2013-2014 Assessment of the Army Research Laboratory (2015)

Summary

The statement of task that guided the work of the Army Research Laboratory Technical Assessment Board (ARLTAB) is as follows:

During the 2013-2014 assessment, the ARLTAB was assisted by five panels, each of which focused on the portion of the ARL program conducted in one of ARL’s core technical competencies: materials sciences, ballistics sciences, information sciences, human sciences, and mechanical sciences. This report summarizes the findings of the Board for the 2013-2014 biennial assessment and as such subsumes the 2013 interim report.¹

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¹ National Research Council, 2014, 2013-2014 Assessment of the Army Research Laboratory: Interim Report, Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press.

MATERIALS SCIENCES

ARL’s materials sciences span the spectrum of technology maturity and address Army applications, working from the state of the art to the art of the possible, according to the ARL. Materials research efforts and expertise are spread throughout the ARL enterprise. As the ensemble of the materials discipline and capabilities, materials science is one of ARL’s primary core technical competencies.

Overall, the researchers and the management are of high caliber. Researchers appeared ebullient and passionate about their work. Most of the projects presented are excellent. The scientific soundness and the use of the fundamental sciences are outstanding. It is commendable that the ARL materials sciences area comprises a good mix of talents, ranging from experienced, savvy scientists and engineers to bright, early-career professionals. The project portfolio fits well with global thrusts and the national agenda, with research projects falling at the intersection of the pillar technologies of biotechnology, nanotechnology, advanced materials, energy, and the environment.

In today’s fast-moving technological landscape, additional opportunity is presented by the challenge of effectively utilizing commercial technologies, particularly in the areas of wearability, mobility, and connectivity, which are critical to the well-being of soldiers. A systematic, structured effort to scout technologies from the private sector to complement in-house projects will be highly rewarding.

As technology marches on at an unprecedented pace, it will be important that new approaches to shortening the research cycle from science to useful product are always on ARL’s radar. A concerted effort to understand future needs and to craft projects relevant to the future is the ultimate challenge and opportunity.

Researchers need to make deliberate efforts to analyze data and contemplate the theories that are behind the observed physical phenomena, test data, and modeling systems so they can effectively design the path forward for each project. Given the many exciting experimental and computationally derived results that were reported during this review, efforts to analyze data and contemplate theories relating to the data and models will further optimize the progress of research. As a first step toward this goal, the comprehensive deliberation of data analysis should be highlighted in the research efforts. This does not necessarily mean the use of advanced computational tools, but rather the incorporation of even simple mathematical analysis to further uncover trends and correlations in data, and deep diving into plausible fundamental theories. This will help advance both the materials by design paradigm and the demand paradigm.

To further document the competitive posture of the ARL research programs vis-à-vis those of comparable organizations, formal metrics are needed to enable comparison of ARL research activities with those of other government-owned research laboratories in the United States and overseas.

Working toward making the Army the best Army for 2035 and toward ARL becoming a top choice for researchers to pursue careers, further raising the ARL’s national and international stature is a high priority. To this end, ARL’s stature will rely on performing premier research, high productivity, the ability to attract and retain the best and brightest talents, effective communication with and dissemination of the research findings to the scientific community, and the eventual deployment of research results to Army applications. The review materials and presentations provided to the Board did not clearly explain what ARL has accomplished by way of providing better armament.

Collaboration efforts have been demonstrated both across ARL and externally. The leadership’s success in recruiting energetic early-career talent is evident. Staff supporting all the projects reviewed are engaged in upward collaborative efforts to various degrees; this is commendable. More excellence can be achieved by working on the efficiency of collaboration to deliver additional focus, quality, and selection of projects. Internal collaboration across the divisions and directorates is as beneficial as extramural

collaboration. ARL’s move toward using a framework based on science and technology (S&T) campaign plans can enhance such collaborations.²

Biomaterials, Energy Materials and Devices, and Photonic Materials and Devices

The researchers and the management are of high caliber and deserve kudos. Researchers appeared ebullient and passionate about their work. Most of the projects presented are excellent and are having a pervasive impact. The scientific soundness and the use of the fundamental sciences are outstanding. Some of the projects in the portfolio are particularly impressive. The biomaterials group is making noteworthy progress, following the ARLTAB’s previous suggestions to recruit a new branch chief and to begin to establish a long-term program in biotechnology. The project on synthetic biomolecular materials is enormously significant by addressing the Army’s needs in situation awareness and force protection in the areas of on-demand production of biomolecular sensing materials in response to new and emerging hazardous threat materials and functional biomolecular materials that are stable in austere environments, persistent surveillance, and ubiquitous sensing. The project has already shown success by developing iterative and integrated multiscale computational biology capabilities—this is top-notch research. The project has also demonstrated for the first time rapid development of peptides as synthetic alternatives to antibody-based bioreceptors, which are difficult to produce and maintain in the field. The use of biogenerated fuel to drive a fuel cell and generate a periodic power boost is another research project important to the Army.

