YEAR IN REVIEW | MAY - JUNE 2014

REAL-WORLD, RELEVANT RESEARCH

Research at the Naval Postgraduate School is performed in support of our students’ pursuit of graduate education, but our students are officers of U.S. Armed Forces, and each of them enters the university with a wealth of operational experience to apply to their theses. Student research at NPS, like its academic programs, is grounded in relevance to real-world, national security challenges.

Take an unthinkable example … a terrorist organization acquires a weapon of mass destruction (WMD) utilizing chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) agents. How do we work with our maritime partners, across international borders, to detect, track and neutralize such a threat?

This question, and all its complexity, lies at the heart of NPS Department of Information Sciences Professor Alex Bordetsky’s research into improving WMD intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). Bordetsky brought together an international team of NPS students, U.S., Polish and Norwegian Special Forces, NATO observers and industry representatives to conduct a large-scale WMD ISR experimentation program at sites throughout Northwest Poland, May 6-12, 2014.

The program was conducted in several phases, and included efforts in Sensitive Site Exploitation, wave relay networking with gamma detector integration, ad hoc networking across large distances, and robotic system and autonomous underwater vehicle integration.

“We are looking at all of the different components, at various levels, that are necessary to conduct WMD ISR,” Bordetsky said. “In our current experiments, we are experiencing a rapid, collective design process because we are working in conjunction with real operators, in action, who are adopting the technology solutions that we are integrating in real time.”

Real operators, seeking real solutions, for rapid integration … a true characteristic of student research at the Naval Postgraduate School.

On May 2, 2014, the Senate confirms NPS alumnus Robert O. Work as Deputy Secretary of Defense. A retired Marine Corps colonel, Work graduated from the university’s space systems operations program in 1990.

Representatives of the U.S. Army Pacific Command present students in NPS’ War Gaming Applications class with a plaque recognizing their significant contributions in supporting operational and strategic planning efforts for a recent joint theater exercise, May 28, 2014.

NPS leadership join Naval Nuclear Propulsion Director Adm. John Richardson, right, in presenting Naval Reactors Professional Development Program graduates Lt. j.g. Steven Holdcroft, center, and Lt. j.g. James Steele, second from right, with their Mechanical Engineering master’s degrees at the Washington Navy Yard in May 2014.

Marine Corps students participating in the Motivating Others Through Outreach (MOTO) program gather for a group photo with Central Coast High School (CCHS) students during the CCHS graduation ceremony, June 6, 2014. MOTO is a student-led mentoring and outreach program dedicated to the local school for at-risk youth.