DAHLGREN, Va. –
As Virginia Tech professor Dr. Justin Kauffman reflected on the 10 weeks he spent at Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) for the Office of Naval Research Summer Faculty Research Program (SFRP), there were several enlightening moments.
The one that stood out above others, however, came during the NSWCDD Modeling and Simulation Summit.
There were several presentations about mission-based modeling that demonstrated to Kauffman the distinct differences between academia and being at the forefront of impacting the warfighter on a daily basis.
“It was about looking at the entire problem end-to-end and how it has to be relevant for the warfighter,” Kauffman said. “That is something that the academic side doesn’t get exposed to regularly unless you’re involved in something like this. That was the most eye-opening experience and really drove home the larger benefits of this program.”
The SFRP involves professors from several different universities conducting research at NSWCDD.
This year, the program more than tripled its participation with 10 professors joining the program.
In addition to Virginia Tech’s Kauffman, three professors hailed from Old Dominion University and one each from North Carolina State University, University of Texas-Arlington, Norfolk State University, University of Mary Washington, Virginia Commonwealth University and Virginia State University.
“I think the summer program is great for faculty to get some of that real world knowledge,” Kauffman said.
Kauffman, who worked in the Integrated Engagement Systems Department during his stint at NSWCDD, is a research assistant professor in the Intelligent Systems Division at the Virginia Tech National Security Institute (NSI).
Before Kauffman arrived at the NSI in Arlington, Virginia, he was a mathematician in the High Performance Computing and Visualization Group under the Applied and Computational Mathematics Division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
He earned a doctorate in engineering science and mechanics from Penn State University, which is also where he earned a master's and two bachelors.
Kauffman spent his time at NSWCDD in the Hypersonics Design Integration and Systems Analysis Branch. He started May 25 and worked mostly on hypersonic effects on hydrometeors and how those hydrometeors affect hypersonic projectiles.
“Since my background is in modeling and simulation, I was more focused on trying to develop models,” Kauffman said.
The relationships Kauffman developed were equally as important as his hands-on activities.
Joel Mejeur, a scientist in the Hypersonic Design Integration and Systems Analysis Branch, worked closely with Kauffman.
“The SFRP provides an opportunity to establish continuing research relationships with the research and development personnel of the host laboratories,” Mejeur said. “Dr. Kauffman supported the branch through analysis of methods used for hypersonic weather interactions and also leveraged his time making connections with other groups at NSWCDD to further develop its relationship with the Virginia Tech National Security Institute.”
Kauffman said he’s hopeful the connections he made at NSWCDD will be mutually beneficial. He said there are ongoing discussions centered on NSWCDD and the university establishing a stronger relationship.
Kauffman’s position at Virginia Tech doesn’t require him to teach. However, there are other ways to use the knowledge he gained this summer.
“I think there will be opportunities to write proposals to the Office of Naval Research or other entities and partner with Dahlgren,” Kauffman said. “I now have a much broader network. I can send resumes of good students to more people at Dahlgren. Hopefully we can establish a pipeline.”