ARL is a technology-driven and warfighter-focused institution; developing technologies to deliver ubiquitous power and energy for warfighters is a compelling mission. The project on hydrogen production from water by photosystem for use as fuel in energy conversion devices offers promise. The project on nonnoble metal catalysts for alkaline fuel cells studies the catalysts supported on graphene. Impressive power density (300 mWcm⁻² at 60°C) was demonstrated using a Pt-free cathode with an anode of standard carbon-supported Pt. When the performance can be improved further and stability demonstrated, this could represent a significant breakthrough. For lightweight, quiet, efficient, and reliable power sources for Army applications to enhance soldier combat capability, the project on fuel cells for military applications tests and evaluates commercial technologies, namely, direct methanol fuel cell and solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) systems. Fuel cells reduce weight and decrease the logistic burden associated with batteries. The 300 W SOFC systems, operated on propane, can be thermally cycled more than 40 times between room temperature and 800°C without significant degradation and can be heated to 800°C in less than 10 minutes. The system was successfully tested in an unmanned aerial vehicle. This has much potential for Army applications.

In the area of photonic materials and devices, the accomplishments of the project on electromagnetic modeling of quantum-well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs) are laudable. The model described explains the quantum efficiency (QE) of all existing detector structures, including the most advanced optical effects, and expresses the detector QE in terms of the material’s absorption coefficient and the volumetric integral of vertical electric field. Because affordable, high-speed, high-resolution, long-wavelength infrared (IR) cameras are critically important to the Army’s night vision, large-area surveillance, and navigation in degraded vision environments, the success of this project is of enormous value. As a leader in QWIP technology, ARL can leverage this achievement to develop advanced technology and to brand its leadership.

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² Army Research Laboratory, September 2014, Army Research Laboratory. S&T Campaign Plans. 2015-2035, Adelphi, Md.: Army Research Laboratory, http://www.arl.army.mil/www/default.cfm?page=2401.

Another high-impact project is developing a low-cost, III-V, direct-bandgap long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) detector for night-vision technology. LWIR detection is a niche Army technology requiring dedicated equipment and highly specialized skills and tools. The research involves the growth of defect-free unstrained and unrelaxed InAsSb material on binary substrates such as GaSb, InSb, or InAs. This Ga-free InAsSb detector is expected to be a disruptive technology for the LWIR field and to potentially replace the costly II-VI-based technologies.

In ARL’s physical facilities, state-of-the-art equipment and instruments are available to perform quality research work, and there is a high level of material characterization capability—for example, ultrafast terahertz (THz), nanonuclear magnetic resonance (nano-NMR), time-resolved ultraviolet (UV) materials growth and characterization—and a clean room fuel-cell laboratory, all of which are supported by trained and knowledgeable personnel. Synergistic capabilities could be strengthened further through the tie-in of facilities across divisional branches as well as through collaborations with targeted external facilities.

Electronic Materials and Devices, and Structural Materials

Research projects under this review span three families of materials—metal, ceramics, and polymers—plus an additional category of composite materials. The overall portfolio comprises short-term and long-term projects. A relatively large proportion of the work reviewed consists of high-risk, high-impact projects. The research scope covers experimental, computational, and modeling projects. In the laboratory’s physical facilities, state-of-the-art equipment and instruments are available to perform quality research work, and there is a high level of material characterization capabilities and exceptional mechanical testing equipment.

In the area of electronic materials and devices, the research presented throughout the review is of high scientific and technical merit and evinces a great deal of innovation. High-profile research aligned with ARL’s mission needs is evident. Staff members are working on forefront research projects that could potentially yield breakthroughs, and the work is directed toward the emerging needs of the future (2035) Army. For instance, the low-dimensionality (two-dimensional [2D]) materials program is particularly impressive, covering fundamental aspects of synthesis, characterization, device design, and manufacturing. Tuning 2D materials at the atomic scale opens enormous opportunities to design electronic properties for innovative applications through controlling surface conditions, defects, and the interfaces with other 2D materials. This is a potentially high-impact area. The piezoelectric materials program has achieved a high degree of maturity, so it is now transitioning to the implementation of unique actuators, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), robots, and further miniaturization of low-power relays.

