Category Archives: News

Johns Hopkins University WSE and KSAS has been awarded up to $30 million to lead a consortium of three Mid-Atlantic universities that will work together on research projects with the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

The program, called the Professional Research Experience Program, will combine educational programs with real-world experiences to help students understand industry demands and advance measurement science.

The five-year program will involve undergraduate and graduate students as well as post-doctoral fellows, faculty, and academic affiliates. It will be led by the university’s Whiting School of Engineering and Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, which will work closely with the other members of the consortium, Morgan State University and State University of New York at Binghamton.

“The science and engineering posture across these three universities connects synergistically with many of the research thrust areas directly tied to National Institute of Standards and Technology laboratories and facilities,” said Larry Nagahara, associate dean of research for the Whiting School and the program’s technical coordinator.

Nagahara also said it’s programs like this that will help educate and train a workforce that can solve complex technology-based problems of the 21st century.

Previously, these three universities have worked together to research such topics as oyster aquaculture and marine animal health assessments; cold formed steel and how it reacts in earthquakes and fire; and standards for regenerative medicine.

“This partnership represents efforts to move from conventional university-style training to integrated field training,” Nagahara said. “It also leverages existing infrastructures and technologies across the universities and the institute to attract and retain young talent in STEM fields.”

The National Institute of Standards and Technology was created in 1901 to improve the domestic measurement infrastructure that lagged behind the capabilities of the United Kingdom, Germany, and other economic rivals at the time. It has since become the foundational source of technology, measurement, and standards for many of the products and services the United States relies on, including the smart electric power grid, atomic clocks, and computer chips.

The AFOSR (Air Force Office of Scientific Research) currently has an open BAA (Broad Agency Announcement) which may be of interest to WSE faculty and staff. This announcement will remain open until superseded.

Recently, two program officers from AFOSR provided an overview of their office and the funding opportunities that are periodically offered at WSE for faculty. On May 3, Drs. Sofi Bin-Salomon and Ali Sayir, discussed the office and the process for how funding is awarded. AFOSR is a small office which generally provides funding in small amounts. Both Bin-Salomon and Sayir suggested the best way to engage AFOSR is to approach program officers directly by sharing an idea. AFOSR’s mission is to discover, shape, and champion basic science that profoundly impacts the future Air Force.

For more information on the BAA, please visit the link here.

Additionally, the Department of Defense has a MURI (Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative) Award open, which addresses high risk basic research and attempts to understand or achieve something that has never been done before. The program was initiated over 25 years ago and it has regularly produced significant scientific breakthroughs with far reaching consequences to the fields of science, economic growth, and revolutionary new military technologies. MURI program managers are approachable and happy to have a discussion about your work and ideas about future research prior to your submission.

More information about the award can be found here.

MURI Award Deadlines:

• White Paper Deadline: Monday, July 17, 2017, 11:59 p.m. EDT
  (All questions and inquiries must be received by June 30, 2017)
• Proposal Deadline: Wednesday, November 1, 2017, 11:59 p.m. EDT
  (All questions and inquiries must be received by October 11, 2017)

The Commercial and Government Program Office (CGPO) is available to assist you with proposal development, drafting white papers, or to help coordinate critical conversations between you and AFOSR or MURI program managers, if desired. CGPO is designed to serve as a liaison for partnerships between WSE, government, and industry. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us for assistance.

For CGPO assistance, please contact Jennean Everett, CGPO Project Manager, at jeverett@jhu.edu or 410-992-7304 ext. 207.

Curtis Johnson, of Blue Origin, spoke to Johns Hopkins students and faculty on April 25, about the future of space exploration and two of Blue Origin’s vehicles – the New Shepard, currently in operation, and the New Glenn. The speech was part of the CGPO Speaker Series, a series of speakers that focused on the topic of space during the 2016-2017 academic year.

Johnson started out running his own company, working on government contracts in the space arena, and then 10 years ago decided to work for Blue Origin.

“I realized if I’m going to make hardware that flies, I need to go to one of the entrepreneurial companies,” Johnson said.

He describes Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos’ vision as “to enable a future where millions of people are living and working in space.”

Blue Origin is focused on building operationally reusable launch systems in order to reduce the cost of access to space. The New Shepard rocket demonstrated reusability when it became the first rocket to go to space then come back and land vertically. The same rocket completed this mission four more times showing how the same hardware can be reused.

New Glenn is Blue Origin’s orbital launch vehicle. Johnson is in charge of all propulsion for New Glenn, which is currently in design. Its first stage will be reusable. The vehicle will be fully orbital and is designed to carry people and payloads into space. Blue Origin recently broke ground on the facility in Florida that will be used to manufacture the New Glenn vehicle. The facility is expected to be complete in late 2017.

The company has recently completed assembly on its first BE-4 rocket engine, with the second and third engine following close behind. Seven BE-4 engines will power the New Glenn rocket and give it a total of 3.85 million pounds of thrust.

Johnson noted that Blue Origin is interested in hiring a mix of young and experienced workers, and is now hiring a lot of people right out of school. The company leadership looks for candidates with a passion in space, people who are tinkerers and have created things, and understand the persistence it takes to make things work.

Dear Whiting School community,

I am pleased to invite you to the third CGPO Speaker Series event for the 2016 to 2017 academic year, featuring a discussion with Curtis Johnson, of Blue Origin, on Tuesday, April 25, in Charles Commons, Salon A. He will give a speech titled “Blue Origin’s Reusable Rockets.” The series is designed to support CGPO’s mission to foster collaborative research between JHU institutions, the federal government, and the commercial sector, aimed at large scale research initiatives, especially in the areas of space, biomedical and medical applications.

Blue Origin’s long term goal is to help enable millions of people living and working in space. Currently, Blue is developing reusable rockets to reduce the cost of accessing space and improve safety. Johnson will review progress with the New Shepard sub-orbital launch system and discuss future plans with the New Glenn Orbital rocket. He will provide insight for what it is like to work for a fast paced, innovative company like Blue Origin.

The series is free to all students, faculty, and staff. Each speaker will provide a glimpse into the current and future space arena sharing new technologies, trends, forecasts, and national research needs and opportunities.

I hope you will join me and Curtis Johnson for a discussion about space research.

Sincerely,

Peter Zeender

CGPO Executive Director