Eng edge oct newsletter 2014

THE ENGINEERING EDGE

EDGEWOOD CHEMICAL BIOLOGICAL CENTER

Volume 6, Issue 10

October 2014

Raising the Bar for Exceptional Customer Service Engineering Directorate Creates Customer Interface Toolkit to Guide Customer Interactions pg. 2 Advanced Technology Demonstration Branch: The Bridge between Science & Technology and Acquisition pg. 4-5 Creativity, Attention to Detail Essential in Continuing Soldier Support for M41 Mask Fit Validation pg. 6-7

To access the electronic version of this newsletter, visit: http://www.ecbc.army.mil/news/ENG/ APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

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2 | EDGEWOOD CHEMICAL BIOLOGICAL CENTER

INSIDE THIS MONTH’S ISSUE: pg.3|Employee Spotlight: Jennifer Iskra pg.3|Engineering Directorate’s Human Capital Initiative – Focusing on People, Our Future pg.4-5|Advanced Technology Demonstration Branch: The Bridge between Science & Technology and Acquisition pg.6-7|Creativity, Attention to Detail Essential in Continuing Soldier Support for M41 Mask Fit Validation pg.8|ECBC Volunteers Honored for Eliminating Syrian Chemical Weapons

Engineering Directorate Creates Customer Interface Toolkit to Guide Customer Interactions

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s a customer-funded organization, ECBC has to compete with other government agencies and outside organizations for projects and funding. There is more emphasis than ever on customer satisfaction and retention. “How do we maintain that competitive edge?” asked Pete Farlow, training program manager with the Acquisition Logistics Division. “We hope to do this by always providing excellent customer service that will result in repeat business, adjacent business and a positive word-of-mouth about our service, capabilities and products.”

As part of its Balanced Scorecard Strategy, the Engineering Directorate is taking a strategic approach to strengthening interactions with its customers. As part of the customer service (CS) initiative to “develop responsive customer service standards,” CS initiative team members have drafted a Customer Interface Toolkit to use as a reference when interacting with customers.

Farlow is a member of the CS initiative team, which is led by Division Chiefs Jorge Christian, Bill Lake and Mike McKenna.

The toolkit will serve as an alternate approach to use when interacting with the customer. It provides tips the workforce can put to use in customer interactions; discusses the importance of designating an Engineering Directorate point of contact for each customer; advice on the frequency of and method of communication with customers; and also includes tools for managing financial information and reporting progress on projects.

The toolkit is designed to be user-friendly and adaptable depending upon each customer’s needs. The plan is to have an electronic copy of the toolkit available for all Engineering employees to use and Farlow and the other CS initiative team members will be available for questions and advice. CS training is also part of the business development (BD) training sessions that are currently in progress. Updates on the initiative are provided during the Engineering Directorate Strategic Management Meetings and the Division Chief Roundtables.

The CS initiative, along with the BD and the human capital (HC) initiatives, are integrated in a way to keep the Directorate’s customers a top priority. The BD initiative is about developing business prospects and strategic planning; the HC initiative focuses on the skills needed to attract and maintain customers and stay on the cutting edge of service; and the CS initiative emphasizes fostering the relationships with customers that lead to repeat business. “All of these initiatives work together to help the Directorate evaluate business opportunities and make strategic decisions based on workforce skills, resources and relationships that end in a great experience for the customer,” said Farlow.

Ask a Tech Tip: Teaching Your Kids about Household Chemicals Mike Kauzlarich, of the Pyrotechnics and Explosives Branch, reveals how the techniques and lessons learned in labs can help you solve your household problems. Submit a question to him at usarmy.APG.ecbc.mbx.engineering-directorate@mail.mil.

Chemical safety is not just for work ― it extends to your home as well. It is especially easy for children to underestimate the danger of household chemicals; the pretty bottles and brightly colored labels may fool them.

This newsletter was published through the Balanced Scorecard.

For article suggestions, questions or comments please contact Ed Bowen at edward.c.bowen8.civ@mail.mil.

Chemistry lessons for your kids are not just for school. Please take the time to explain to your children the need for safety when using household chemicals. Explain how and when they can use certain chemicals, and what to do in the event of a spill or other emergency. A simple demonstration will show your little ones the power and potential danger of chemicals. Take a piece of dark colored cotton from an old shirt or towel, and put several drops of household bleach on the dark cloth. Later, show your children how the bleach spotted the material. Explain the reaction to them, and the need to ask Mom and Dad before using any household chemical.

