Researchers Network with DOD Leadership and SUNY Colleagues

For the second year in a row, Stony Brook University researchers attended SUNY DOD DC DAY, an exclusive and interactive networking event that brought together 90 outstanding researchers across eight campuses of The State University of New York (SUNY) to meet with Department of Defense (DOD) leadership and program management.  The two-day event was held June 13 and 14 at the Arlington Hilton in Arlington, Virginia.

The event kicked off with a keynote address by Dr. Bindu Nair, Acting Director of the DOD Basic Research Office. Researchers also received valuable insights from Office of Naval Research (ONR), Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) and United States Army Medical Research & Development Command (USAMRDC) speakers.  Faculty participated in numerous one-on-one speed networking sessions with program directors representing ONR, CDMRP, Army Research Laboratory (ARO), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR). Additionally, faculty had the opportunity to discuss potential collaborations with other SUNY colleagues throughout the day and at the hosted evening reception

Dr. Nina Maung, Associate Vice President for Research and lead organizer for Stony Brook stated, “By leveraging the SUNY/RF system, we created a rare and important opportunity for large scale networking among participants from various SUNY institutions and DOD agencies.”

Stony Brook researchers had very positive feedback regarding the event; Alexander Orlov, Associate Professor, Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, commented that “SUNY DOD Day was really an eye opening and incredibly enriching experience. Realizing that my work can help to solve national security challenges and being able to discuss my ideas with funding officers was truly inspirational.”

The networking portion of the day was particularly well-reviewed by Christian Luhmann, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, noting, “From the outside, the DOD can seem very opaque to many academic researchers.  The ability to talk to representatives face-to-face was valuable and an efficient way to find your way to the most appropriate programs, learn about program priorities, and evaluate research compatibility.” Many researchers have been invited to submit white papers and have plans to explore new collaborations with their SUNY colleagues.

The 11 Stony Brook faculty who participated were from the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the School of Medicine and the College of Arts and Sciences.  Together they represented expertise in Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Systems, Big Data, Bioengineering, Cybersecurity, Electronics & Photonics, Materials Science, Quantum Computing and Specialty Sensors.

Representatives from Stony Brook’s Office of Government Relations  attended the event and assisted Stony Brook Research in efforts to build key relationships with federal funding agencies. The event was centrally organized by the Research Foundation for SUNY in collaboration with SUNY Central.