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Articles by Will Roper
Evolving federal R&D to meet the challenges of tomorrow
Maximizing the value of R&D expenditures will require taking a broader, portfolio-level perspective and accepting a certain level of risk—and failure—in the process. In fiscal year 2023, the US federal government spent approximately $190 billion on R&D. This was a roughly 13 percent increase over fiscal year 2022, making it one of the largest R&D spending jumps in recent history.
The AI revolution will be ‘virtualized’
This article’s insights were developed based on two papers by Dr. Will Roper: “There is no spoon: The new digital acquisition reality” (United States Air Force, October 7, 2020) and “Bending the spoon: Guidebook for digital engineering and e-series” (United States Air Force, January 19, 2021). The two papers discuss the increasingly blurred lines between digital and physical systems and the implications for public sector procurement.
What Workers Across the U.S. Can Learn From the WGA Strike
Income inequality is at historic highs. Tens of millions of working-class Americans can’t afford a home, medical care, or an education for their children. And we live under a political system run by the wealthy, in which average citizens hardly get a say. How do we solve these seemingly intractable problems? Recent events in Hollywood might provide an answer.
Noah Kahan: Putting Words to My Mental Health Struggles Saved Me
It would happen in the grocery store. It would happen at soccer practice and at middle school dances. It would happen on long road trips, at friends’ houses after school. It would start to happen slowly and seemingly all at once. It would happen out of nowhere; this vivid sensation that I was exiting my body. I would enter into what felt to my 10-year-old self like a sort of dreamy uneasiness.
My Exhilarating Journey From Developing a COVID Vaccine to Winning a Nobel Prize
I liked working in the biotech industry. There was something so refreshing, so honest, about what we were doing and how we talked about it. We were a business. We were there to create products based on good science. If the science was good, if the data supported one approach over another, that’s what mattered. It didn’t matter whether you spoke with an accent or whether you’d attended an Ivy League school or if you were good at schmoozing. At BioNTech, employees came from 65 different countries.
Lindsey Vonn: The 90 Seconds That Changed My Life
When I think back to my journey from a wide-eyed 9-year-old girl to an Olympic champion, I’m reminded of the incredible impact that a mere 90 seconds can have on a person’s life. It’s a story that began in a ski shop in Minnesota, where I met my childhood idol, Olympian Picabo Street—an encounter that would shape my life and inspire me to work to empower the next generation of young women. I can still vividly recall that day.
Ukraine Shows How Drones Are Changing Warfare
“You may fly over a land forever; you may bomb it, atomize it, and wipe it clean of life – but if you desire to defend it, protect it, and keep it for civilization, you must do this on the ground, the way the Roman Legions did – by putting your soldiers in the mud.” – T R Ferenbach War spurs innovation. While peacetime stifles the speed of military advances, the unfolding battles in Ukraine continue to reveal a relentless pace of technological adaptation.
Measuring results in the hyped world of defense investment
Recently, the chair of the Defense Innovation Board, Michael Bloomberg, announced the task force on strategic investment capital. Staffed by successful investors like Reid Hoffman and even a generative artificial intelligence system — likely a first for the Pentagon — this task force will assess how defense works with early-stage companies. It’s a topic of both hype and hope in Washington.
Measuring results in the hyped world of defense investment
Recently, the chair of the Defense Innovation Board, Michael Bloomberg, announced the task force on strategic investment capital. Staffed by successful investors like Reid Hoffman and even a generative artificial intelligence system — likely a first for the Pentagon — this task force will assess how defense works with early-stage companies. It’s a topic of both hype and hope in Washington.
Measuring results in the hyped world of defense investment
2 hours ago Could a federal judge really declare that an abortion drug used safely by millions of American women over more than two decades did not receive proper vetting and force it off the market? Normally, this would be an absurd scenario. When it comes to reproductive health, however, we have entered the …
The Air Force Flew an AI Copilot on a U-2. Now, the Algorithm Has a New Mission.