In the area of structural materials, the projects are at different stages of research and development, but overall the research is of high quality. The maturity of the work in the areas of synthesis and processing is commendable. Modeling has been nicely integrated into many experimental studies such as magnesium (Mg) alloy development and field-assisted processing. The project on boron suboxide ceramics stood out among many excellent presentations. The mechanical press, capable of applying up to 700,000 lb of pressure in developing lightweight armor, is an exceptionally enabling piece of equipment. The experimental work conducted in cold spraying, magnesium processing, and nanocrystalline metals is excellent, and the researchers have access to centralized characterization facilities. Researchers have made inroads in publishing their results (such as in nanocrystalline metals) in the archival literature. However, the utility of this technology for making scaled-up parts is still a matter of conjecture.

Another area that may need attention is powder technology, which appears to be a crosscutting technology at the ARL, crucially applicable to multiple projects. Whether there is a need for in-house capability and expertise in this area warrants thorough consideration.

In the context of the focus on correct modeling at specific scales and physics, notable results include the atomistic modeling, piezoelectric materials, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling for cold spray deposition. The modeling is well integrated in an overall fabrication and testing program, enabling the selection of fabrication techniques (e.g., Mg alloy development) or device manufacture (e.g., piezoelectric MEMS). A growing effort to link models at various scales and expressing different physical phenomena is producing good results, especially in the transition from smaller to larger scales (e.g., brittle material modeling or polymer coarse graining).

Many projects have an overarching theme of interfacial behavior across different classes of materials, such as nanocrystalline alloy stability, grain boundary engineering of ceramics, and the role of adhesives. This provides a unique opportunity to explore crosscutting themes and research activities that enhance the role of computational methods for mesoscale modeling, stochastics, optimization, and informatics (e.g., statistical learning and data mining), as well as experimental methods such as advanced microscopy and microstructural characterization studies.

BALLISTICS SCIENCES

There was clear evidence of a speedy response to changing needs to support the warfighter with innovations in ballistic survivability and lethality. ARL’s experimental program concerning threats is quite detailed and demonstrates commendable knowledge of the evolving threats. The spectrum of armor design demonstrated a broad array of technical approaches and flexible and rapid response. ARL’s staff are motivated and competent, and the staff members articulated a well-defined line of sight from their research to the mission of ARL and to the warfighter. The overview presentations for the terminal and internal ballistics areas were very impressive and provided a rationale for the diverse materials issues under investigation; the researchers have gained from the recent combat experience and lessons learned from in-theatre observations.

Several overarching opportunities and challenges were identified for ARL’s enterprise in terminal and interior ballistics, including these:

• Examples of how the Army Research Office’s (ARO’s) individual projects fit into the Army’s overall goals and relate to one another and to other ARL projects would facilitate ARLTAB’s assessment of the quality of ARL’s S&T work.
• A rigorous, formal internal validation program is needed for ARL to quantify the extent to which the physics within the broad spectrum of ballistics models is being developed to accurately describe the physics operative. Given the importance of such models to develop predictive design capability in support of current Army programs and further to support design of future systems, platforms, and equipment, increased emphasis on validation across all ballistics-related research topics is warranted.
• The staff is not as visible in professional societies and technical conferences as their accomplishments and scientific expertise would warrant. While obviously the sequestration and travel restrictions have negatively affected staff interactions with the outside S&T community, the lack of interactions through conferences and professional associations will have a deleterious effect on collaborative efforts and on maintaining the edge in areas of expertise; it is therefore important to continue to address this ongoing issue.
• It is important to apply increased and sustained efforts to ARL’s damage and failure modeling across the spectrum of materials of relevance, given the importance of such modeling to ballistics

It appears crucial for ARL to develop, for terminal, interior, and exterior ballistics, its strategic vision behind internal investments, program and mission deliverables, and staff planning to support the needs of the Army of the future. This strategic planning appears particularly important given that the future ground combat vehicle design pathways are fixed. For example, while glass, effectively confined, is known to have potential for contributing to the defeat of shaped-charged jets, explosive reactive armor (ERA) and even nonexplosive reactive armor (NERA) have greater potential, and ERA is already being utilized with great effectiveness.

