Director of the Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency
(ARPA) Gary Denman yesterday announced the winners of the 1994 ARPA Director's
Awards. These awards, which have been presented since 1985, are designed to
reward and encourage excellence among scientists and engineers working with and
for ARPA.
Norman Ortwein, of the Research, Development, Test and Evaluation Division of
the Naval Command Control and Ocean Surveillance Center, San Diego, Calif.,
received the Director's Award for Sustained Excellence by a Government Agent in
recognition of his continuous performance well above standards. Ortwein's
exceptional leadership and management skills, and his positive "can do"
attitude effectively helped ARPA program managers to quickly begin and
efficiently manage the Micro-Global Positioning Satellite program, the
High-Speed A/D Converter Program and the ULTRA Electronics Program. Denman
noted, "Mr. Ortwein is an effective agent in discharging his responsibilities
to the government and the U.S. taxpayer. His contracting experience enabled
him to negotiate significant cost savings in contracts for these key ARPA
efforts."
Denman recognized Barry Gilbert and the High-Speed Signal Processing Group of
the Mayo Foundation, Rochester, Minn., with the Director's Award for Sustained
Excellence by a Contractor. He noted that the team's sustained technical
support of advanced technology development was above the high standards
expected by ARPA, and resulted in key technical accomplishments. The
performance of Gilbert and his team permitted rare successes in important
microelectronics and electronics packaging programs at ARPA.
Three Director's Awards for Significant Technical Achievement were awarded.
The first, to Lambertus Hesselink of Stanford University's Center for Nonlinear
Optical Materials, was given in recognition of his demonstration of the first
fully automated digital holographic data storage system. Hesselink managed to
overcome the roadblocks that in the past have prevented previous researchers
from making a working holographic data storage system. This type of storage
system is characterized by large capacities, short access times, and large
transfer rates. Hesselink's work was a key university research contribution to
an important application. His use of digital signal processing was the key to
his success.
The Multimode Processing Array Project Team of Hughes Space and Communications
Co., El Segundo, Calif., also received the Director's Award for Significant
Technical Achievement, in recognition of their development of a 20 Gigahertz
digital beamforming phased-array antenna module that provides the basis for a
lightweight downlink transmit antenna for Milstar-class satellites. The team's
dedication, and the willingness of Hughes to cost-share the development of this
important technology, was instrumental in the successful demonstration of the
antenna module in June 1994. Their single module meets all the downlink
requirements of the 13 antennas used on today's Milstar satellite, and will be
able to reduce the size, weight and volume of future satellites.
Denman also awarded the X-31 Enhanced Maneuverability Team of Rockwell
International and Deutsche Aerospace his Director's Award for Significant
Technical Achievement in recognition of the team's many demonstrated
achievements and aerospace "firsts." Denman mentioned John Perry of Rockwell
and Peter Huber of Deutsche Aerospace as company program managers. The team
demonstrated: significant agility at extremely high angles of attack; agile
and carefree handling within the full post-stall flight regime; the significant
combat value of these advanced technologies during engagements with a modern
front-line fighter aircraft; and, the effectiveness of thrust vectoring for
stability and control at supersonic speed.
Denman also noted the achievements of two key ARPA program managers, presenting
Colonel Robert Reddy, USA, and Kaigham J. Gabriel with Director's Awards for
Special Achievement.
Reddy received the award for Outstanding Accomplishment in the Systems Arena in
recognition of his management of the Advanced Distributed Simulation Program.
This program is the largest and fastest growing simulation technology
development effort Defense-wide. His unique ability to harness future
technology to meet real-world Defense requirements has been key to the
program's successes. Denman indicated, "Bob Reddy's efforts will reach
fruition next month, with the Synthetic Theater of War-Europe, a key part of
Exercise Atlantic Resolve 94. This will be the largest, single, distributed
simulation exercise ever conducted, and will involve all three Services
operating from 16 geographically distributed sites worldwide."
Gabriel's award was for Significant Technology Innovation (or Scientific
Finding) in recognition of his efforts with the Microelectromechanical Systems
(MEMS) program. Reddy's exceptional management and technical knowledge moved
the program from a modest start to a nearly $30-million, 30-project effort.
Denman noted, "Ken Gabriel has taken ARPA's MEMS program from a laboratory
technology to a core manufacturing capability for the next decade, and he did
this in just two years. He has also served as an excellent spokesman for MEMS
technology at workshops and conferences."
The awards were presented during ARPA's Seventeenth Systems and Technology
Symposium in San Francisco.
