DAHLGREN, Va. –
In government, industry and academia, investing in opportunities for collaboration, interactive learning and knowledge development prove advantageous for all involved. At Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD), the workforce values opportunities to establish, lead and participate in a multitude of Navy-sponsored educational programs and initiatives focusing on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines.
Through the Naval Engineering Education Consortium (NEEC) – a Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA)-managed program – NAVSEA Warfare Centers such as NSWCDD are committed to providing hands-on research and development project opportunities and establish relationships with educational institutions, colleges and universities across the United States and its territories.
One such NEEC project paired NSWCDD Systems Engineer Keyla Garcia Ramos with Dr. Emmanuel Arzuaga and several undergraduate and graduate students from the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez (UPRM), including one doctoral candidate.
Over the course of two years, Ramos and her NSWCDD team worked with Arzuaga – a professor in the computer science and engineering department at UPRM and faculty project lead – and his student team in developing Herd: A Cloud-Computing Environment to Support Live Container Migration and Monitoring.
According to Ramos, the project evaluates the performance of virtual machines (VMs) and containers. The virtual machines emulate the same computer system using hypervisor software, which creates and runs the VMs allowing multiple operating systems to function on a single system. “Because of this technology, instead of just having one operating system running on a physical server, we can emulate many servers inside [instead of just one],” said Ramos. “This technology combines with our efforts to providing efficient software systems to the warfighter.”
“With this [Herd] project, the UPRM students and I worked alongside our Dahlgren partners to create and build these systems that aid in supporting essential combat systems,” said Arzuaga. The three-year project is scheduled to conclude in early 2022 and will meet projected performance expectations and naval requirements.
Currently, this project is one of ten active NEEC-sponsored projects between NSWCDD personnel and various colleges and universities.
“We are appreciative to be part of this opportunity presented by NSWCDD and Office of Naval Research (ONR) and look forward to participating in further projects,” expressed Arzuaga.
Ramos and Arzuaga also attended the NSWCDD Summer Faculty Research Program, which provides collaboration opportunities to college and university faculty and invites interested parties to submit proposals for STEM-focused projects supporting naval initiatives.
Both Ramos and Arzuaga reflected how participating in the Summer Faculty Research Program and the NEEC-sponsored programs promote expert knowledge and provide valuable experiences for students for future career paths.
“Beyond developing constructive tools, our goal is to have the brightest students and the academic industry to understand what the Navy, particularly Dahlgren, is actively achieving in technology advancements,” stated Ramos. “We provide those students with exposure and hands-on experiences to those technologies while in college. It is important that we see each [student] as potential a candidate for us, who already has a basic to intermediate level of proficiency on those technologies.”
Benjamin Franklin famously stated, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest” and rings true for leadership and personnel at Dahlgren. As evident by the collaborative efforts and hands-on interaction between the NSWCDD workforce and the UPRM faculty and students, continuing STEM outreach initiatives and programs provide the opportunity to build a workforce consisting of the best and brightest talents in the field.