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Dean’s Weekly Significant Activities Report
17 July 2013
The Dean’s Weekly Significant Activities Report is an internal report on all activities
conducted within the Departments, Centers & Staff. The Report is provided to the Dean
for situation awareness, throughout the organization for shared situation awareness,
and to select external organizations for outreach and communication. Portions of the
Dean’s Weekly Significant Activities Report are further staffed in a report to the
Superintendent. POC for the report is MS Lesley Beckstrom at 938-5105.
Picture of the Week
Mrs. Pat Locke (left) and Deputy Secretary Maurice Jones (center-left) among the crowd to listen as LTC Outing explains the STEM capstone event. Students programmed their “Taskbots” to autonomously complete a short circuit.
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Department of Mathematical Sciences
From L to R: Dr. Stephen Wilkerson, Dr. Vallen Emery, LTC Donald Outing
The West Point Center for Leadership and Diversity in STEM (CLD_STEM) in cooperation with the
Army Research Laboratory (ARL) conducted a STEM Workshop in support of the Hampton
Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s (HHRA) 2013 Father’s Day Program: “Reconnecting Families
with Dads”. The event was held at Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia, where some 60+ middle
school students, ages 10-14, residing in low-income communities operated by HHRA, and roughly as
many parents, educators, and distinguished visitors were in attendance.
Led by LTC Donald Outing (Director of CLD_STEM), the workshop delivered a unique blend of
technical and leadership training to the students. Dr. Stephen “Drew” Wilkerson, (Associate Director for
Special Programs in the ARL Vehicle Technology Directorate), and Dr. Kendall Williams, (Assistant
Professor in the West Point Mathematics Department), taught them how to build and program small
robots to accomplish autonomous tasks and Mrs. Pat Locke (President of Seeds of Humanity, Inc., and
USMA class of 1980) taught lessons on Leadership and Ethics.
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While students built and programed robots, the dignitaries, parents, educators, and volunteers were
briefed on how they could sustain student engagement in STEM. Dr. Vallen Emery (Director of Outreach
Programs for ARL) led the effort by promoting ARL STEM and diversity programs for the U.S. Army.
Dr. Emery spoke to the adult audience about the plethora of Army Education Outreach Programs while
Dr. Wilkerson informed the audience about the First LEGO League program.
The list of dignitaries and volunteers that turned out in support of the Father’s Day Program organized by
HHRA’s Director of Resident Relations and Resources, Roxanne Aaron, included: Deputy Secretary of
HUD Maurice Jones, HUD Virginia Public Housing Director Jerryl Bennett (USMA 1982), Virginia State
Senator Mamie Locke, MG(R) Bruce Davis, West Point Society of Hampton Roads members MAJ
Kathryn Pegues (USMA 2002) and Rod Richardson (USMA 1999), CDT Sara Locke (USMA 2015), Mr.
Michael Locke, Christopher Outing and several students from Hampton University.
Mrs. Pat Locke (left) and Deputy Secretary Maurice Jones (center-left) among the crowd to listen as LTC Outing explains the STEM capstone event. Students programmed their “Taskbots” to autonomously complete a short circuit.
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Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership
Completed Events
Follow BS&L on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/West-Point-NY/Department-of-
Behavioral-Sciences-Leadership/44253274507
Promotion Ceremony in honor of CPT(P) Brian Montgomery
On 31 May, BS&L celebrated the promotion of Brian Montgomery to the rank of Major. Hosted
by COL Everett Spain and held in Cullum Hall, the ceremony was well attended by faculty, staff,
and friends from across West Point and the Army, to include his spouse Carrie, parents Dr. Gary
and Mrs. Janice Montgomery, sister and brother-in-law Betsy and Ian Smith, and brother Kevin.
MAJ Montgomery is a new faculty member arriving to West Point fresh from graduate studies at
New York University. POC: MAJ Eric McCoy, BSL, x5022, [email protected].
Pictured below – COL Spain and Brian’s wife Carrie promoting him to the rank of Major.
Pictured below- MAJ Montgomery and COL Spain displaying the promotion certificate.
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New Instructor Visit to Cadet Field Training
On 12 JUL, new members of the BS&L faculty visited Camp Buckner to observe Cadet Field
Training. Hosted by Cadet Alexandra Moore, CFT PAO, the new faculty toured admin facilities
and observed training at the Marne Confidence Course, Water Obstacle Course, and Fire Support
Lane. While on the Fire Support Lane, the new faculty met with COL Goldman, DMI-6, who
provided an impromptu OPD on the new branching model. POC: MAJ Eric McCoy, BSL,
x5022, [email protected].
Pictured below - COL Goldman discusses integration of academic subjects into cadet summer
training with new faculty members, MAJs Laura Weimer and Christina Fanitzi.
Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering
Completed Events
Visit: On 10 July, BG(R) Dick Black visited the Department of Physics and Nuclear
Engineering lead by Prof. Tom Lainis. BG(R) Black is a member of the Class of 1967 and has
been involved in Space and Missile Defense for many years - both as an active duty officer and
civilian employee working for private firms. He was instrumental in helping to create the
Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering Space and Missile Defense - Research Analysis
Center (SMDE-RAC). He was also the first Chair funded by the Class of 1967 Endowment.
