A
PSI
LETTER FROM THE EDITORS.
HELLO 2025!
Spring is here! After the long winter months we’re soaking in the sun and shedding all those extra layers in celebration of the new season. We always say that our favorite issue is the next one, but this Spring edition is extra special. It’s our inaugural dive into the new year, and we’ve packed it full of exciting updates that will lend an extra spring to your step.
From a spotlight on the amazing VR technology being developed on the PARADIGM program to a peek into PSI’s own spring cleaning efforts (spoilers: it’s not just organizing desktops), we’ve got the good you need to kickstart your season with fresh ideas and inspiration.
As always, a massive thank you to our amazing contributors, without whom this issue would be like a garden without flowers. Each edition of this newsletter is a reflection of the passion and creativity within the PSI community, and we’re thrilled to share it with you.
ENJOY THE SUN!
THE MARKETING TEAM
COMPANY UPDATES
AWARDS & WINS
VA Independent Enterprise Testing Support Services (IETSS) Recompete
DHA Veterinary Services System Management (VSSM)
U.S. Marine Corps Training and Education Command (TECOM) Sports Medicine Injury Program (SMIP) Bridge
Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA) Regional Network Enterprise Center (RNEC)
DEPARTMENT UPDATES
Quality and Security
• PSI’s 2025 E-Cycle Event was conducted during 1Q2025 to support PSI’s Quality, Technology, and Environmental Management Systems resulting in 3,128 lbs of recycled enterprise assets.
• PSI’s 2025 Annual Security Awareness Training initiated this month (3/20), 60 days long, 76% completed.
• PSI’s Information Security Management System Compliance (ISMS) internal compliance audit conducted during 1Q2025.
• PSI’s Information Technology Service Management System (ITSMS) internal compliance audit is active, planned completion for 2Q2025.
• PSI’s Technology Management Teams Service Continuity (SCON) Planning is active, in-scope stakeholders shall be notified during 2Q2025 of participation requirements for PSI’s 2025 SCON event.
• CMMC Level 2 self-assessment for CMMC Enclave underway for CUI/ITAR enclave in GCC-H/Azure Government, 3CPAO CMMC Level 2 Certification Assessment scheduled July/August 2025
Celebrating Innovation & Excellence: PSI Impact & Einstein Awards!
At PSI, we recognize that our greatest strength is our people—those who go above and beyond to drive impact and innovation. That’s why we’re excited to announce two prestigious awards designed to honor game-changing contributions that help shape our company’s success!
PSI Impact Award – Quarterly Recognition for Outstanding Contributions!
Are you working with someone who is making a significant impact on PSI’s business? The PSI Impact Award celebrates employees who exemplify our SOUL model:
Solving for the Customer with exceptional service and results
Owning Their Actions with accountability and follow-through Uplifting and Serving One Another by fostering collaboration and support Leaning Towards the Future and Innovation by driving improvements and fresh ideas
Nominate a colleague who has gone above and beyond! The winner will be recognized company-wide and receive a special award.
Submit your Nominations Here by April 4th!
*note: nomination process for impact award will change after Q1, details to come.
PSI Einstein Award – Biannual Recognition for Innovation & Future Thinking!
Got an idea that could change the game? The PSI Einstein Award recognizes employees or teams who bring big ideas to life!
There are two categories:
New Business Innovation – A new product or service PSI can offer customers
Internal Innovation – A new process, product, or efficiency improvement for PSI
Submit your innovative ideas for a chance to present to PSI’s executive team and help shape the future of our company! Don’t wait! Nominations and submissions for both awards are now open. Recognize excellence, showcase your creativity, and be part of the next big thing at PSI!
Submit your Nominations Here by April 15th!
Let’s celebrate the people who make PSI extraordinary!
Viva Engage Communities Are On the Way!
Greetings, PSI!
The TM Department is pleased to introduce Viva Engage (formerly Yammer), a new solution that will help foster engagement and connectivity, bringing PSIers from all backgrounds together to join the conversation. In this new era of remote work, it’s important that as we continue to grow, we find new ways to stay connected, share ideas, and encourage each other in our endeavors. Viva Engage will help us keep the conversation going, as well as drive innovation and solutioning.
Here’s how it works:
Like with many social platforms, you can engage as an individual and as part of a community. You can reach the Engage app by going to https://engage.cloud.microsoft, by going to the Engage app in M365, or by adding the Viva Engage app to your Microsoft Teams client.
