
PURDUE UNIVERSITY 1, TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY 2
In this report, AIRC researchers from Purdue and Texas A&M examined various aspects of the DoD’s digital transformation in defense acquisition and operational readiness, with recommendations to optimize efficiency, support decentralized manufacturing, enhance readiness, and reduce lifecycle costs.
PUBLIC RELEASE
October 2024
COMPLETED
July 2024
AUTHORS: Dr. Daniel A. DeLaurentis, Dr. Stephan Biller, Dr. Jitesh H. Panchal, Ms. Qian (Alex) Shi, Ms. Dalia Bekdache, Mr. Prajwal Balasubramani, Dr. Waterloo Tsutsui
PURDUE UNIVERSITY
An AIRC research team from Purdue developed a decision framework tailored to navigate intellectual property complexities in additive manufacturing applications for defense acquisition. Their report also addresses complexities such as alignment with existing defense acquisition rules, portfolio-level decision-making, and quantifying uncertainty and risk using IP valuation based on real options theory, with suggested avenues for future research and refinement to enhance IP strategies for AM in defense acquisitions.
PUBLIC RELEASE
May 2024
COMPLETED
April 2023
AUTHORS: Mr. David Drabkin1, Mr. Christopher Yukins, Esq.2
STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 1, THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL 2
This webinar summary follows a pair of online discussions AIRC organized with Defense Acquisition University to examine the research by AIRC Fellows David Drabkin and Christopher Yukins in their report, Congressionally Mandated Study on Contractor Debarments for Violations of U.S. Labor Laws.
PUBLIC RELEASE
April 2024
COMPLETED
September 2023
AUTHORS: Dr. Laura Freeman, Mr. Geoff Kerr
VIRGINIA TECH
This report, a companion to the report Test and Evaluation Methods for Middle-Tier Acquisition, focuses on Pillar 4 of the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) Implementation Plan: Pioneer T&E of Weapon Systems Built to Change Over Time. The research objective was to explore current industry practice in applying digital engineering methods to test and evaluation of DoD acquired systems and provide recommendations on how to promote further adoption in the T&E community.
PUBLIC RELEASE
March 2024
COMPLETED
June 2023
AUTHORS: Dr. Stoney Trent2, Dr. Hoong Yan See Tao2
VIRGINIA TECH 1, STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 2
This final technical report summarizes Grand Prix 1 of the Defense Data Grand Prix (DDGP), an AIRC competition in which faculty-led teams collaborate with government stakeholders to solve real-world problems. In this first iteration of the DDGP, 15 teams from seven universities competed across three semester-long heats. The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) was the primary operational sponsor. Grand Prix I concluded in January 2023, and Grand Prix II commenced in January 2024.
PUBLIC RELEASE
March 2024
COMPLETED
September 2023
AUTHORS: Dr. Michael McGrath1 Dr. Donald Schlomer1 Dr. Mo Mansouri1
STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 1
AIRC researchers have been exploring ways to improve upon the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS) is the Department of Defense’s (DoD) formal requirements approval process.
PUBLIC RELEASE
March 2024
COMPLETED
September 2023
AUTHORS: Dr. Laura Freeman1, Mr. Geoff Kerr1
VIRGINIA TECH 1
The DoD 2022 National Defense Strategy has realized the need for advanced technology and more rapid development and fielding of that technology to sustain dominance against peer/near-peer threats. In support of these objectives, the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation engaged AIRC in a multi-year contract to advance test and evaluation methods within the DoD. The AIRC team focused research efforts over the past year in support of the DOT&E Implementation Plan, addressing numerous tasks that included providing policy reviews and recommendations, offering workforce planning concepts, developing exemplar IDSK, and delivering technical support to T&E meetings, workshops, and conferences.
PUBLIC RELEASE
March 2024
COMPLETED
December 2023
AUTHORS: Dr. Jose Ramirez-Marquez1
STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 1
The following report is a response to the congressional mandate in Section (Sec.) 834(a)(1) of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act to “make recommendations on one or more curricula for members of the acquisition workforce on financing and operations of [startup] businesses.” The proposed curriculum, Financing and Operations of Startup and Negotiating and Establishing Intellectual Property and Data Rights, is intended to serve as a comprehensive guide for AIRC to formulate recommendations and enhance the existing educational offerings for the defense acquisition workforce, contributing to the overarching goal of fostering innovation within the government procurement landscape.