The U.S. Air Force flew an artificial intelligence (AI) copilot on a U-2 spy plane in California. The flight marked the first time in the history of the Department of Defense that an AI took flight aboard a military aircraft. Next, the AI will see real-world missions. Dr. Will Roper is the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics.
Exclusive: The Air Force’s Secret New Fighter Jet Uses F1-Style Engineering
The Air Force has created an “e-Series” designation for digitally designed aircraft. The Air Force's secret new fighter jet, which it designed, built, and flew in just one year, is the second e-Plane, following the eT-7A Red Hawk. The sixth-generation e-Plane is adopting Formula 1-style practices. Dr. Will Roper is the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. Our clunky, Cold War-era process of defense procurement is in need of a major refresh.
Exclusive: AI Just Controlled a Military Plane for the First Time Ever
The U.S. Air Force flew an artificial intelligence (AI) copilot on a U-2 spy plane in California. The flight marked the first time in the history of the Department of Defense that an AI took flight aboard a military aircraft. The AI algorithm, developed by Air Combat Command’s U-2 Federal Laboratory, trained the AI to execute specific in-flight tasks that would otherwise be done by the pilot.
There's No Turning Back on AI in the Military
For countless Americans, the United States military epitomizes nonpareil technological advantage. Thankfully, in many cases, we live up to it. But our present digital reality is quite different, even sobering. Fighting terrorists for nearly 20 years after 9/11, we remained a flip-phone military in what is now a smartphone world. Infrastructure to support a robust digital force remains painfully absent.
DOD should better define its place in space industry, report says, with information systems in mind
Written by Jackson Barnett Jul 30, 2020 | FEDSCOOP The Department of Defense should play a larger role in the commercial space industry in order to protecting critical “space information systems,” according to a new report by military space leaders. The report on the state of the commercial space industry urges the DOD to create a “North Star” vision and strategy for engaging in the domain of space and with the new private space industry.
Flying Cars Could Take Off Soon, if We Let the Military Help
Since "The Jetsons" premiered in 1962, Americans have been fascinated by the prospect of flying cars. In the show’s memorable opening, George Jetson somehow folded his sleek space sedan into a briefcase, a bit of design wizardry science will find challenging to recreate. Cartoon physics aside, we’re much closer to developing flying cars than you might realize. Flying vehicles portend the elevation of terrestrial military missions—and entire commercial industries—into the third dimension.
A statement from Dr. Roper on COVID-19
Like everyone, the entire acquisition workforce is dealing with unanticipated challenges of COVID-19. Exchanging offices with home telework, meetings with conference calls, and handshakes with social distancing are the new normal for keeping our workforce and their families safe, while staying laser-focused on maintaining the readiness of our forces, now and into the future.
A statement from Dr. Roper on COVID-19
Like everyone, the entire acquisition workforce is dealing with unanticipated challenges of COVID-19. Exchanging offices with home telework, meetings with conference calls, and handshakes with social distancing are the new normal for keeping our workforce and their families safe, while staying laser-focused on maintaining the readiness of our forces, now and into the future.
AI2020 - DoD's AI Symposium & Exposition
2020 Department of Defense Artificial Intelligence Symposium and Exposition September 9 & 10, 2020 The DoD’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) would like to announce that the DoD AI Symposium has gone virtual for 2020! All attendees will be able to participate in Symposium sessions led by thought leaders and those organizations that are driving AI in the DoD.
3D printing is about to save the military billions of dollars
Updated January 4, 2020 12:00 PM In my job, I get to see some amazing military technology: high-speed weapons that penetrate seemingly impregnable defenses and swarming microdrones dispensed from fighter jets. I keep mementos of these wonder weapons in my office. Something unusual just joined their ranks: a latrine panel from a C-5 Supergalaxy cargo plane. It's an odd-looking piece of molded plastic, about the size of a toaster, and its job containing wastewater is more necessary than cool.
Commentary: 3-D printing about to save military billions
Commentary: Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force, via The Washington Post By Will Roper In my job, I get to see some amazing military technology: high-speed weapons that penetrate seemingly impregnable defenses and swarming microdrones dispensed from fighter jets. I keep mementos of these wonder weapons in my office. Something unusual just joined their ranks: a latrine panel from a C-5 Supergalaxy cargo plane.
