Office of the Chief Scientist

Overview:

The Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS) is responsible for overseeing basic scientific research at the Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC) and providing an independent assessment of strategic ground vehicle S&T initiatives for the Army.  The Office leads the development of scientific and technical personnel . and works to maintain core technical competencies.  OCS in conjunction with the Office of Research and Technical Application (ORTA) leads the monthly Invention Evaluation Committee, where GVSC developed inventions, and joint inventions with academia and external agencies are vetted and selected for patent filings. The Office coordinates GVSC’s R&D efforts with those of the National Science Foundation (NSF), other government laboratories, academia, industry and international partners to ensure mission relevance and a balanced ground vehicle technical portfolio.  Dr. David Gorsich is the Chief Scientist (david.j.gorsich.civ@army.mil), and Dr. Phil Frederick is the Deputy Chief Scientist (philip.a.frederick.civ@army.mil ).

Ground Vehicle Modeling & Simulation Alliance (GVMSA)

The US military is undergoing rapid transformation in response to emerging global threats. To address this challenge, the OCS has created a Ground Vehicle Modeling & Simulation Alliance (GVMSA) bringing together university research centers that have a relationship with GVSC and are focused on digital engineering, virtual prototyping, and the modeling and simulation of ground vehicle systems.

Academic Programs:

The OCS Vision for GVSC University Programs is to drive GVSC’s interactions with academia to tackle our fundamental challenges and gaps, to develop our future work force, and to enhance and maintain GVSC’s associates technical competency by effectively collaborating with world class research institutions and researchers.

GVSC Academic Programs Approach:

GVSC collaborates with universities in a hands-on fashion. University projects utilize a quad structure.  Every project has four entities associated with it: a university faculty member, a graduate student, a GVSC/Government member, and an industry advisory member.  The government quad member ensures that the research aligns with mission and that the research is transitioned to the Government. The industry quad members help ensure that industry benefits from this government investment with direct technology transition.  The students gain an understanding of the needs of both the Army and industry and have the opportunity to work in GVSC laboratories during the course of the project. Additional information on some of the larger efforts is below.

Automotive Research Center (ARC): University of Michigan. The ARC is a university-based U.S. Army Center of Excellence for Modeling and Simulation of Ground Vehicle Systems.  The ARC was formed in 1994 and is currently led by Dr. Bogdan Epureanu of the University of Michigan (UM) and Dr. David Gorsich (GVSC).  The ARC includes five thrust areas: Vehicle Controls and Behaviors; Human-Autonomy Interaction; Advanced Structures and Materials; Intelligent Power Systems; and Systems of Systems & Integration.  In addition to UM, the universities included in the ARC are Clemson University, Michigan Technological University, Mississippi State University, Oakland University, University of Alabama at Birmingham, University of Iowa, Virginia Technological University, University of California, Irvine, George Mason University, Central Michigan University, Michigan State University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Wayne State University.

The Virtual Prototyping of Ground Systems (VIPR-GS) Center: Clemson University. The VIPR-GS focuses on Virtual Prototyping and Digital Engineering. The Center includes more than 65 Clemson faculty across seven engineering departments on a multi-year research partnership with GVSC to develop virtual prototyping tools supporting the rapid transformation of U.S. Army fleets. The research is focused on autonomy-enabled ground vehicles, including digital engineering, next-generation propulsion and energy systems, and manned and unmanned teaming in unknown off-road environments. The Center also has a unique immersive graduate program, Deep Orange, a two year, hands on accelerated vehicle development program. Deep Orange 13-14 is developing an autonomy-enabled, optionally remote-controlled, non-combat, off-road ground vehicle in conjunction with GVSC.   VIPR-GS – Virtual Prototyping – Ground Systems (clemson.edu)

Dr. Zoran Filipi, the Timken Endowed Chair in Vehicle System Design and also the Chair of the Department of Automotive Engineering at Clemson University, is a member of the Virtual Prototyping of Ground Systems (VIPR-GS) Center’s leadership team. In his role, he is the director of the VIPR-GS Center. Here is a short video discussing VIPR-GS. VIPR-GS

The Autonomous Vehicle Mobility Institute (AVMI): Worcester Polytechnic Institute. AVMI is dedicated to autonomous vehicle mobility R&D in severe terrain conditions and adversarial environments. The goal of this effort is to contribute to the development of a new generation of combat vehicles and to assume a leading role in academic education and research among NATO nations. Advanced technology in this area includes different levels of autonomy of unmanned ground systems; autonomous vehicles and vehicle autonomous sub-system design for integrated intelligent mobility; effective development and application of artificial intelligence and common control of the unmanned ground and aircraft systems; and training warfighters in the gaming military settings based on realistic interactions between autonomous vehicle and environment, artificial and human intelligence. Autonomous Vehicle Mobility Institute (AVMI) | Worcester Polytechnic Institute (wpi.edu)

Modernization of Integrated Technology for Ground Systems (MINT-GS): Wichita State University. The mission of the MINT-GS program is to develop innovative tools, methodologies and qualification framework for advanced manufacturing processes and materials, allowing for the modernization and sustainment of ground vehicle and ground vehicle components. It supports GVSC’s mission to provide the warfighter with enhanced capabilities and to ensure readiness.