PUBLIC RELEASE
February 2024
COMPLETED
October 2023
AUTHORS: Ms. Kara Pepe1
STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 1
AIRC collaborated with the Defense Acquisition University to host quarterly research forums (QRFs) featuring presentations, discussions, and Q&A sessions on research and training opportunities. AIRC experts presented relevant research and received feedback from faculty and practitioners in the field, while also providing DAU with insightful views on its curricula initiatives and challenges in support of acquisition missions of the Department of Defense (DoD).
PUBLIC RELEASE
December 2023
COMPLETED
September 2023
AUTHORS: Mr. John D. Driessnack1, Mr. John Johnson1
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND 1
According to researchers from the University of Maryland, the Department of Defense needs more efficient data-driven approaches to improve analytic insights on performance and risk at program and portfolio levels. This report shows their efforts to expand the use of portfolio-level data, analysis, and visualization of the data across Program Executive Offices (PEOs), Capabilities, and Missions to inform Integrated Acquisitions Portfolio Review (IAPR) and other portfolio decisions.
PUBLIC RELEASE
December 2023
COMPLETED
September 2023
AUTHORS: Dr. Jitesh Panchal1, Dr. Waterloo Tsutsui1, Dr. Dr. Mikhail Atallah1 Dr. Nathan Hartman1 Dr. Daniel DeLaurentis1 Dr. Richard Malak2
PURDUE UNIVERSITY 1, TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY 2
AIRC researchers from Purdue and Texas A&M completed this report that presents valuable insights drawn from in-depth conversations with Department of Defense stakeholders, focusing on critical aspects of digital modeling, data utilization, and data-driven decision-making for ground vehicles. The report addresses challenges and opportunities in these domains and offers strategic considerations for optimizing the DoD’s operational advantages.
PUBLIC RELEASE
November 2023
COMPLETED
September 2023
AUTHORS: Dr. Daniel Selva1, Dr. Theodora Chaspari1, Dr. Alejandro Salado2
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY 1, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2
AIRC researchers from Purdue and Texas A&M completed this report that presents valuable insights drawn from in-depth conversations with Department of Defense stakeholders, focusing on critical aspects of digital modeling, data utilization, and data-driven decision-making for ground vehicles. The report addresses challenges and opportunities in these domains and offers strategic considerations for optimizing the DoD’s operational advantages.
PUBLIC RELEASE
November 2023
COMPLETED
October 2023
AUTHORS: Dr. Daniel J. Finkenstadt1, Dr. Robert Handfield2
NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL 1, NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY 2
The research objective of this project was to improve acquisition workforce training, especially on new acquisition concepts and approaches by investigating if/how gamified training approaches could improve training. AIRC researchers from the Naval Postgraduate School and North Carolina State University produced a set of negotiation scenarios that were incorporated into an interactive player platform that allowed teams to take on various roles within a negotiation team on either the government or industry side. Players competed against each other and tried to reach the optimal solution for their team given their tasks, constraints, and goals.
PUBLIC RELEASE
October 2023
COMPLETED
July 2023
AUTHORS: Mr. Tom McDermott1, Mr. Geoff Kerr2
STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 1, VIRGINIA TECH 2
Although the Department of Defense (DoD) Digital Engineering (DE) Strategy is guiding transformation across the DoD, this report finds that successful DE implementation in acquisition and sustainment must involve all acquisition functions—not just technical ones. In other words, acquisition with DE support, a.k.a. DE-enabled acquisition, cannot succeed as an engineering initiative pushed by engineers. It must be pulled into acquisition and sustainment by acquisition and sustainment functionals and fully integrated across all of their activities, including those that are not seen as technical.
PUBLIC RELEASE
September 2023
COMPLETED
March 2023
AUTHORS: Dr. Maegen Nix, Ms. Christina Houfek
VIRGINIA TECH APPLIED RESEARCH CORPORATION
In response to Congressional tasking, AIRC partnered with the Defense Acquisition University to study the status of innovation and emerging technology adoption training programs available to DoD employees. AIRC researchers from the Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation (VT-ARC) prepared a comprehensive review of the topic through literature reviews, interviews, and surveys. Drawing from the broader study, this report presents the status of DoD, academia, and industry innovation and emerging technology adoption training programs while specifically addressing enumerated items requested by Congress.