3D printing is about to save the military billions of dollars
OPINION 3D printing is about to save the military billions of dollars By WILL ROPER | Special to The Washington Post | Published: December 27, 2019 In my job, I get to see some amazing military technology: high-speed weapons that penetrate seemingly impregnable defenses and swarming microdrones dispensed from fighter jets. I keep mementos of these wonder weapons in my office. Something unusual just joined their ranks: a latrine panel from a C-5 Supergalaxy cargo plane.
OPINION EXCHANGE | 3-D printing is about to save the military billions of dollars
In my job, I get to see some amazing military technology: high-speed weapons that penetrate seemingly impregnable defenses and swarming microdrones dispensed from fighter jets. I keep mementos of these wonder weapons in my office. Something unusual just joined their ranks: a latrine panel from a C-5 Supergalaxy cargo plane. It’s an odd-looking piece of molded plastic, about the size of a toaster, and its job containing wastewater is more necessary than cool.
Perspective | 3D printing is about to save the military billions of dollars
In my job, I get to see some amazing military technology: high-speed weapons that penetrate seemingly impregnable defenses and swarming microdrones dispensed from fighter jets. I keep mementos of these wonder weapons in my office. Something unusual just joined their ranks: a latrine panel from a C-5 Supergalaxy cargo plane. It’s an odd-looking piece of molded plastic, about the size of a toaster, and its job containing wastewater is more necessary than cool.
UNL professor leads talk on local human trafficking
University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor Dr. Becky Buller said the College World Series, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and the annual Nebraska State Fair are hotspots for human trafficking. This dispels the common notion that human trafficking doesn’t occur close to home. Human trafficking is modern-day slavery that involves the use of force, fraud or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act.
Let's Ensure Tech Innovation Gets to the Military
Nothing motivates me more in acquiring weapons for the Air Force than foreign military threats. Stealth fighters, satellite-guided missiles, and silent submarines were once unique US capabilities; now our troops must face them on future battlefields. WIRED OPINION ABOUT Dr. Will Roper is the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics.
Section 804 gives the US an advantage in great power competition with China and Russia
Military weapons procurement probably doesn’t pop up in casual conversation at your dinner table. Rules governing it are as complicated as the modern war-fighting systems we build, making it a field that literally requires its own university at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Should you choose to slog through the 5,000-page “how-to” manual for military purchasing, you’d get a close-up look at the sclerotic process used to build supersonic fighters and stealth bombers.
Nebraska Farm Bureau Report Says Trade Tariffs Responsible for Up to $1 Billion in Lost Revenue
A new Nebraska Farm Bureau report says U.S. trade disputes resulting in tariffs have cost farmers in the state up to $1 billion in lost revenue for 2018. Along with lost income, the report also mentions a loss of over 6,000 jobs due to retaliatory tariffs responding to U.S.-imposed aluminum and steel tariffs.
R&D Special Report: Air Force Labs
National Defense magazine asked research laboratories involved in national security programs: “What is your organization’s number one R&D ‘big bet,’ (in other words: a high-risk, high-reward technology investment) that you believe will have the biggest payoff for those in the military or national security realm? Why? And in what ways do you think it will benefit the end users?” Today, the responses we received from Air Force labs.
UNL researchers explore the complexities, dangers of deep learning
The artificial intelligence of science fiction may have already arrived, and with it brings the potential to help solve immense global issues in the coming years — and create new ones.Stephen Scott, an associate professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, focuses his research on the ever-growing field of artificial intelligence and machine learning — particularly in regard to text analysis, computer security and, most recently, deep learning.Deep...
University of Nebraska High School provides online education to students across the world
When the time to choose a high school arrived, Stark, along with many rural Nebraskan students, international students, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake chose to continue this education style and enroll in the University of Nebraska High School. In early September, a video containing Britney Spears talking about her experience with the University of Nebraska High School made its rounds on Twitter.
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