COLUMBUS, Ohio –
An expert in ceramic capacitors from Columbus was honored in the nation’s capital for research that will save the Defense Department millions of dollars.
The Defense Standardization Program Office (DSPO) recognized DLA Land and Maritime Electronics Engineer John Bonitatibus and a group of individuals and organizations representing several branches of the Armed Forces and various Defense Agencies in a special ceremony inside the Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes on March 16th.
The annual achievement awards recognize those who have made outstanding contributions to cost reduction, interoperability, reliability, quality, and readiness through improvements in standardization. Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Systems Engineering and Defense Standardization Ms. Kristin J. Baldwin and Defense Standardization Program Office Director Mr. Gregory E. Saunders hosted the event.
Bonitatibus saw a need for smaller capacitors with the ability to store a larger electrical charge, but none of the capacitors with the required capabilities were available in the government supply chain at the time. His efforts to remedy this problem would span more than two years.
Bonitatibus realized that capacitors made of ceramic materials held the potential to meet the rigorous demands of new military technology, including avionics and electronic defense systems. As the lead engineer for capacitors at DLA, he began the process of creating original military specification documents (MIL-SPECS) to standardize the procurement of those items.
To develop the specification documents, Bonitatibus worked regularly with a variety of industry and end-users throughout the defense industry to develop MIL-PRF-32535.
“We had weekly meetings with several corporations including Boeing, Raytheon, and Lockheed as well as NASA to develop the specifications needed to present to the manufacturers,” Bonitatibus said. “I coordinated the communication between everyone and incorporated the results into the MIL-SPECS.”
The specification sheets Bonitatibus developed are now the standard used throughout the Defense Logistics Agency in the specialized field of ceramic capacitors and will greatly reduce cost expenditures in the future.
“Based on the DoD Parts Management Program Model this will result in a cost avoidance of $1.4 million annually and $6.8 million over the next five years,” Michael Radecki, chief of DLA Land and Maritime’s Electronic Components Branch said. “An added benefit for this new Military Specification will be the multiple qualified manufacturers for these capacitors which will result in supply availability for many years to come.”
The DSPO has given out the awards for more than 30 years, and each year the awards highlight innovation in specific categories. One of this year’s nomination guidelines called for standardization contributions that allowed new products to be modified, replaced, removed, or added into the standardization lifestyle which support the warfighter.
“In the past and today, the (Defense) Department has largely relied on proprietary technologies that were typically more expensive to develop, limited in upgrade capability, and made system integration more difficult,” Baldwin said. “For the future, the Department wants to use open-standards-based systems that deliver high performance and encourage innovation.”
The Defense Standardization Program’s mission to cut costs and improve operational effectiveness throughout the Defense Department sets new standards each year through their achievement awards program.
With his commitment to modernization and technical innovation, Bonitatibus represents DLA Land and Maritime’s core philosophy through his capacity to exceed those standards.
2016 Defense Standardization Program Achievement Awards winners:
Department of the Army, Low – Volatility Agent Permeation Test Method and Fixture. Dr. Terrance D’Onofrio
Department of the Army, Revision of DoD Design Criteria Standard: Noise Limits (MIL-STD-1474) Team. Bruce Amrein, John Mallino, Charles Jokel, Richard McKinley, Kurt Yankaskas
Department of the Navy, Multipurpose Reconfigurable Training System 3DTM Team. David Thomas, Darrell Conley, Bill Zeller, Khoa Vu, Christopher Freet
Department of the Navy, AN/FPN-63(V) Precision Approach Radar 400 Hertz Convertor Replacement Team. Richard Gunn, Stephen Cox, Terry Stockton, Erin Yakes
Department of the Air Force, Development of MIL-STD-3050, On-board Oxygen Generating System (OBOGS) Team. George Miller, Jose Ubinas, Madeleine Istvan
Defense Logistics Agency, Development of MIL-PRF- 32535, Extended Range, High Reliability and Standard Reliability Ceramic Chip Capacitors. John Bonitatibus
Defense Information Systems Agency, Defense Collaboration Services Team. Deepak Seth, Bruce Watkins, Jay Chung, Brian Fuchs, Steven Crum