PUBLIC RELEASE
July 2023
COMPLETED
September 2022
AUTHORS: Mr. David Drabkin1, Mr. Christopher Yukins, Esq.2
STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 1, THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL 2
The conference report accompanying the National Defense Authorization Act for 2021 raised concerns regarding contractor violations of U.S. labor laws and whether statutory debarments should be introduced. The Defense Pricing and Contracting directorate of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment asked AIRC to study the issue of labor law compliance among federal contractors and the use of statutory and discretionary debarment as tools to protect the government’s interests.
PUBLIC RELEASE
June 2023
COMPLETED
October 2022
AUTHORS: Mr. Christopher Yukins, Esq.1, Mr. David Drabkin2
THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL 1, STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 2
This report presents an analysis of information on bid protests stemming from Department of Defense (DoD) procurement activities. It is based in part on interviews and written survey responses with senior DoD program and procurement personnel, senior DoD procurement attorneys, representatives of industry, and members of the procurement bar. Its recommendations seek to improve the expediency, timeliness, transparency, and consistency of bid protests at the DoD.
PUBLIC RELEASE
June 2023
COMPLETED
October 2022
AUTHORS: Dr. Gregg Vesonder, Dr. Nicole Hutchison
STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Agile development along with DevSecOps can accelerate acquisition and improve relevance. While industry has successfully applied Agile and DevSecOps to software, hardware, and inter-reliant hardware/software systems, the DoD has lacked applying Agile and DevSecOps beyond software development. This report devises ways for the DoD to leverage the potential of Agile and DevSecOps for both hardware and software, including to integrate Agile and DevSecOps initiatives with digital transformation; pursue agility in contracting, requirements, and funding; and address cultural and risk barriers through leadership and incentives.
PUBLIC RELEASE
March 2023
COMPLETED
December 2022
AUTHORS: Dr. Hanumanthrao Kannan1, Dr. William Rouse2, Dr. Nirav Merchant3, Dr. Alejandro Salado3, Dr. Young-Jun Son4, Dr. Zoe Szajnfarber5
THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA IN HUNTSVILLE 1, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY 2, THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 3, PURDUE UNIVERSITY 4, THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY 5
This report presents the initial results of an AIRC Policy Test Laboratory (PTL) study and was performed by the research team over a period of two months. The goal of this project was to establish an initial reference architecture to support the development of the PTL, which is conceived as a service where a domain model developed in a project can be used and/or integrated with another model of a different domain developed in a different project.
PUBLIC RELEASE
December 2022
COMPLETED
November 2022
AUTHOR: Dr. Roshi Rose Nilchiani
STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
This report provides an overview on the current state of Joint-All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) and identifies opportunities for academic research in various domains (engineering, sciences, and social sciences) that can contribute to a state-of-the-art JADC2 system. This set of opportunities emphasizes the need for research and development and identifying gaps in knowledge, technologies, procedures, and capabilities that can empower JADC2 as a resilient, agile, adaptive, and strong shared command and control platform.
PUBLIC RELEASE
December 2022
COMPLETED
October 2022
AUTHORS: Dr. Yeganeh M. Hayeri, Dr. Ian Taylor
STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
This study aims to develop a blockchain data structure and a prototype to track budgeting as funds flow between DoD elements. The objective is to improve insights into transactions to enable acquisition funding flexibility and to better spend tracking information for DoD planning, management, and macro balancing. A prototype for organizing a blockchain data structure is proposed with the aid of graph analysis concepts. Upon developing a preliminary roadmap, and a graph network demonstrating DoD fund transfers, seven novel use cases have been proposed to show the applicability of this solution. Use cases cover several issues related to budget management, data manipulation, and security optimization, as well as issues related to cost and cost-effectiveness. For each use case, the researchers identified which problem has been targeted, how the proposed design can be applied, and how the suggested solution design can be beneficial.
PUBLIC RELEASE
November 2022
COMPLETED
October 2022
AUTHOR: Dr. Philip S. Antón
STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) seeks sufficient funds from the U.S. Congress to meet critical national security missions. However, predicting, budgeting, authorizing, and appropriating the type and amount of needed funding can be challenging, especially when threats and technologies are changing faster than Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) process timelines, which run over two years given that the DoD starts planning 19 months before the programming and budgeting stage begins. Threats and needs can even change after budgets are authorized and appropriated by Congress and reprogramming of those funds are limited. This paper hypothesizes different approaches related to budgeting and appropriating to improve defense acquisition given inherent DoD and Congressional equities.