Top Tip: Your storyline is accessible in the Engage app as well as in your Teams chats. Your storyline is public. What you post to your storyline is visible to the entire org.
Top Tip: If you are using the app within Teams, you can customize your settings in your Teams settings, under Notifications and activity. Scroll down the page to find app-specific notifications settings:
Communities can be public or private, with assigned leaders who help manage content and visibility. Some communities will be tagged with an “official” designation. These communities are run by those tasked in the org with maintaining a level of trust that concerns the content and purpose of the groups. Public activity highlights go out to the org periodically via email digest. This also includes storyline posts. You may have noticed some emails circulating already with updates from other employees. You can customize your notifications in your settings to choose which notifications you receive.
We are currently standing up several communities, which we are very excited about. These will include a Leadership Corner, PSI Voice and a new AI Knowledge Network. The Leadership Corner will be a place to receive messages from, and engage with, PSI Leadership. PSI Voice is a place for you to bring your suggestions, comments and ideas for how we can continuously improve PSI as a workplace. Our new AI Knowledge Network will be a hub for those with an interest in AI technologies to engage with each other and share and receive knowledge and resources. If you are interested, please visit and follow!
We are also looking at opening several hobbyist communities and communities built around shared interests to help foster employee connections. New communities can be requested using the Viva Engage Community Request Form in Power Apps. In the meantime, please check out the Viva Engage resources from Microsoft in our TM Training Library. We are looking forward to seeing how you all use this new platform to collaborate, solve problems, share your experiences, and continue to build up a thriving and welcoming PSI community.
Thank you,
PSI TM Department
SPOTLIGHT ON: ARPA-H
Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) advances highpotential, high-impact biomedical and health research that cannot be readily accomplished through traditional research or commercial activity. ARPA-H awardees are developing entirely new ways to tackle the hardest challenges in health.
PSI is an awardee of the ARPA-H Platform Accelerating Rural Access to Distributed & InteGrated Medical care (PARADIGM) program which aims to create a multifunctional, rugged electric vehicle platform equipped with advanced medical devices to deliver hospital-level care in rural communities across the country. The PSI Team will leverage a multi-purpose electric vehicle platform and a unique “arm and rack” design for effective clinical workflows. This program is our first innovation-based project and is delivered from our Innovation Catalyst led by Nate Pierpoint.
This quarter the Paradigm team has been employing Virtual and Augmented Reality to design the vehicle.
RIGHT: A PICTURE FROM INSIDE THE INITIAL VERSION OF THE CDP
ABOVE: LATEST DRAWINGS OF THE 3D MODEL
ABOVE: TERRY LOOKING THROUGH AR HEADSET
LEFT: THE 3D SCANNER KNOWN AS THE ARTEC LEO 3D SCANNER
EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHTS
9AM 10AM 11AM 1PM
BEHIND THE SCREENS
with Allison Heaberlin
HUMAN RESOURCES ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
I arrive at the office in Columbia, MD and first thing I do is turn on the heater in my office because no matter the season-I’m always cold! If any of my office mates are in, I always shout a “Good Morning!!”. After logging in, I begin to sort through emails I’ve received overnight, address any urgent issues and set a plan for the day. I find that setting a goal for myself as to when I intend to complete certain tasks ensures I address items in a timely fashion. I am a lover of Post-it notes and spreadsheets to keep myself accountable and organized.
Currently I am assisting in training the newest member of the HR team, so we will have a Teams meeting to review procedures. I will also take this time to organize my notes for which new hires are starting that day.
Via Microsoft Teams, I conduct the new hire orientation for all of PSI’s newest employees. Depending on the need, I can hold up to 3 orientations a week! I love this part of my job. I truly enjoy meeting new team members and providing them with information to get them started in their career with PSI. I encourage them to reach out to me if they have questions along the way and I love hearing from folks later on that I may have onboarded long ago.
I always set aside time in the afternoon to complete employment verifications. During this time, I research employee information and complete the requests as needed. I also may need to make appointments to complete these records with an investigator in person. I get multiple requests a day and am usually heavily on the phone responding to inquiries. I am thankful for the rest of the HR, payroll and AP team who assist me with the required information in completing these requests. I can honestly say, I have never worked with a team this supportive. I have learned so much from my team. They are always willing to help and provide encouragement when things are particularly busy or confusing.