INFORMATION SCIENCES

Autonomous Systems

For each of the key areas—perception, intelligence and planning, human–robot interaction, and manipulation and mobility—the overall technical quality of the work is high and is being recognized as such as evidenced by publication in archival journals. For most of the work reviewed, the scientific quality is comparable to that at other federal research laboratories and at national and international universities. The research staff are very well qualified to undertake the research. The laboratory facilities and the infrastructure are state-of-the-art and supportive of the ongoing research activities.

In the area of manipulation and mobility, work related to self-righting robots is of a very high caliber and also has direct applications in the field. The piezoMEMS research and associated small robotics effort is first rate, with elements—specifically, the work in motion generation at the MEMS scale—that are seminal.

The research projects in the area of perception are of a high caliber. The primary accomplishments in robotic intelligence are advances in mapping capability, control for communications, and cognition. Much of this work is being published in top journal and conference venues, which attests to the overall quality of the research.

In the area of human–robot interaction the experimentation conducted at Fort Benning has yielded an important basis for making design decisions. For example, experiments have demonstrated voice commands to be suitable for discrete actions but less so for controlling continuous processes.

It was not clear how the individual research projects in each of the four areas representing the ARL autonomous systems enterprise fit within the larger research effort. Without such a roadmap, there is very little indication that the research projects are connected either in the subareas or across the enterprise.

Atmospheric Sciences

The research portfolio for the Battlefield Environment Division (BED) includes a range of unique atmospheric science problems of vital importance to the Army that are not addressed elsewhere in the Department of Defense (DoD) or the civilian scientific community. The BED has made impressive progress in its research areas. Illustrative of such progress is the development of a laser-based tool for capturing, holding, and analyzing an individual aerosol or dust particle.

The lack of reference to atmospheric science in ARL’s 20-year vision document is disturbing, however. BED currently (FY14) has 47 in-house personnel, a decrease of 9 full-time-equivalent positions since the prior review in 2012. The continual pressure to downsize has resulted in a 20 percent mandated

reduction in optics research and the pending zeroing-out of very critical aerosol research. Continuation of this trend will compromise the division’s ability to fulfill its responsibilities and will lead to the loss of many valuable opportunities currently available to the ARL, including crosscutting opportunities impacting other divisions.

Computational Sciences

The Computational Sciences Division (CSD) team is making concerted efforts to advance new Army-relevant directions centered on high-throughput distributed processing and the applications of modern computer science. This is a commendable approach, and CSD could consider the development of similar approaches to advance its research projects in traditional high-performance computing (HPC) and physics-based modeling.

The project on tactical HPC (cloudlets) is conceptually at the cutting edge; such work is only now beginning to receive attention in the commercial and academic research communities. To make substantial progress will require the allocation of additional research personnel to this project. New initiatives related to software-defined networks, quantum computing, and quantum networks hold promise and represent the cutting-edge research that ARL needs to pursue and investigate for potential application in future Army missions.

Understaffing at CSD continues to be a challenge, with a large number of team lead positions vacant. As a result, many projects lack a sufficient number of experienced researchers to lead, guide, and mentor the early-career researchers. It is important for CSD to fill these open senior positions to ensure the successful resolution of the many important problems that it is pursuing.

Network Sciences

There was good science and engineering in many areas of the work. Since the previous review in 2012 there has been a significant improvement in the quality of the research and the presentations and in the apparent morale of the team. The lightweight intrusion detection work is promising. The issue of burstiness in intrusion detection evinced an interdisciplinary content. Strong work is being performed in tactical communications, robotics, language technologies, and E-field measures in standoff power sensors.

The ongoing research could benefit from greater interactions within ARL. As an example, research in the area of social media and social networks could benefit from interactions with the cybersecurity area. Similarly, even a very strong area of research like the E-field and radio frequency measurement effort could benefit from greater interaction with the signal processing community within ARL. More generally, there is a good bit of effort on sensor information exploitation and fusion that could benefit from an integrated approach. These integration efforts could be enhanced by bringing greater technical diversity in the work force at ARL, in particular added strengths in the social and mathematical sciences. There are instances in which broad interactions with the external community are occurring. One such area is in language technologies, which is very well connected to the larger community.

The areas in which ARL is leading the research community need to be publically highlighted to raise the visibility of the organization. As an example, in the cybersecurity area, ARL is one of the few research institutions that have access to real data. This is a major strength and would undoubtedly attract very favorable attention. The impressive early-career scientists appear to be receiving appropriate mentoring. Some work (e.g., temporal logic for intelligent systems) was in a speculative stage but important for ARL work to remain at the cutting edge.