The purpose of this visit was to observe the maturity of the SMDC-RAC and offer any assistance
needed. BG(R) Black was briefed on the SMDC-RAC, Photonics Research Center, and the New
Science Building by Department personnel including COL Ed Naessens, LTC John Hartke, Dr.
Paula Fekete, and LTC Lou Florence. He was also briefedon Black Knight 1 by LTC Matt
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Burrow from EECS. BG(R) Black was extremely pleased with the research performed by
cadets. MG Mark Hamilton, who was the former president of the University of Alaska, joined
them for lunch. BG(R) Black and MG Hamilton were both members of the Class of 1967
football team -- celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first time they joined hands. As a former
member of the USMA football team, BG(R) Black visits USMA every year in the summer for a
team reunion and has made it a point to visit the Department.
Current Events
Physics in the Field: During 10-18 July, The Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering has
worked with the Department of Military Instruction to pilot an initiative at this year's CFT field artillery
training site to blur the lines between the academic and military programs. Cadets are receiving training
on field artillery systems emplacement and operations at Range 2. During this training, cadets have the
opportunity to discuss the physics of projectile motion that governs the firing solution that they will see at
the fire direction control site (FDC). Groups of 10 cadets rotate between the FDC and a field-expedient
physics instruction site where they will sit on a "natural log" and learn the fundamental physics that
enables our Army field artillery to be the King of Battle. MAJ Howie Titzel (site OIC), MAJ Eric
Marshall, MAJ Tyler Donnell, MAJ Nestor Echeverria and CPT Trevor McLaughlin are providing
motivational instruction to inspire one of many examples of the critical overlap of our core academic
program with the military, physical and moral-ethical developmental programs.
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IAD(A)s: The Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering prepared 22 cadets (including one plebe)
to go on AIADs to nine locations (two international) this summer. The numbers are down from last
summer (39 cadets (5 plebes) to 20 locations (4 international)) due to sequestration.
CST: During summer 2013 (21 May – 21 August), six officers from The Department of Physics and
Nuclear Engineering are supporting cadet summer training events.
NIT: The Department’s New Instructor Training continues.
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Department of Chemistry and Life Science
1. Chemisty & Life Science New Instructor Training.
LTC Richard Comitz, MAJ Jeremy Goodin, CPT John Belanger, CPT Tyrek Swaby, CPT(P)
Stephen Winter and Dr. Kevin O’Donovan joined the Department of Chemistry and Life
Science and began their New Instructor Training Course (NITC). The group is working
through all 40 lessons of the upcoming semester of CH101 General Chemistry and will execute
all of the laboratory exercises. This year’s group brings a diverse expertise ranging including
organic synthesis, neuroscience, biophysics, molecular cell biology, and chemical engineering.
LTC Comitz, CPT(P) Winter, and MAJ Goodin conduct ionic compound flame tests
during the Spectrophotometry lab.
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CPT(P) Steve Winter teaches electron configuration and quantum numbers.
2. AIAD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
CDT’s Dave Brown, Kyle Geiser, Sam Lowell, Isaiah Levy and LTC John Burpo are conducting lightweight
battery research using viruses at the Biomolecular Materials Laboratory at MIT directed by Professor
Angela Belcher. The cadets are extending their research over the last year at West Point biotemplating
metal nanowires on DNA, by using the M13 bacteriophage virus to synthesize 3-dimensional nanowire
arrays for lightweight Army battery applications.
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CDT Sam Lowell uses a tangential flow filtration system to concentrate the M13 virus for
nanowire synthesis experiments.
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Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering
Completed Events
Collaborative Interdisciplinary Research Study Conducted on Foot Structure While Supporting the
Cadet Class of 2017 Boot Fit: A research team made up of COL Michael Neary (KACH), Dr. Bill
Brechue (DPE), and Becky Zifchock (CME/CIE), along with the collaborators from the New York
College of Podiatric Medicine (New York), the Hospital for Special Surgery (New York), Temple
University (Philadelphia), Novel Electronics (Munich, Germany), and over eighty student volunteers
conducted a research study of the foot structure of the incoming class of cadets while simultaneously
supporting the Boot Fit on R-Day +1 and R-Day +2. More than 1100 incoming cadets volunteered to take
part in the study which is designed to profile the incidence of arch height and stiffness in West Point
Cadets and their correlation to overuse injury.
This year the boot fit was executed with new instrumentation that was purchased with funding support
from the Center for Innovation and Engineering. In addition to providing an efficient and more effective
method for fitting the cadets’ footwear, the new foot measurement devices provided information on their
arch height and stiffness. The research team used this information on the cadet volunteers’ static foot
structure, along with measures of dynamic foot function in order to understand what this population
generally looks like in terms of the proportion of high and low arches, flexible and rigid feet. The team
will then track their incidence of overuse injury to see if this correlates to their foot structure and function.
Additionally, the team will also be following the cadets and measuring their feet at regular intervals
throughout their time at West Point to determine if there have been any changes in foot structure resulting
from the unique training in which they take part as cadets. POC is Dr. Becky Zifchock, Center for
Innovation and Engineering, [email protected]
Research faculty and volunteers gear up for two days of data collection at Washington Hall
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A student volunteer helps an incoming cadet find the perfect
boot fit
Study participants line up for dynamic foot pressure
measurement collection
A student volunteer measures the arch height and
structure of a study participant