2PM 3PM 4PM 5PM
Throughout the day I receive notifications that background checks have been completed. I will review the results and determine if they can be approved or if more information is required. This is a great opportunity for me to reach out to management and learn what information is and is not acceptable for the various positions. Everyone is always so kind in providing me their guidance and I learn more about the position requirements from these interactions.
Time to get the mail! PSI is a large company, so you may not be surprised by the amount of mail that comes in on the daily. I have my own sorting system to determine who will receive what. I send the mail to employees who are off site or provide it directly to those that are in the office with me. I may also need to make calls to individuals if any mail was returned due to an insufficient address.
Throughout the day, I receive notification of new hires from the Talent Acquisition Team. I take this information and generate the employee’s personnel file. This process includes working with IT and management to get emails created and equipment sent out. I get employees set up in UKG, review their onboarding documentation and provide communication on next steps for the employee to start. This process has a lot of moving parts and sometimes needs to take place in a small window of time. I remember when I first started how overwhelming this process seemed. In teaching our newest team member the ropes, I am grateful for all that I have learned and can now share when and why we do each step to maximize accuracy and efficiency.
End of the day has arrived. Let’s talk about employee referrals! I review my tracking spreadsheet for the employee referral bonus program. I ensure payroll has notification of when payouts should be distributed and communicate those dates with the employee. I make sure to verify that all employees are still active. So, let this be a reminder to send in those referrals! Those are my favorite emails to send because everyone is so happy to hear from me.
CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS
PSI Advances AI-Driven Solutions at WM2025
WITH BRYAN LY
PSI’s Federal Civilian (FedCiv) Team took center stage at the Waste Management Symposia 2025 (WM2025) in Phoenix, Arizona, showcasing cutting-edge AI-driven data analytics solutions. With this year’s theme focusing on “Empowering a Sustainable Future – Advanced Technologies, AI, and Workforce Development Across the Nuclear Landscape,” PSI’s FedCiv Team were perfectly positioned to highlight how AI can transform nuclear waste management. The Federal Civilian Team, led by Bill Niemeyer, included Lauren Hohe, Herman Chu, and Andrew Young, who collectively represented PSI at WM2025. Their participation reinforced PSI’s commitment to innovation and collaboration in the nuclear waste management sector.
Key Takeaway & PSI’s Impact
At WM2025, PSI’s FedCiv Team demonstrated how its AI-powered data solutions help organizations automate and optimize their nuclear data processes. Their goal was to showcase the potential of AI in revolutionizing efficiency, accuracy, and decision-making within nuclear waste management.
Building Partnerships & Expanding Opportunities
1. Strengthening Existing Relationships: The FedCiv Team met with several of PSI’s current partners to explore potential new collaboration opportunities to expand ongoing projects.
2. New Connections & Future Endeavors: The FedCiv Team also engaged with potential new partners, evaluating future opportunities to work together for upcoming projects within the nuclear sector.
3. Industry Insights: The FedCiv Team attended key sessions and networking events, gaining valuable insights into the evolving challenges and solutions within the nuclear waste management industry.
Looking Ahead
PSI remains dedicated to advancing and growing its AI-driven data solutions that empower the nuclear energy industry to operate more efficiently and sustainably. We look forward to what the FedCiv Team can apply from the newfound insights and connections gained at WM2025 to drive exciting innovation and new collaborations in this expanding field of nuclear energy.
BYTE-SIZED: EPISODE 5
In this episode of Byte-Sized, we spoke with David Zhang and Rosie Catanoso about their roles within Cognito’s H2F Program with the Army. Make sure to tune in and hear about the daily lives of Athletic Trainers, their perspectives on managing the contract, and more!
SEASONAL FEATURES
KEVEN’S KITCHEN
Blond Puttanesca with Chickpeas & Lemon Caper Sauce
INGREDIENTS:
6 Oz Penne
5 Garlic Cloves
2 Oz Castelvetrano Olives
1 Lemon
6 Oz Kale
13.4 Oz Chickpeas
STEPS:
2 Tbsp Capers
1 Tsp Dried Oregano
¼ Tsp Red Chile Flakes
2 Tbsp Parmesan
3 Tbsp + 1 Tsp Olive Oil
Salt And Pepper
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta. Thinly slice the garlic. Roughly chop the olives, removing any pits. Zest and juice the lemon. Destem and thinly slice the kale. Drain and rinse the chickpeas.