HUMAN SCIENCES

Simulation and Training Technology

The Simulation and Training Technology Center (STTC) is tackling a number of very challenging technical problems in the areas of training technology that have great potential to set standards across the DoD. STTC researchers are pushing the state of the art of simulation in the cloud and protocols for advanced distributed simulation.

STTC has historically been strong in computer science and engineering, and it has developed a number of successful technology-enhanced training products. The merger of STTC into ARL in 2010 brought together STTC’s core competency in computer science with the Human Research and Engineering Directorate’s (HRED’s) core competency in the human sciences, creating huge potential for new productive synergy. ARLTAB’s prior (2011-2012) assessment observed that integration of the STTC into HRED creates great opportunities for human factors influence on STTC products and STTC enhancements of traditional HRED endeavors. The merger of STTC with HRED needs to be extended, with greater emphasis on and integration of human sciences into the program of work. For the most part, the quality and outcome value of the research being carried out by STTC would benefit significantly from having more experts in human science.

Translational Neuroscience

The translational neuroscience (TN) program at ARL is a unique and important effort whose objectives, if successfully accomplished, could be a game changer for research on soldier and mission effectiveness. The TN group is tackling key technology bottlenecks to moving neuroscience from the laboratory to the field. The staff continues to grow, attracting highly motivated early-career scientists from a diverse set of universities, with the resultant benefits of fresh intellectual capital and productive competition of ideas.

Overall, the quality of the TN research presented, the capabilities of the leadership, the knowledge and abilities of the investigators and their scientific productivity, and proposed future directions are impressive. The work is well aligned with the clear and substantive mission to move neuroscience from the laboratory to real-world military settings (i.e., from the bench to the battlefield). The TN group conducts high-quality neuroscience research that is routinely validated by its publication in good, peer-reviewed journals and is on a par with work at good university neuroscience departments.

Soldier Performance and Human Systems Integration

The portfolio of research is very applied and is highly relevant to current Army needs; in general, the work in this area represents good, solid research, development, and applications. Significant gains were evident in publication rates, numbers of postdoctoral researchers, and collaborations with relevant peers outside ARL. The research work environments were impressive in terms of their unique and advanced technology capabilities to support research. Overall these are outstanding accomplishments and mark a visible advance over prior years.

The sensory perception research being addressed appears well-motivated and referenced to the extant scientific literature. Further, the science in these areas has greatly benefited from the superb facilities made available to ARL researchers, most notably, the environment for auditory research (EAR) and the computer-assisted virtual environment (CAVE). Overall, progress has been demonstrated in each of its

thrust areas. The paucity of publications outside of ARL internal reports is a challenge that needs to be addressed.

Generally, the physical and cognitive performance programs are addressing practical problems and issues relevant to the Army mission. The experiments outlined were generally well designed according to solid experimental psychology principles. The research staff was very enthusiastic and seemed excited about the idea of doing translational research that has practical outcomes. Equipment and facilities available to the group are very good and are fully utilized for ongoing projects. Scholarly productivity was evidenced by some publications in academic journals.

The human systems integration (HSI) group needs to develop a scientific vision and charter that clarifies responsibilities and delineates the path for future research. There appears to be a gap in expertise in key areas within HSI. For example, the HSI group could benefit from expertise in theory and modeling in both cognition and complex systems. ARL has the opportunity to be on the forefront of the research in this area and, for the most part, the researchers are doing very interesting work. However, the current portfolio of projects within the HSI area may be too customer-driven. ARL could leverage this applied work and/or fund companion projects to advance the state of knowledge or science base for HSI as well as broaden the impact of the work beyond the immediate customers.

MECHANICAL SCIENCES

Mechanics

The laboratory facilities are impressive, including the subsonic wind tunnel and facilities supporting work in propulsion and additive manufacturing; these facilities can enable ARL to establish leadership positions in mechanical sciences. Several researchers have industrial backgrounds; this represents a strength of the research team. Recent work on damping augmentation using nanomaterials to tailor interfacial properties of critical vehicle structures is an especially strong activity.