SharePoint Tip: Notes, Tags and “I Like It” Did you know you can use tags and notes in SharePoint? Notes and tags can make it easier for colleagues to find and share content; encourage informal dialog; and enable people to easily connect across teams and locations.

Apply tags to documents and pages that you want to track and remember. You can also use the “I Like It” button to tag content to remember later, but don’t want to apply additional tags or notes right away; then add specific tags later.

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Employee Spotlight:

Jennifer Iskra

This month, the Engineering Edge profiles Jennifer Iskra, a systems engineer matrixed to the Joint Project Manager for Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Contamination Avoidance (JPM-NBC CA). She is currently on a six-month assignment in a surety laboratory with the Applied Detection Technology Laboratory in the Engineering Test Division.

Tell us about your assignment in the surety laboratory.

In this assignment, I have the opportunity to test chemical detection equipment in various stages of maturity, from prototypes to fielded systems. I also assist in collecting data regarding how equipment performs against certain chemicals and under various environmental conditions. This is my first experience working in a chemical laboratory environment, so the work is very different from what I do in the JPM, but it is both challenging and fun. My job in the JPM is as a systems engineering, taking equipment through the acquisition process. I focused on planning the tests associated with that process. This assignment has given me a better understanding of the methods behind how test data is generated and how it is provided to the customer. I plan to apply what I learn in this assignment to the work the JPM is doing on the Next Generation Chemical Detection program, as well as other projects within the JPM. What are the benefits of this role for both the Engineering Directorate and the JPM-NBC CA? This experience helps to share knowledge between both organizations. ECBC will gain a better understanding of one of their

customers, the JPM; and the JPM will gain a deeper understanding behind the test methods employed to generate their data. The JPM has also had someone from an ECBC surety lab in my position while I am on the developmental assignment that is experienced in testing and is helping strengthen that knowledge in the JPM. What have you learned about customer service in this role? Why is customer service important to ECBC? The Engineering Directorate is a very customer-focused organization. In this role, I get to see how the laboratory interacts with their customers throughout the entire testing process. I have learned that it is not only important to get results to the customer quickly, but to ensure that they understand the data and how it was generated. Additionally, the laboratory is able to quickly adapt to changes in test plans, which is important to their customers.

What are your favorite hobbies or activities outside of work?

I am currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Bioengineering from the University of Maryland. In my free time, I enjoy volunteering at the Humane Society of Harford County, walking and socializing dogs, and fostering kittens until they can be adopted. I also love to golf and create stained glass art.

Engineering Directorate’s Human Capital Initiative – Focusing on People, Our Future

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o align with the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center’s (ECBC) strategic goal to grow and develop the workforce to ensure the continued competencies of the organization, the Engineering Directorate has established the Human Capital Initiative (HCI) to help build a stronger workforce that would enable us to accomplish our missions in the face of future challenges. HCI is a valuable component of the Engineering Directorate and ECBC organizational strategy. “HCI supports the larger ‘People Goal’ for ECBC; it provides support to the leadership on human capital issues, and contributes to the overall wellbeing of the workforce,” explained Hung Pham, Chief of the Product Quality Management Branch.

“The general purpose of the HCI is to ensure the Engineering Directorate has the people we need to perform our current missions, as well as being able to expand into new business opportunities. The HCI will focus on the factors that will help us to develop, maintain, and grow our workforce to ensure the long-term success and viability of our organization,” said Pham. The initiative will develop recommendations and inputs that will help to form the Engineering Directorate Human Capital Strategy.

“Through this initiative, we hope to make positive impacts on the Engineering workforce,” said Pham. “Therefore, we need input and participation from each and every employee across the Directorate.”

If you have any questions or would like to share comments about this initiative, please reach out to any of the HCI core team members listed above.

Business Development

Recruitment

Retain Knowledge & Expertise

The HCI is championed by Engineering Division Chiefs John Kerch, Kevin Lee and John Wheeler. Pham leads a core team that has dedicated their time and energy to work on the initiative. This team includes Teresa Dorman, Pete Farlow, Kevin Fritz, Joe Grodecki, Emily Rasmussen, and Troy Thompson.

Currently, the team is gathering manpower data to support the Directorate’s Business Development Plan for FY15. Over the next few months, the team will be working on a pilot project that will address the challenges related to employee retention. More updates will be provided as the team makes further progress.

Retention Training

Customer Service

Staffing Level

Human Capital

Retention Recruitment

Modernize Infrastructure

Other Initiatives

The Engineering Directorate’s Human Capital initiative is integrated with the Business Development, Customer Service and other initiatives in the Balanced Scorecard strategy.