In support of a path to delivery of advanced manufacturing parts, the MINT-GS program converges basic and applied research in four primary areas:

• Development of ground vehicle parts for advanced manufacturing processes and material
• Material development and process control for advanced manufacturing processes
• Rapid qualification of materials and parts for advanced manufacturing processes
• Implementation of an integrated digital environment for digital twin development and sustainment

Digital Design Research, Analysis, and Manufacturing (D2REAM Center @ UConn): University of Connecticut.

The DREAM Center at the University of Connecticut is an academic-government-industry partnership aimed at enabling the development of groundbreaking Modeling and Simulation (M&S) capabilities to support advanced structural digital design and manufacturing and discovery of metamaterials for the next generation of Army ground vehicle systems. Furthermore, the Center will use the strong research ecosystems at UConn to build a partnership between academia, government and industry and will train talented x` and thought leaders for government and industry. Research thrust areas include Advanced Structures and Materials, Design and Virtual Prototyping of Engineered Systems, Advanced Manufacturing and Processing, and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven Approaches for Product Development.

The Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems (CAVS): Mississippi State University: CAVS is a world-class technology development center comprised of engineering, research, development, and technology transfer teams. Founded in 2002, CAVS is committed to exploring solutions to complex problems, in areas such as autonomous vehicles, materials science, high-performance computing, advanced controls, and human-machine interaction.

In-House Laboratory Independent Research (ILIR)

Every DoD R&D laboratory is funded to provide an ILIR program to support in-house, innovative, basic research efforts.  The primary goals of the ILIR program are the performance of high-quality research in support of laboratory missions and the enhancement of factors that contribute to the recruitment and retention of outstanding scientists and engineers.

GVSC executes the ILIR program as required on a yearly basis.  In July of each year, a Request for Proposals for ILIR projects is sent to all GVSC Associates.  Typically 30-50 proposals are received for projects that will begin on October 1 of the next fiscal year.  Proposals are reviewed by a team of Subject Matter Experts made up from the OCS, the Senior Technical Experts, and external reviewers.  The reviewers evaluate the proposed research plan and the basic nature of the research and select 10-15 projects for funding.  Each investigator(s) must deliver a midterm and final presentation and write a final report.  The collection of Final Reports with a cover letter signed by the GVSC Director is submitted to DEVCOM for further distribution.

NATO

The OCS works with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Science and Technology Organization (NATO STO).  Dr. Gorsich is the Principal Panel Member for the Applied Vehicle Technology (AVT) Panel.  Several GVSC associates serve on AVT committees. The projects led by GVSC since 2014 are the following:

• ET-148: Exploratory Team on the Development of a Next Generation NATO Reference Mobility Model (NG-NRMM). 2014-2015
• AVT-248: Development of a NG-NRMM. 2016-2019
• AVT-308: Cooperative Demonstration of Technology (CDT) on NG-NRMM. 2018-2022
• AVT-327: Standard Recommendation on NG-NRMM. 2019-2021
• ET-194: Exploratory Team on Assessment Methods and Tools for Autonomous Military Ground Systems. 2019
• AVT-341: Assessment Methods and Tools for Autonomous Military Ground Systems. 2020-2023
• ET-237: Emerging Propulsion Technologies for NATO Ground Vehicle Platforms Systems
• AVT-380: Ground Vehicle Ride Quality Testing and Analysis with Complex Terrain

The Technical Cooperation Program (TTCP)

Dr. Gorsich is a member of TTCP, a long-standing international organization concerned with cooperation on defense science and technology matters, including national security and civil defense. Its membership includes Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the US.  In 2022 Dr. Gorsich was named the lead for the Land Platforms group that includes Survivability, Lethality and Mobility Key Technical Areas.

Digital Engineering (DE)

The Army has identified Digital Transformation as the “overarching framework” for becoming “a more ready, lethal, and modern force by 2028; it faces unprecedented challenges in modernizing its platforms and weapons systems, but also its business processes, and workforce.” As part of that effort, an Army Science Board was initiated entitled “An Independent Assessment of the Army Implementation of Digital Engineering.” Dr. Gorsich was named as a Government Advisor to the ASB. As of the spring of 2023, Dr. Gorsich was also placed on Special Temporary Assignment to assist ASA(DES) with establishing a Digital Engineering Strategy for the Army.