The Department of Defense (DoD) on November 17 bestowed the 2022 George F. Linsteadt Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer to Alan Jaeger and Mark Thompson, who represent two different U.S. Navy laboratories in Port Hueneme, California. The award was announced at the annual DoD Technology Transfer Training Workshop in Bozeman, Montana.
Jaeger is the Manager of the Office of Research and Technology Applications (ORTA) at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division (NSWC PHD) and Director of the Naval Expeditions Agility Office (NavalX) Ventura Tech Bridge. Thompson is ORTA Manager at the Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center.
Jaeger and Thomas began working together in 2019 at the NSWC PHD Technology Transfer Office coordinating the laboratory’s Coastal Trident program, a government-industry research and experimentation effort aimed at advancing the state-of-the-art in port and maritime security and critical infrastructure.
In 2019, the pair opened Fathomwerx, a facility available to laboratory personnel as well as industry and academic partners to accelerate prototyping, testing and demonstrations. The facility boasts meeting space, audio/visual equipment and equipment including lathes, metal and plastic printers, thermal imaging equipment and mixed-reality lab space. Researchers can manufacture, experiment with and test materials for weathering and corrosion in the lab’s maker space and microclimate chamber, test underwater submersibles in a 75,000-gallon above-ground water tank, or experiment with uncrewed aerial vehicles in a 50,000 cubic foot indoor drone cage.
The George F. Linsteadt Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer is named after Linsteadt, a pioneer and champion of the DoD Technology Transfer program. Through this award, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)) recognizes professionals who embody the vision and spirit of. Linsteadt and his proactive legacy in the shaping of the DoD’s tech transfer community, and highlights initiatives that have had a significant impact on the DoD tech transfer program.
Previous winners of the award include: