On The Road
Army Science Conference 2004
By Ric Kositzke, Technical Writer, ARL MSRC/Raytheon
Somewhere along his 16-hour, 950-mile trek behind the wheel of an immense box truck destined for Orlando, Fla., Robert Horner, Support Specialist, Raytheon, feasted on his Thanksgiving meal: a strip of turkey jerky.
Horner, among a slew of ARL MSRC team members who shined before, during, and after the 24th Army Science Conference, bypassed Thanksgiving in his home to instead transport high performance computers, high-definition 3-D displays, monitors, video equipment and miles of supporting cable.
“Being an integral part of the ARL MSRC team means that sometimes you must put aside your personal needs in order to accomplish a mission,” said Horner. “In order for the conference to be a success, the team needed equipment at the site early on Nov. 26.”
Horner’s outstanding performance was duplicated many times as other team members—from the Scientific Visualization team debugging interactive demos late into the night to staff working around the clock installing power, networking and high-end computing to meet the Nov. 29 conference opening deadline—ensured the Army HPC booth exceeded expectations.
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| The 20' X 45' MESDA display |
Emerging Technologies
The objective of the conference is to provide the opportunity for the Army Science and Technology community to demonstrate leading-edge technology and computational capabilities in developing emerging technologies and their impact on the warfighter of the future. To do so, the ARL MSRC Integrated Work Teams worked tirelessly to make the exhibit both relevant and cutting-edge. Successes include:
- Creating a 15' X 40', interactive nulti-sensory environment with 3-D images yo demonstrate a firefight in Iraq.
- Configuring a broadband high-speed network to allow conference attendees to execute complex computations on armor piercing rounds using network access from Orlando back to the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.
- Creating a 3-D interactive demo that allowed conference attendees to simulate the effects of a terrorist explosion inside a building.
- Demonstrating the ability to perform remote 3D interactive, scientific visualizations of large data sets.
As a result of the exceptional work, many DoD attendees and dignitaries left Orlando very impressed. “The overwhelming success of the 24th Army Science Conference was, in large part, a direct result of all the hard work, effort and energy that ARL MSRC team members and partners from ERDC MSRC, Aberdeen Test Center, AHPCRC, TARDEC, and many others, put into the Army HPC exhibit. I never cease to be amazed at the dedication and can-do attitude of the entire staff each time we think up new and bigger things to do,” said Charles J. Nietubicz, Director of the ARL MSRC.
“The ARL MSRC Roadshow continues to be larger and technically more advanced with each of the many conferences it supports,” said Tom Brezee, Deputy Program Manager, Raytheon. “The team puts in countless hours to demonstrate the power of High Performance Computing in answering the challenges that face the warfighter and the DoD community as they protect our freedoms.”
A few days after the conference ended, Horner was behind the wheel again, leading a convoy of trucks and vehicles as they retraced the long path back to Maryland. This time the turkey jerky didn’t make the trip.