NOVI, Michigan –
The Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime participated in the 14th annual Ground Vehicle Systems Engineering and Technology Symposium in Novi, Michigan Aug. 16-18. The conference is hosted by National Defense Industrial Association Michigan Chapter and brings together scientists and engineers from government, academia and industry to explore innovative ways to integrate technological solutions into current and future military ground vehicles. The focus of this year’s event was developing warfighter technology solutions for the future fight.
This year yielded nearly 1,800 vendors and attendees and included a wide variety of contractors including GM Defense, AM General, General Dynamics Land Systems, SAIC and Loc Performance. DLA’s presence was noticed by many. DLA Land and Maritime Procurement Analyst/Source Approval Request Monitor Jamie Spangler joined U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command’ Competition Advocate and Source Approval Request Monitor in their booth to spread awareness and information about the source approval program. Spangler and her TACOM counterpart Leo Simsic educated contractors and government sources alike on the benefits of the source approval program. Matthew Elliott, with DLA Land and Maritime’s Office of Small Business, supported the small business programs effort as a representative of DLA.
The theme of this year’s GVSETS opening panel was “Going to the Gemba: From Racing to Warfighter at the Speed of Combat” and focused on the applications of racing cars and how they could be used on military ground vehicles. This panel paralleled applications of unmanned racing cars being developed by Clemson University, and other universities around the country, to ways that this technology could benefit the warfighter.
Throughout the first day, technical papers were presented on a variety of groundbreaking and innovative technology with applications to increase warfighter readiness and performance. These presentations ranged from universities and businesses to military entities research and development. And all supported one common goal: equipping the warfighter with the best gear to complete their mission and return home safely.
Several innovative additive manufacturing displays, tank tracks, high level drones and the latest on military ground vehicle technology were present during the conference. Notably, this was a first opportunity for many to see the Infantry Squad Vehicle created by GM Defense.
On the final day, Spangler joined TACOM presenters to explain differences between Source Approval Requests routed directly to TACOM and requests that need to go through DLA for processing. The continued relationship between the two entities is a great representation of teamwork throughout the government, and reaffirms the valuable networking and knowledge-sharing opportunities available through conference participation.