ANTX's initial planning meeting at Innovate Newport demonstrates the power of collaboration> Naval Sea Systems Command> Saved News Module

It was only fitting that the Newport division of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) is hosting the initial planning meeting for the Advanced Naval Technology Exercise (ANTX) this year from February 20-21 at Innovate Newport. A renowned naval event showcasing the power of collaboration, communication and innovation, ANTX 2020 will be the sixth edition of the annual event. Innovating Newport, both in physical space and in the nature of Newport Division's ability to use it, embodies many of these same concepts.

"Innovate Newport provides an accessible and professional environment to foster collaboration," said ANTX director Peter Hardro. "By bringing together a large number of diverse organizations, we encourage collaboration and deepen reflection on how their technology could fit into the wider framework of the Navy."

Over 60 briefs were presented by dozens of businesses, academia and government agencies during the two-day event. Hosting the event at Innovate Newport was made possible through the Newport Division's Partnership Agreement (PIA) with the City of Newport. This is the first major event organized by the Newport division at Innovate Newport since the official launch of the 401 Tech Bridge on December 16.

During this event, a PIA was signed between the Newport Division and the Polaris Manufacturing Extension Partnership. This agreement also allows Newport Division to partner with the University of Rhode Island, the Composites Alliance of Rhode Island and the RI Textile Innovation Network to reach businesses and educational institutions to pursue collaborative research opportunities. On February 21, Steve Bordonaro, director of the 401 Tech Bridge, provided updates on how things are progressing with the Tech Bridge.

"So far, everything has been fine," said Bordonaro, director of Tech Bridge since November 2019. "Our goal has been to reach out to other entities in the region. We have also been technical scouts with an interservice team which includes the army and the air force. "

Bordonaro also briefed attendees on the progress made in the construction of the 401 Tech Bridge facility on the Polaris MEP campus in Portsmouth. This included a series of slides with renderings of what the space might look like. It will be the third space designated for work on the 401 Tech bridge, as well as an office at CIC in Providence and a work space at the Fascitelli Center for Advanced Engineering of URI. For the latest information on technical bridges, go to www.secnav.navy.mil/agility or https://www.secnav.navy.mil/agility/Pages/techbridges.aspx.

"We envision setting up Portsmouth as a place to challenge and organize pitch days, among other opportunities. There will be twin laboratories with each side having a dirty space and a clean space, ”said Bordonaro. "It is not as much a business incubator as a project incubator or accelerator." If they are working on a project there, it would live on the technological bridge throughout its life cycle. "

In addition to its function as a workspace, the Portsmouth space will also provide some sort of physical storefront for the 401 Tech Bridge. Bordonaro said it is an important element in attracting companies and universities that would not have generally worked with the Ministry of Defense (DoD) in the past.

"The idea of ​​working with the DoD was very daunting for some of these small businesses. A company sees this large base with a door and may think it is not a welcoming environment, "said Bordonaro. "These companies are beginning to see, through efforts like the 401 Tech Bridge, other transactional authorities (OTA) and the Prix Challenges, that the barriers are not as difficult as they used to be. It brings a whole range of possibilities into the mix that the DoD has traditionally not exploited at all. "

As Bordonaro pointed out, OTAs and price disputes are helping to attract a wider variety of companies to help the Navy solve some of its most difficult problems.

"OTAs allow for even greater collaboration," said Chris Kenney, head of the Contract Policy Division and responsible for OTA agreements in his brief. "People are always talking about speed with OTAs, but getting this collaboration and communication is what we really want."

In her speech, Kenney explained how OTAs enable flexible, efficient and agile acquisitions for emerging research and prototyping through a streamlined and accelerated process. He added that the only two main conditions of eligibility are that the project must lead to a prototype corresponding to the mission of the Newport Division and that the companies must be members of the Consortium of underwater technological innovation. Calls for themes are organized twice a year in April and October.

"We are continuously working to align ANTX to OTA," said Hardro. "Last year our ANTX event focused on submarine security, which included port defense technologies, unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) and similar ideas. Based on what was demonstrated during last year's ANTX, we subsequently requested an OTA topic called "cheap and deep", which seeks component systems and solutions which can go deep at low cost. This is just one of the ways that ANTX is used to generate topics for OTA. "

Price disputes, another alternative to traditional contracting, were presented by senior contracting officer Chris Hebert. Every Tuesday and Thursday, government-wide contests are updated on Challenge.gov as members of the public compete to help the U.S. government solve some of its biggest and smallest problems.

Last year, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and the Newport Division collaborated to find Navy problems with industry to solve the very first NAVSEA Challenge Prize. Three issues were reported to Challenge.gov and Innovate Newport on December 16. Goetz Composites of Bristol, Response Technologies of West Warwick and Spencer Composites of Sacramento, California, were announced as winners.

"We received over 30 submissions, and with the help of Innovate Newport, we were able to invite companies to present and ask questions directly," said Maria Medeiros, ONR Program Manager for Advanced Power and Energy Undersea Applications, Naval. Corporate partnership teaming up with universities for national excellence and underwater naval research. "These three companies will receive $ 250,000 for six months to find a workable product."

NUWC Newport is a U.S. Navy shore command with Naval Sea Systems Command, which designs, builds and supports the U.S. fleet of combat vessels and systems. NUWC Newport provides research, development, testing and evaluation, engineering and fleet support for submarines, autonomous submarine systems, offensive weapons systems and submarine defensive and countermeasures associated with submarine warfare.

NUWC Newport is the country's oldest war center, dating back to the Naval Torpedo Station established on the Isle of Goat in the port of Newport in 1869. Commanded by Captain Michael Coughlin, NUWC Newport maintains large detachments in West Palm Beach, Florida and Andros Island in the Bahamas, as well as testing facilities at Seneca Lake and Fisher's Island, New York, Leesburg, Florida, and Dodge Pond, Connecticut.