JULY 2026 INTERNAL NEWSLETTER ODU Office of Enterprise Research and Innovation
1030 University Blvd., Suffolk, VA 23435 oduinnovate.org
FEATURED PICTURE OF THE MONTH
VMASC and other center representatives met with congressional leaders at the Capitol Hill M&S Expo in Washington D.C. to connect and talk about how their researchers are advancing technologies in spectrum management, AI, cybersecurity, defense, and digital engineering.
July Newsletter OERI Corner
Across OERI
Publications
OERI In The News
OERI Corner Employment Recognitions
MENION CROLL VISA 21 YEARS
JOSHUA BEHR VMASC 18 YEARS
ANTHONY BARRACO VMASC 14 YEARS
CHRISTOPHER LYNCH VMASC 13 YEARS
BATO CVIJETIC VISA 10 YEARS
KEVIN O’BRIEN VISA 6 YEARS
June Newsletter OERI Corner Employee Recognitions
SAFDAR BOUK CSICS 4 YEARS
JOHN SNELL VDMC 3 YEARS
CHRISTINE LEBOEUF DIVRED 4 YEARS
JASON DUDLEY VDMC 4 YEARS
ARASH GHORBANNIA HEAL 1 YEAR
July Newsletter OERI Corner Employee Transitions
VISA’s John Shull
VISA’s
has been promoted to
has been promoted to
Research Scientist
Research Scientist
CSICS’
VDMC’s
Peter Foytik
Devon Nelson
has been promoted to
has been promoted to
Research Scientist
Simulations Systems Specialist
BaTo Cvijetic
New Hires
DANIELLE JOYNER
DANIELLE (DANI) RIDDICK
has joined VDMC as a
has joined DivRED as an
Learning Engineer
Administrative & Fiscal Program Support Technician
Monthly Awards & Proposals
Pre-Awards and Contract Awards
*NOTE: THESE AWARDS ARE AS OF 7/24/26 - PRE-AWARDS ARE SUBMITTED PROPOSALS JAN
FEB
MARCH
APRIL
MAY
JUNE
JULY
PreAwards
1.1M
1M
4.2M
2.1M
21M
15.6M
7.9M
Contract Awards
430K
70K
359K
1.2M
687K
330K
821K
Across OERI
Monarch Sphere Presentation July 7, 2026 VMASC hosted a lunch and learn about ODU’s MonarchSphere, an AI Incubator Platform. MonarchSphere is a resource that supports researchers interested in leveraging AI tools in their work. To help familiarize the team with this capability, John Pratt, Executive Director of Research and Cloud Computing (ODU DTT), provided an overview of the platform, discussed its capabilities and potential applications, and answered questions. You can find the presentation HERE.
VDMC Participates in Mariner’s Adventure Career Fair July 7, 2026
VDMC participated in the Mariner's Adventure Career Fair at the Old Dominion University Innovation Lab in Hampton! They brought their interactive Fit to Flow pipefitting activity, giving students who attended the event a hands-on introduction to careers in pipefitting while showcasing the exciting opportunities within the maritime industry. Along the way, they also picked up some VDMC swag to take home! This event, hosted by ODU's Innovation Lab, in partnership with Newport News Public Schools and the Maritime Engineering and Environmental Studies Academy (MEESA), was designed for rising 7-9th grade students to introduce them to the wide range of career pathways available in the maritime industry. The VDMC team really enjoyed interacting with these bright students and helping them explore the many exciting opportunities in the maritime industry! They would love to see these students compete in the Digital Ship Challenge over the next couple of years!
Across OERI ICAR Participates in Natural Capital Symposium at Stanford University July 8, 2026
ICAR's Laura Costadone participated in the Natural Capital Symposium at Stanford University, a global gathering of leaders from government, international financial institutions, academia, and the private sector, all working toward the same goal: integrating natural capital into policy, finance, and resilience planning. These leaders are actively shaping how the world accounts for nature in both economic and ecological terms, and this has big implications for resilience planning. Laura presented on her project, "Assessing the Economic Value for Hampton Roads Flood Mitigation & Coastal Resilience Natural Assets," for the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, which puts a number on something coastal communities have always known intuitively: our wetlands, shorelines, and natural buffers aren't just ecosystems — they're infrastructure. And infrastructure needs to be valued, financed, and protected accordingly. ICAR is proud that, together with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, they are helping position Hampton Roads as a pioneer in bringing natural capital thinking into realworld coastal resilience strategies.