PUBLIC RELEASE
November 2022
COMPLETED
October 2022
AUTHORS: Dr. Daniel A. DeLaurentis, Dr. Jitesh H. Panchal
PURDUE UNIVERSITY
The overall objective of this research was to develop tools and knowledge to support the development of an additive manufacturing supply chain sustainment strategy and a digital engineering strategy. As we initiated the research effort at the beginning, we asked ourselves: Can the whole supply chain and sustainment strategy change given the additive manufacturing opportunities instead of traditional manufacturing? In what timeframe? What are the limits (e.g., materials science; systems engineering; cost; reliability; infrastructure)? To effectively perform mission engineering and ensure readiness for additive manufacturing, we set up a digital environment ready for sustainment and have the capabilities we need when we need them.
PUBLIC RELEASE
November 2022
COMPLETED
October 2022
AUTHORS: Dr. Daniel A. DeLaurentis, Dr. Jitesh H. Panchal
PURDUE UNIVERSITY
AIRC research adapted a previously developed system-of-systems analytic workbench (SoS-AWB) of analytic tools to create a decision-support prototype effective for informing decisions in Integrated Acquisition Portfolio Reviews (IAPRs). Mission engineering analysis and portfolio optimization of an anti-surface warfare (ASuW) mission thread using personnel and munitions in the surface, aviation, and space domains was demonstrated via the prototype software. These advanced prototypes provide a broader range of insights (e.g., resource tradeoffs, cost-sensitivity analysis, and the most robust ASuW systems to be acquired in specific portfolios) for stakeholder decision making.
PUBLIC RELEASE
October 2022
COMPLETED
September 2022
AUTHORS: Dr. Mo Mansouri, Dr. Michael McGrath, Dr. Donald Schlomer, Dr. Dinesh Verma, and Dr. Philip S. Antón
STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
The Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS) in the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has come under increasing scrutiny over the past decade, with a particular focus on its latencies. Since a validated requirement is needed before an acquisition program can begin, delays in the JCIDS process were perceived by Congress as adding months or even years to the acquisition cycle. In support of the DoD’s response to Congressional concerns, the Acquisition Innovation Research Center (AIRC) was asked to assess how it can improve the efficiency of developing and approving capability requirements and to develop a model to show the effects of proposed alternatives.
PUBLIC RELEASE
August 2022
COMPLETED
July 2022
AUTHORS: Dr. Melissa Flagg, Ms. Molly Nadolski, Mr. Jose Sanchez, Mr. Tom McDermott, and Dr. Philip S. Antón
STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
We identified the following recommendations and next steps that could begin moving the DoD more towards empowering, creating, identifying, assessing, and adopting operationally significant innovation (rather than attractive innovation that cannot be justified and pursued given limited resources).
PUBLIC RELEASE
March 2022
COMPLETED
October 2021
AUTHORS: Dr. Claudia Stewart, Karrie Wessing, JD, Mr. Michael Ryan, Richard Beutel, JD, and Ms. Sonia Kaestner
GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY
This study develops lean and appropriately customizable Intellectual Property (IP) management modalities that can be fully integrated into acquisition and product support strategies; acquire only the necessary deliverables and license rights at the appropriate times to secure DoD’s interests throughout the product life cycle.
PUBLIC RELEASE
March 2022
COMPLETED
October 2021
AUTHORS: Dr. Laura Freeman and Dr. Brian Mayer
VIRGINIA TECH
Tasked to develop a data and electronic information repository for models, samples, templates, and exemplars of Intellectual Property (IP), through the use of the “FAIR” principles (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability), the team researched government data using a two-tiered approach that explored the requested data fields in the AIRC Performance Work Statement (PWS) and publicly available metadata to create a longitudinal topology of DoD contracting activity.
AIRC Perspectives
PUBLISHED
September 2022
AUTHORS: Dr. Laura Freeman, Dr. Justin Kauffman, Mr. Daniel Sobien, Dr. Tyler Cody, and Dr. Erin Lanus
VIRGINIA TECH
The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and statistical machine learning (ML) into complex systems exposes a variety of challenges in traditional test and evaluation (T&E) practices. As more decisions at varying levels are handled by AI-enabled systems (AIES), we need T&E processes that provide a basis for ensuring system effectiveness, suitability, and survivability.