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Advanced Technology Demonstration Branch

The Bridge between Science & Technology

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ew technologies emerge from science and technology investments, industry and other sources. Sometimes these technologies offer new capabilities that have strong potential to benefit our Warfighters; but oftentimes the technology may not be mature enough for transition or operational use. In many cases, requirements for the new technology do not exist, or are being drafted. That is where the Engineering Directorate’s Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) Branch can help ― to demonstrate the viability of new technology in reconnaissance, detection and decontamination for the protection of the Warfighter against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) threats.

“Our goals are customer satisfaction, Warfighter involvement and active engagement of all stakeholders across the process ― and the ultimate goal of technology transition.”

ATDs are designed to show the capabilities and limitations of the technology in both laboratory and field environments. The ATD Branch executes ATDs in three phases: (1) risk reduction, (2) integration and (3) demonstration. This process was refined under Defense Threat Reduction Agency Joint Science and Technology Office (DTRA-JSTO) oversight of DTRA-JSTO-sponsored ATDs.

“ATDs serve as a bridge between the science and technology and acquisition communities,” explains Shawn Funk, Chief of the Advanced Technology Demonstration Branch.

Customer: DTRA-JSTO and Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Advanced Systems and Concepts (DUSD (AS&C)) Transition Partner: Joint Project Manager for Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Contamination Avoidance (JPM-NBC CA) Objective: •Demonstrate two technology areas: Joint Contaminated Surface Detector (JCSD) and CBRN Unmanned Ground Vehicle (CUGV). JCSD integrated UV Raman surface detection to speed up manned NBC reconnaissance. The CUGV incorporated chemical/radiological detection and chemical sampling on an unmanned platform Benefits and Future Applications: •Government integration efforts for CUGV transitioned to industry to enable commercial availability •Realistic assessment of JCSD Raman spectrometry and potential to be used for manned reconnaissance •Showed potential for detection on the move

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2006

2007

2008

2009

Customer: DTRA-JSTO

Customer: DTRA-JSTO

Transition Partner: Joint Project Manager for Protection (JPM-P)

Objective: •Configure, integrate and demonstrate chemical-biological (CB)/non-CB sensor data obtained in a real-time heterogeneous sensor environment that decreases latency, preserves information assurance and improves the use of C2 and ISR systems in the context of early warning and force protection capabilities employed in an operationally relevant environment

Objective: •Provide detailed equipment decontamination (DED) process improvement solutions that increase decontamination process effectiveness and reduce the risk to personnel while easing the logistical burden on Operating Forces

Transition Partner: Multiple JPMs

Benefits and Future Applications: •Enhance CB warning time, dynamic hazard awareness assessments and decision support confidence •Ability to dynamically adjust sensor tasking/deployments to create a layered surveillance capability to provide assured CB early warning and eliminate vulnerability gaps associated with distant upwind weapon of mass destruction (WMD) attacks APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

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and Acquisition The ECBC ATD Branch was initially established to serve as the Technical Manager (TM) of DTRA-JSTO sponsored ATDs. In the course of completing more than five ATDs, the Branch has developed strong program management expertise, technical knowledge and the ability to build relationships with a multitude of stakeholders, such as Joint Project Management teams under the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense (JPEO-CBD); Warfighter representatives from the Maneuver Support Center of Excellence; and actual Warfighter groups supporting the Operational Manager effort. The ATD Branch also works closely with the test agencies, and has built a cooperative understanding of ATD demonstration scope and evaluation expectations.

“The TM’s job is to dig into the capability from the user’s perspective so the technology can be integrated across the platform and tailored to the Warfighter’s needs,” explained Doretha Green, TM for the Rapid Area Sensitive-site Reconnaissance (RASR) ATD. “In this role, communication, engagement and management of expectations across all stakeholders are what ensure a successful ATD process. A strong sense of customer service is essential.”

“There is no pass or fail grade given to the technology during the ATD,” said Funk. “But the demonstration does inform the acquisition process and can help shape requirements and feed into analysis of alternatives.”

Below is a snapshot of the Branch’s work and how capabilities and lessons learned from previous ATDs help shape future efforts.