Across OERI Capitol Hill M&S Expo July 16, 2026
VMASC was at the Capitol Hill M&S Expo in Washington D.C. to connect with Congressional leaders and showcase how VMASC is building the tools and simulations that make training realistic, repeatable and ready for the field. Representatives from several ODU Division of Research and Economic Development research centers were also there to talk about how their researchers are advancing technologies in spectrum management, AI, cybersecurity, defense, and digital engineering. The representatives were also honored to welcome Congressman Bobby Scott, a longtime advocate for modeling and simulation and its impact on national defense, healthcare, education and workforce development. It was a pleasure to share updates on VMASC's latest research and technology initiatives.
Across OERI
ICAR Hosts Urban Tree Canopy Workgroup Meeting July 20, 2026
ICAR hosted a thoughtful discussion on Virginia's tree canopy conservation and replacement policies. The Virginia General Assembly recently directed ICAR to convene a diverse stakeholder work group to: review existing state laws, regulations, and agency guidance relating to the conservation and replacement of tree canopy in the Commonwealth and make recommendations for improvement. As part of this process, ICAR hosted regional listening sessions in Richmond, Alexandria, and most recently in Suffolk at VMASC to help inform the work group's deliberations. These conversations brought together local governments, nonprofits, developers, urban foresters, environmental organizations, state agencies, and other interested stakeholders to share their perspectives and recommendations. ICAR's Andrew Larkin, Carol Considine, Matthew Falcone, and Annie West facilitated these discussions, and the feedback gathered during these sessions will help inform the work group's recommendations to the General Assembly.
Across OERI Summer BBQ and Mark Farewell July 23, 2026
We had a great time celebrating the summer, reflecting on all we’ve accomplished over the past year, and giving VDMC Executive Director Mark Whitney a heartfelt sendoff as he begins a well-deserved retirement. Wishing him all the best in this exciting new chapter!
Across OERI OERI Coaching Opportunities By Jessica Galassie: OERI runs on ambitious timelines, cross-disciplinary partnerships, and people who carry more responsibility than their titles suggest. It’s easy for all of that motion to feel like clarity even when it isn’t, because staying busy and knowing where you’re headed are two different things that get confused constantly in research environments like ours. OERI has launched an internal coaching effort to create space for the second kind of clarity. In this confidential space, faculty and staff can slow down enough to think out loud about how they actually want to work, lead, decide, and grow, rather than react. What is coaching? Coaching is a forward-looking conversation built around your own thinking. You set the agenda, and the coach mostly listens, asking questions that explore rather than narrow, and every so often reflecting a pattern you might not see from inside your own head, without trying to fix you or tell you what to do. In coaching, you should end up hearing yourself more clearly and moving forward with more intention than you started with. What coaching is not Coaching can sometimes get confused with consulting, mentoring, therapy, training, supervision, or performance management. But a coach isn’t going to hand you a technical solution, review your proposal, diagnose what’s wrong, or evaluate your work. The conversation stays focused on how you’re thinking, leading, and communicating your way through your challenges rather than on the work product itself. Who coaching is for Coaching isn’t reserved for executives or people in crisis. In research and innovation environments, many people are already leading before they hold a formal title, running a project or collaboration, or mentoring a student, well before anyone hands them the title of leader. That leading brings real uncertainty and an unofficial workload. None of that means coaching is a fit for everyone at every moment, though. It works when someone is genuinely willing to sit with their own thinking rather than look for someone else to hand them a plan, and that readiness varies from person to person and over time. Someone who isn’t there yet just isn’t ready yet, and that’s fine to say plainly instead of nudging them into a conversation they didn’t ask for.