The mechanics area needs a more robust workforce with sufficient experienced staff to mentor recently hired, less experienced staff. There is a need to delineate a clear path connecting development, laboratory testing, and full-scale testing of components and systems. ARL work is not clearly differentiated from external contractor work, and the ARL workforce is challenged by the requirement to manage local, existing ARL research and to monitor external contractor work. There is a need to accelerate full operational capability of all primary research facilities—for example, the subsonic wind tunnel. There is also a need for a local ARL capability to conceive, develop, test, and implement computational fluid dynamics simulation tools for increasing complex airframe configurations and flight regimes. Although it may be difficult to develop advanced multi-physics CFD capabilities from scratch, the relevant staff need to be sufficiently knowledgeable to assess and evaluate off-the-shelf CFD software for accuracy and predictive capability.

Propulsion

The high-pressure, high-temperature, pulsed injection facility is impressive. The high-temperature fatigue facility is excellent. The small-engine altitude facility is a very impressive, unique, and useful facility. The tribology laboratory, too, is a very useful facility. The ultrasonics method used to find potential cracks is novel and promising; it is nonintrusive and robust, even at high temperatures.

There is good applied research but little competitive fundamental research. If more fundamental research is desired, each laboratory experiment and computational program needs to be designed and

constructed to answer specific fundamental scientific questions. Researchers need to be in command of previous work on related topics. Many more journal publications, with first-rate peer reviews, are needed to make a greater impact and to challenge researchers to perform at their full potential. Better mentoring of early-career researchers is needed.

Reliability and Diagnostics

ARL researchers are conducting research and developing an approach to the design of aircraft structural components with goals to reduce fatigue failures and sustainment costs associated with maintenance. The program has the potential to revolutionize the achievement of high-reliability systems. In many of the current projects it will be important to pay more attention to the underlying physics of the problem (e.g., how sensors interface with the material or structure). The ability to better predict the remaining useful life of a structure will depend critically on the ability to develop multiphysics, multiscale models (including uncertainties) and sensors that will provide relevant real-time data.

The overall technical quality of ARL’s applied research and development in the area of reliability and diagnostics is very high. The virtual risk-informed agile maneuver sustainment team has a strong contingent of enthusiastic, highly capable researchers. The potential to produce fundamentally important results that would improve the reliability and survivability of Army systems is great. To demonstrate the high quality of the research and to get important feedback from other experts in the fields, it is important that research papers be submitted to top-notch archival research journals.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Recommendations to improve the overall ARL research enterprise are:

Recommendation 1. ARL should require researchers to clearly articulate the existing technical challenges in their research as well-posed problems, to formulate key questions, to identify approaches and tools, and to set out an assessment strategy. Concept maps, research baselines, and milestones that characterize the research are recommended.

Recommendation 2. To optimize the progress of their research and to set a path forward for each project, researchers should consistently analyze data and contemplate the theories that are behind the observed physical phenomena, test data, and modeling systems.

Recommendation 3. ARL should continue its efforts to be a key source of disruptive technology options for the Army of the future. Toward this end, it should balance short-term customer-driven work with innovative R&D that goes beyond current requirements.

Recommendation 4. ARL should develop a laboratory-wide verification and validation methodology, formalism, and implementation program. This program should be applied to support connectivity between theory, modeling, and experiments; refine underlying assumptions and approximations; encourage sensitivity studies, including how systems can fail; quantify margins and uncertainty; and inform small-scale to system-level experiments.

Recommendation 5. ARL should encourage a systems integration approach across its research enterprise to engender interconnectivity between ARL’s science and technology campaign plans.

Recommendation 6. ARL should consider including in assessment agendas selected presentations related to new or recent starts to maximize the benefits of early feedback from ARLTAB across all disciplines.

Recommendation 7. ARL should look for additional ways to increase interaction between its researchers and leaders in industry and academia, given that limitations on travel have restricted this important professional development avenue.

Recommendation 8. ARL should encourage and incentivize publication of research in peer-reviewed journals.

Recommendation 9. As ARL continues to build its research staff, it should give attention to bringing in mid-career and senior personnel to mentor the outstanding early-career scientists who have been recruited. Effective mentoring should include engagement in selecting research directions, facilitating communication with research peers, guidance on service and committee assignments in technical societies, and enhancing career development.

Recommendation 10. ARL should convene a strategic planning group to formulate and plan research facility needs to support Army research and development objectives for the next 10-20 years.

Recommendation 11. To narrow the distance between the science and Army end-use applications, ARL should continue efforts to assure that researchers across all ARL disciplines understand future needs of the Army.

This report also identifies program-specific and project-specific suggestions, presented in Part II, and outstanding and exceptional areas, presented in Part III.

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