Customer: DTRA-JSTO

Customer: ECBC Research and Technology Directorate (ATD Branch providing system engineering support)

Transition Partners: JPM-NBC CA, Joint Project Manager Guardian (JPM-G) Objective: •Develop capability for troops to survey sensitive sites remotely through automated means using contractor-developed man-portable and unmanned mounted Ramon based detection system

Objective: •Co-develop a Raman based modular detection system to detect 100 chemical warfare agents (CWAs) and toxic industrial chemicals (TICs), leveraging JCSD efforts

Benefits and Future Applications: •Demonstrate and assess capability of man-portable or unmanned ground vehicle mounted detection system capable of rapid detection and identification of multiple liquid and solid chemicals of concerns •Increase speed of analysis relative to manual sampling •Sensor integration on unmanned platform to autonomously map a contaminated area and reduce risk to personnel performing SSA operations •Provide data for future analysis of alternatives

2010

2011

Customer: DTRA-JSTO

2012

Transition Partner: JPM-P

Objective: •Demonstrate a family of systems including decontaminants, strippable coatings, agent disclosure technologies, applicators, and processes that provide a means to mitigate the hazards associated with current and emerging threats to operationally relevant levels Benefits and Future Applications: •Coatings (Akzo Nobel Intergard 10220, commercial product used to absorb agent) •Indicator sprays (FLIR Agentase Disclosure Spray) which is used to identify and visualize the location(s) of agent on vehicles •Decontaminants •Family-of-systems approach to decontamination process APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

2013

Customer: JPEO-CBD Objective: •Meet the demand for new and novel biosurveillance capabilities on the Korean peninsula •Demonstrate detection and diagnostic capabilities in the laboratory and in the field

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Creativity, Attention to Detail Essential in Continuing Soldier Support for

M41 Mask Fit Validation

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or Soldiers in theater using any of various protective masks to guard against respiratory threats from unsafe conditions or chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or explosive (CBRNE) agents, ensuring a perfect fit is essential. The slightest disparity in the equipment’s conformation to a Soldier’s face can cause a critical leak that may put their life in danger. Thankfully, the ECBC Engineering Directorate played a crucial role in developing the M41 Protection Assessment Test System (PATS) and continues to provide support and guidance to Soldiers in real time.

The M41 PATS is designed to check the readiness of protective masks and to verify that a mask is capable of providing the required fit factor. Gerald Young, a chemical engineer in the Protection Engineering Division, provides sustainment engineering for the PATS, which is an electrooptical instrument that counts particles in the surrounding air and inside a Soldier’s mask using a technique called “condensation nucleus counting.”

Even with such a high-tech instrument, Young and fellow team members recognize the need to speak the Soldier’s language and be creative in their approach to mask-fit education.

“We regularly send the information out to keep Soldiers aware of how to quantitatively fit-test their protective masks,” Young said. “In a way, it’s like advertising for Coke. Who doesn’t know about the drink? But the message continues to be sent out through various channels.”

One such channel may seem surprising. Young and Glen Adams at PS Magazine publish a series of informative articles with cartoon illustrations and fictional stories detailing how to use the M41 PATS and outlining issues that may arise when using the equipment. These cartoons are published primarily in PS Magazine, the U.S. Army’s preventive maintenance monthly magazine, and illustrate proper preventive maintenance methods with comic book-style art. Soldiers can relate to the informative drawings and simple language used to deliver sometimes complex information on how overall mask fit-factors are determined; or how particles in the air are counted; or sometimes just relating that rubbing alcohol from Walmart will damage the M41 PATS optical lenses and laser by coating it with contaminants (only ACS reagent grade 2-propanol is permitted for use with the mask).

In addition to Young’s artistic and subject-matter support, he helps Soldiers troubleshoot the PATS in the field and provides helpful equipment information using Maintenance Advisory Messages (MAM), which are created at TACOM-Warren and Rock Island in concert with ECBC. MAM info helps Warfighters maintain and operate the system and are official messages to Soldiers in the field.

“We have created MAMs about the impact of modern heating and ventilation systems on reducing ambient particle counts, and about how using a $20 ultrasonic humidifier from Target can help Soldiers get more accurate fit factors by insuring background particle counts in the range of 3,000 to 10,000 particles per cubic centimeter,” explained Young. “Without the ultrasonic humidifier or salt fog particle generator ambient particle counts can fall to 1000 particles per cc or less which can sometimes lead to less reliable fit factors during mask testing.”

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The team also assists Soldiers in solving a variety of issues related to getting their masks fitted to provide unsurpassed respiratory protection and prepared for potential combat on a CBRNE battlefield. Examples of this critical assistance include providing real-time support to Soldiers in Germany and southwest Asia who had difficulty using their M41 PATS. Young and others in Europe interfaced with Logistics Assistance Representatives (LARS) at the Kaiserslautern Office of the Army Primary Standards Laboratory to troubleshoot the problems. In another example, Young recently responded to inquiries from Warfighters from the 470th Military Intelligence Brigade and the Steel Squadron of 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment who needed information on repair parts for the PATS and who were searching for background information for a presentation to show command group how to use the M41 PATS system.