Add pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente, 7 to 10 minutes. Reserve 1 cup pasta water and drain the pasta. Return cooked pasta to the pot and toss with 1 tsp olive oil to prevent sticking.
Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sliced garlic and capers and cook until garlic is fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Add chopped olives, sliced kale, chickpeas, oregano, and as much of the red chile flakes as you’d like, and cook until kale wilts, 1 to 2 minutes.
Add the reserved pasta water, 2 tbsp olive oil, and a pinch of salt and pepper to the skillet with the chickpeas. Cook until liquid reduces slightly, 3 to 5 minutes. Add cooked pasta and toss. Add lemon zest, lemon juice and parmesan, and stir. Taste; add salt and pepper as necessary.
Fava Bean Agnoletti in Lemon Brodo with Zesty Zucchini Salad
INGREDIENTS:
1 Medium Zucchini
1 Lemon, Zested
4 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1/4 Tbsp Crushed Red Peppers
Fava Bean Agnoletti Or Other Filled Pasta
1/4 Cup Green Peas
STEPS:
1/2 Onion, Thinly Sliced Into Quarter Moons
2 Cloves Garlic, Thinly Sliced
1/4 Cup Pea Shoots
Micro Basil To Garnish
Salt & Pepper
Using a vegetable peeler, peel ribbons of zucchini turning zucchini every few ribbons. Toss with 2 tbsp lemon juice, 1/4 tsp salt and red pepper flakes. Set aside.
In sauce pan over medium heat, heat 2 tbsp olive oil. Sauté onions and garlic until onions are translucent.
Meanwhile boil salted water for pasta. Cook pasta 4-5 minutes if fresh.
Add peas to skillet with about 1/4 cup pasta water. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Take off heat and add 2 tbsp lemon juice and zest of 1 lemon.
In shallow bowl, put agnoletti and broth with peas. Sprinkle with pea shoots. Add some of the zucchini ribbon salad on top and garnish with lemon zest, olive oil, grated pecorino cheese and micro basil.
BOOK NOOK
WITH ASHLEY SESE
Whether you’re relaxing in the park for a picnic or inside avoiding allergies, it’s always good to keep a book handy. Check out our list of top reads best suited for the season!
o Historical Fiction: The Pretender by Jo Harkin
o Fiction: The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong
o Novel: Lush by Rochelle Dowden-Lord
o Fantasy & Romance: The Enchanted Greenhouse by Beth O’Leary
o Dystopian: The Capital of Dreams by Heather O’Neill
o Nonfiction: Around the World in 80 Plants by Jonathan Drori
SPRING CLEANING CONTEST
BRYAN LY
SASHA HERNANDEZ
AJAYSIA GAUTHIER
HEATHER LAURICO
WHAT’S ON YOUR PLAYLIST
WITH ADRIAN SOH
Spring is probably one of my favorite seasons.
1st: As a transition between winter and summer, it’s got the perfect weather.
2nd: The sun comes out after a long winter here in the PNW, so spring a provides a great change of pace from the all-too-common theme: Grey, Rainy, and Windy.
3rd: Possibly my favorite reason (not): the pollen that stuffs up my nose and gives the worst congestion possible.
In all seriousness, Spring always brings a new sense of motivation for me, and there’s no better way to do kickstart that than listening to some upbeat music during a sunny day! As a person whose music taste changes throughout the year according to the season/ weather, Spring is always an exciting time to bring out the upbeat R&B and 80s classics!
Let’s explore what some of your colleagues are listening to this upcoming Spring, and what PSI would sound like as a Spring Playlist! Click Here to give it a listen!
JUST A SAMPLE:
Bill Stanley – Learning to Fly - Tom Petty
Emily Bandier – Defying Gravity - Wicked
Leann Penland – Hitchcock Railway – Joe Cocker
John Brooks – House of the Rising Sun – The Animals
Denise Muniz – Spring Love – Stevie B
Damika Levenberry – SummerTime by Will Smith
Audrey Arnold – Lovely Day – Bill Withers
Khloe Boubekri – All I Wanna Do – Sherlyl Crow
Karen McCoy – Pocket Full of Sunshine – Natasha Bedingfield
Petra Caldwell – Upside Down – Jack Johnson
Diane Duhart – Everything’s Gonna be Alright – Al Green
Marc Kurtz – Escape Is at Hand for the Travellin’ Man – The Tragically Hip
THANK YOU FOR READING ENJOY THE SPRING
