FLC | NSWC Crane and partners unveil new CyPhy Lab as collaboration space

NSWC Crane and partners unveil new CyPhy Lab as collaboration space

August 25, 2021

Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC Crane), NavalX Midwest Tech Bridge (MTB), and the Indiana Innovation Institute (IN3) officially unveiled the partnership's new Cyber Physical Systems Laboratory (CyPhy Lab) at an August 19 ribbon-cutting ceremony in Crane, Indiana. The purpose of the CyPhy Lab is to provide people from government, academia, and industry a place to collaborate on ideas and prototype in the same place.

The CyPhy Lab includes capability for electronics test and integration, sensor integration, additive manufacturing and machine shop, and modeling and simulation. The lab is almost 2,000-square-foot and has a collaborative conference area both groups and individuals can use. The facility uses to I-Light, a high-speed fiber optic network that links state, national, and international research and education communities and powers high-quality video connections and the ability to exchange large data files.

Equipment in the new lab was supported through a grant from the Office of Naval Research. The effort is supported by NSWC Crane, NavalX Midwest Tech Bridge, and IN3. Indiana University provided the I-Light network.

Nearly 60 people attended the ceremony from industry and government and from states including Indiana, Illinois, Georgia, and Virginia.

Anne Fields, the Regional Director of the NavalX Midwest Tech Bridge, says the event was a success.

“It was really exciting to see the CyPhy Lab filled with people from across the Midwest representing myriad organizations,” Fields said. “The development of this space and outfitting the space with equipment to support prototyping has been a cornerstone of what the NavalX Midwest Tech Bridge and the Indiana Innovation Institute (IN3) set out to do together over a year ago. We are hopeful that this is the first event of many and that this space will be privy to many future collaborations.”

Samuel Caccamo, the Director of Defense Innovation at IN3, says the lab offers unique capabilities.

“The team at IN3 is very excited about the opportunities the CyPhy lab will provide to NSWC Crane, and the Naval X Midwest Tech Bridge,” Caccamo said. “The CyPhy lab will promote a collaborative work space to promote the integration of a wide range of technical solutions in RF, Sensor Integration and Additive Manufacturing to expand collaboration and participation of industry, government and academia into the Midwest Tech Bridge Eco System. The net result of these efforts will be to ensure that the Department of the Navy has access to the latest technical solutions from private industry and academia to solve critical national security challenges.”