PUBLISHED
July 2022
AUTHORS: Mr. Thomas A. McDermott Jr.1, Dr. Kaitlin Henderson2, Dr. Eileen Van Aken2, Dr. Alejandro Salado3, and Dr. Joseph Bradley4
STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 1, VIRGINIA TECH 2, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 3, OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY 4
Systems engineering as a discipline has long had difficulty providing quantifiable evidence of its value (Honour 2004); DE transformation provides an opportunity to better measure its value. Transitioning from a document-based to a model-based approach is expensive, and organizations want to know if the effort and cost to adopt MBSE is worth it.
PUBLISHED
June 2022
AUTHORS: Dr. Stoney Trent1, Dr. Hoong Yan See Tao2, Dr. Ying Wang2, Dr. Paul Grogan2and Dr. Christian Lucero1
VIRGINIA TECH1, STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 2
The DoD Data Strategy supports digital modernization and use of data at the speed and scale needed for efficiency and operational advantage. As the future workforce for the DoD, university students studying data science benefit from practical research challenges as part of their education. The Defense Data Grand Prix provides research opportunities that expose students to Defense Acquisition System challenges, decisions, and processes.
PUBLISHED
May 2022
AUTHOR: Dr. Nicole Hutchison
STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
As the DoD transitions to digital engineering, there is a need to develop and maintain an acquisition workforce that is literate in model-based approaches, competent in digital models, methods, and tools, and understands digital artifacts across the acquisition lifecycle. This perspective paper explores those competencies and levels of proficiency needed to support digital transformation.
PUBLISHED
April 2022
AUTHORS: Dr. William B. Rouse1, Dr. Dinesh Verma2, Mr. Thomas A. McDermott, Jr.2, and Dr. Philip S. Antón2
GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY 1, STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 2
Organizations would like to have the flexibility and agility to address the uncertainty of both needs and technologies that results from challenges related to performance, organizational experience, supply chains, etc. This perspective paper outlines and illustrates new ways of thinking and allocating resources that organizations can adopt to address these challenges.
PUBLISHED
March 2022
AUTHOR: Dr. Philip S. Antón
STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Innovation is appealing and attractive, but it is a difficult and risky business. The Department of Defense (DoD) and the commercial sector have long struggled with transitioning and fielding innovative concepts and systems to operational use. Data show that very few innovations are successfully fielded. To tackle innovation, the DoD and its partners have created a range of organizations to pursue and apply innovative concepts.
Incubator Reports
PUBLIC RELEASE
December 2024
COMPLETED
May 2024
AUTHORS: Dr. Azad Madni, Dr. Dan Erwin, Dr. Michael Sievers, Dr. Ayesha Madni
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Critical defense systems are required to be always available for use. An AIRC research team from the University of Southern California spoke with Department of Defense personnel responsible for system maintenance about their current approach to providing and documenting availability-related issues.
PUBLIC RELEASE
October 2024
COMPLETED
July 2024
AUTHORS: Dr. Feng Liu1, Dr. Xinyue Ye2
STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 1, TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY 2
The research behind this report aims to develop a comprehensive decision-making framework that harnesses collective intelligence to effectively determine the optimal integration and collaboration mechanism for responsible agencies within the Department of Defense when tackling complex tasks that entail cross-domain and cross-organizational operations.
PUBLISHED
December 2022
AUTHOR: Dr. Lance Sherry
GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY
Department of Defense (DoD) Acquisitions must ensure that the design/testing (i.e. digital twin) and operational maintenance of fielded systems-of-systems composed of tightly coupled components meets system-of-systems requirements with regard to the Target Level of Safety (TLS) and the risk of hazardous outcomes. Led by Principal Investigator Dr. Lance Sherry (George Mason University) the research team demonstrates the potential for Deep Learning Neural Networks (DLNN) to overcome limitations in system validation testing of complex, time-dependent behavior resulting from the interaction of components over time.
PUBLISHED
December 2022
AUTHORS: Dr. Rob Handfield1, Lt Col Daniel J. Finkenstadt2
NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY 1, NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL 2
The objective of this incubator project is to demonstrate that gamified learning in non-traditional defense contexts (e.g., defense acquisition) can support the Department of Defense (DoD) in improving its workforce education and training. Evidence from empirical research is presented to highlight the opportunities and challenges for advancing military education into the present age through gamified learning methods. Further, two prototype games are presented with one incorporating the Federal Acquisitions Regulations (FAR) related to protest risk and the second related to contingency contracting via interactive scenario generation.
PUBLISHED
November 2022
AUTHORS: Dr. Azad M. Madni, Dr. Dan Erwin
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In this study, led by Principal Investigator Dr. Azad M. Madni of the University of Southern California, a risk-based validation approach was developed and applied to the acquisition of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to detect forest fires. The concept of risk was defined within the context of system acquisition and defined an initial validation metamodel. The system comprises a UAV with a GPS and two cameras that can send photos to a processing facility. The validation method was based on the detection of hot spots and smoke. The central idea was to build a tree to help evaluate what-if analyses, look for overlaps and gaps, and help prioritize validation demonstrations.
PUBLISHED
November 2022
AUTHORS: Dr. Daniel Selva1, Dr. Theodora Chaspari1, Dr. Alejandro Salado2
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY 1, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2
Cognitive assistants (CAs) enable humans to solve complex tasks and problems more efficiently. The goal of this project, led by Principal Investigator (PI) Dr. Daniel Selva (Texas A&M University), was to demonstrate proof of concept for a CA that would assist in training new cost estimators in the Department of Defense (DoD). This CA was developed to provide trainees with interactive, hands-on opportunities to learn concepts, methods, and best practices related to estimating the lifecycle costs of complex systems.
PUBLISHED
October 2022
AUTHORS: Dr. Eric W. Burger, Dr. Robin Dillon-Merrill, Ms. Erika Heeren-Moon, Mr. Franco Forti
GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY
To determine the value of expenditures, businesses use return on investment (ROI) to measure success over time and eliminate the guesswork of future business decisions. The ability to calculate ROI can be beneficial to any business, regardless of its size or industry. Although the Department of Defense (DoD) uses business analytics in its acquisition process, including market research studies and alternative analyses, it does not aim to maximize profits. The DoD instead seeks to increase operational capabilities, make life safer, establish deterrent positions and reduce risk. This research aims to identify opportunities in the DoD acquisition process where ROI calculations can improve the performance of defense acquisitions in cutting-edge technology. The research team, led by Principal Investigator Dr. Eric W. Burger of Georgetown University, believes that the DoD will be able to accelerate contract development, letting and awarding with higher functionality, and lower total cost by adopting best practices of the private sector and non-DoD public sector ROI calculations.
PUBLISHED
October 2022
AUTHOR: Dr. Johnathan Mun
NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL
This current first-phase research looks at how the Department of Defense (DoD) can inculcate institutional corporate memory. Specifically, the research tests and develops recommendations about how a transparent Decisions Options Register (DOR) integrated intelligent database system can be developed, where the DOR helps capture all historical decisions (assumptions, data inputs, constraints, limitations, competing objectives, and decision rules) for programs within the Department of Defense (DoD).
PUBLISHED
September 2022
AUTHORS: Dr. Amanda Girth, Dr. Mike Rayo, Dr. Elizabeth Newton, Mr. Asher Balkin, Ms. Christine Jefferies, Ms. Priyanka Tewani
THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
This pilot study, conducted in partnership with the Air Force Installation Contracting Center (AFICC), developed approaches and initial set of systemic pressures that hinder innovative behavior in the acquisition workforce of the Department of Defense (DoD). An approach was developed to create interventions that mitigate systemic pressures to incentivize lasting behavioral and cultural changes to improve acquisition outcomes in support of the National Defense Strategy.
Annual Report
PUBLIC RELEASE
March 2024
COMPLETED
January 2024
The annual report for fiscal year 2023 discusses AIRC’s work toward designing and piloting the Defense Civilian Training Corps; implementing digital transformation across defense acquisition and sustainment programs; devising reform options for the Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) Commission; and several other initiatives.
PUBLISHED
October 2022
This report reflects on a growth year for AIRC after it was established in September 2020. The sponsor base now includes 13 DoD entities, and initial research projects and investments have matured and produced a large number of practical pilot ideas for tackling some of the DoD’s most enduring organizational challenges for improving acquisition outcomes.
PUBLISHED
September 2021
The Secretary of Defense created the Acquisition Innovation Research Center (AIRC) on September 30, 2020, in response to section 2361(a) of title 10 U.S. Code. AIRC has achieved its goals for its inaugural year, and a breadth of activities have been funded to engage AIRC on key challenges facing the Department of Defense (DoD).