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Across OERI Meet the Coaching Team Krzysztof Rechowicz: Most of what people bring me isn’t the actual problem, it’s the stand-in for something they haven’t named yet, and I’ve gotten pretty comfortable pointing that out, partly because I’ve sat on the other side of that same avoidance myself. I spend my research life thinking in systems, so quiet, unglamorous patterns are basically my hobby, which comes in handy here too. What I won’t do is hand you my opinion, since it was never mine to give. My job is to help you hear your own clearly enough to act on it. Erika Frydenlund: I like helping people sort through problems that are messy, complicated, or beginning to feel mildly ridiculous. I bring curiosity, structure, and a dry sense of humor, while leaving the answers where they belong: with you. My role is to help you see the situation more clearly and decide what you want to do next. Jessica Galassie, MBA: My coaching ethos is rooted in helping others grow without boundaries. I believe coaching creates a safe, honest space where people can pause, hear themselves more clearly, and reconnect with their own wisdom, choices, and direction. I bring curiosity, emotional awareness, and direct but caring questions to help clients notice patterns, explore what matters, and move forward with greater honesty, clarity, and courage. Good topics for coaching Stepping into more responsibility before anyone’s handed you the title Making a call when the data or the situation isn’t clean-cut A conversation you’ve been putting off having Leading a team or partnership that spans departments or institutions Figuring out what to say no to, or what to hand off Reconnecting with why this work mattered to you in the first place
If you think you’re ready, sign up for https://tinyurl.com/LeadershipCoachingODU
coaching
through
our
intake
form:
Or, you can reach out to us by email if you have questions: leadershipcoaching@odu.edu
Publications CME’s Deri Draper-Amason Has Paper Accepted to 2026 NDIA Emerging Technologies for Defense Conference and Exhibition Deri Draper-Amason’s paper has been accepted for the 2026 NDIA Emerging Technologies for Defense Conference & Exhibition. Operationalizing Emerging Technology Readiness Through Mission Engineering: An AI-Enabled User Story Framework Emerging technologies can demonstrate impressive technical performance and still struggle to transition into operational capability. Technology readiness alone does not tell us whether the evidence is sufficient, the workforce is prepared, mission dependencies are understood, risks are manageable, or decision-makers are ready to act. Her presentation will introduce the Integrated Digital Maturity Pathway (IDMP)which is an AIenabled mission engineering framework that uses mission-oriented user stories, structured readiness analytics, and human-in-the-loop governance to help organizations examine these broader conditions. She will also offer a glimpse into how this research is evolving:
🔹 From periodic maturity assessment toward continuous readiness intelligence 🔹 From IDMP as an analytical framework toward ORBIT—the Operational Readiness-Based Intelligence Tool
🔹 From evaluating readiness as a static condition toward understanding it through the broader lens of Operational Readiness Theory
🔹 From identifying readiness gaps toward acting on them through the Adaptive Digital Mission Engineering Cycle—ADMEC™
The conference will take place September 8–10, 2026, in Washington, DC.
OERI In The News Old Dominion University Researcher Uses AI to Help Children with Heart Defects Avoid Lifelong Hypertension odu.edu July 6, 2026 By Jessica Zimmerman For many children born with a serious heart defect, surgery is only the beginning of their journey. Even after successful treatment, many go on to develop hypertension and other cardiovascular complications later in life. An Old Dominion University researcher believes there may be a critical opportunity to change that outcome. Based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), congenital heart defects affect nearly 40,000 babies in the United States each year, and more than 2,000 are born with coarctation of the aorta (CoA). It is one of the most critical, but common forms of congenital heart disease. Children with CoA have an average life expectancy of around 60 years. These patients often undergo surgery early in life and are considered successfully treated in most cases. However, although surgical advancements have improved average life expectancy, survival remains reduced, because many patients develop late complications, most commonly hypertension, which is often called the “silent killer” as it can progress for years without noticeable symptoms, while gradually damaging the heart, blood vessels, brain and kidneys. Arash Ghorbannia, Ph.D., an Old Dominion University research assistant professor, who specializes in medical modeling and simulation, is working to change that trajectory.
Arash Ghorbannia, Ph.D.
OERI In The News Old Dominion University researchers study why Tour de France riders keep getting faster wtkr.com July 9, 2026 By: Conor Hollingsworth NORFOLK, Va. — As the 2026 Tour de France unfolds, cyclists are once again pushing the limits of endurance, speed, and performance. The 21-stage race spans more than 3,000 kilometers across France and is widely regarded as one of the world's most prestigious endurance competitions. Each year, riders seem to get faster despite increasingly demanding race conditions—a trend that researchers at Old Dominion University wanted to better understand. For Dr. Patrick Wilson, an exercise scientist at Old Dominion University, the project began with a personal interest in professional cycling. "I'm a fan," Wilson said. "I enjoy watching endurance sports, particularly bike racing. It's entertaining in a different way in that there's actually a team aspect to it." Curious about the steady increase in race speeds over the past four decades, Wilson partnered with ODU data analyst Ross Gore, who works in the University’s Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center. They examined 40 years of Tour de France data. "If you look back 40 years ago, the times were around 37 kilometers per hour," Gore said. "Now they're around 41 or 42."
July 2026 Internal Newsletter
ODU Office of Enterprise Research and Innovation
1030 University Blvd., Suffolk, VA 23435 oduinnovate.org