Along with a strong partner in the U.S. Army Tank and Automotive Command (TACOM) in Warren, Mich., the ECBC Engineering support team is spearheading an obsolescence mitigation effort to insure that the M41 PATS remain calibrated and prepared to continue to provide quantitative mask-fitting well into the future.

“The plan is to keep the M41 PATS and possibly a daughter system in the field until 2030 to 2045,” Young said. “The instrument is critical to insuring readiness. Without it, Soldiers don’t have the same confidence that they’re prepared to face a CBRNE threat. TACOM, Rock Island, Redstone and ECBC are a well-regulated enterprise and have the flexibility and agility to rapidly solve M41 PATS and mask-fitting problems wherever they occur on any continent.”

“Many times it’s a simple fix, but sometimes it’s unavoidable that the equipment gets shipped to the Calibration and Repair Maintenance site, either in Kaiserslautern, Germany, or Redstone Arsenal, Ala. The calibration sites are also equipped to do complete overhauls if required to fix the problem,” Young said.

Young’s articles and cartoons are published primarily in PS Magazine, the U.S. Army’s preventive maintenance monthly magazine.

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ECBC Volunteers Honored for Eliminating Syrian Chemical Weapons

Credit: ECBC PAO Forty-five U.S. Army civilian employees were recognized for their efforts to destroy Syria’s declared chemical weapons stockpile at an awards ceremony held Edgewood Area of Aberdeen Proving Ground on Oct. 8.

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n Oct. 8, 45 U.S. Army civilian employees were proudly recognized for voluntarily deploying to the Mediterranean Sea to destroy Syria’s declared chemical weapons stockpile.

The ceremony was attended by nearly 500 colleagues, friends and family members. The Honorable Alan Estevez, Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, presented 12 Meritorious Civilian Service Awards and 33 Superior Civilian Service Awards to members of the multi-agency team that completed the historic mission.

“I have done hazardous operations for all of my adult life and could not be more proud of the volunteers who actually executed the destruction of Syria’s most toxic stockpile onboard the Cape Ray,” said Tim Blades, ECBC mission commander of the operation. “I cannot imagine any other group of people in the world who could have done this.”

The team’s mission began in February 2013, with the development of the Field Deployable Hydrolysis System (FDHS). In less than six months, ECBC spearheaded the design and manufacturing of the transportable neutralization technology, as well as the chemistry behind the neutralization process that met the 99.9 percent destruction rate standard set by the Chemical Weapons Convention. Two units of the FDHS were installed on the MV Cape Ray, which was specially retrofitted to accommodate the selfsufficient, redundant system, including nearly a dozen critical components: water pumps, water tanks, system air compressors, waste containers, reagents, an onsite laboratory, breathing air compressors, chemical agent filtration systems, power generators and distribution and storage containers. Crews worked in 12-hour shifts to maintain 24/7 operations at sea.

Credit: ECBC PAO U.S Representative Dutch Ruppersberger reads along from a Congressional Record honoring ECBC’s Tim Blades for his chemical demilitarization expertise and leadership.

Jason Adamek, the lead engineer from the Engineering Directorate’s Advanced Design and Manufacturing (ADM) Division, was most impressed by the fast pace in which the chemical agent was processed and how readily the team adapted to the unexpected conditions onboard the ship.

“We neutralized nearly 600 metric tons in 45 days,” Adamek said.

“We designed the system anticipating that most of the agent would be in the form of HD mustard agent, but instead we had a lot more agent in the form of the DF sarin precursor than we expected. We knew that it was highly caustic so we had to determine just the right ratio of sodium hydroxide to mix it with so that it wouldn’t corrode the storage containers.”

Missions like this are what helps ECBC build a reputation as the nation’s premier resource for chemical demilitarization operations.

Destroying Syria’s declared stockpile of chemical weapons on behalf of the international community has not only made the world a safer place, but has shown that the United States can lead unprecedented efforts to eliminate threats as they emerge.

Credit: ECBC PAO The Engineering Directorate’s own Jason Adamek (right) was honored with a Superior Civilian Service Award, presented by The Honorable Alan Estevez.

“It’s a very dangerous world out there,” said U.S Representative C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD). “The things that are happening throughout the world are scary. We were called on because of our expertise to do something very important, not only for the United States of America, but for the world.”

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