Trip Section: On 22 October, MAJ Nestor Echeverria and cadets enrolled in NE350 (Radiological Engineering Design) traveled to STERIS Isomedix in Chester, NY to see a real-world application of radiation technology that applies their required design project. Additionally, cadets gained a better understanding of transportation, shielding, security, safety, disposal or radioactive waste in support of course requirements. STERIS Isomedix uses a radioactive source to sterilized medical supplies. While there, they reloaded new Colbalt-60 sources into their irradiation facilities, thus providing the cadets a unique opportunity to observe the inner workings of the machines and the process of transporting and handling radioactive materials.
Triathlon Team: During 24-26 October, eleven cadets traveled to Austin, TX to compete in the Ironman 70.3 Collegiate National Championships. The West Point Team swept the Collegiate division with 1st place male Dylan Morgan ’16, 1st place female Cat Sedy ’16, Men’s Team National Champions, Women’s Team National Champions, and overall Team National Champions. Additionally, four cadets, Dylan Morgan ’16, Cat Sedy ’16, Angelica Dickson ’16 and Jacob Slife ’18 all qualified for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in 2015. Dylan Morgan was 10th overall in the entire race and the fastest amateur athlete with a collegiate championship record time of 4 hours and 8 mins to complete the 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and half-marathon. For five of the eleven cadets, this was their first time competing at the half-ironman distance. This is the third consecutive 70.3 national championship for the team under Head Coach Ian O’Brien and the third consecutive World Championship qualification for CDTs Morgan and Sedy. In addition to the cadet athletes, the OIC of the team, LTC Ken Allen, competed in the event and was 9th out of 266 men in the 40-44 year old age group division.
On 24 September, Ray Eason, USMA '94 addressed members of the West Point Excel Scholars Program as part of their Fireside Chat series. While here, Mr. Eason participated in the West Point Scholars Program run by SOSH; after graduation he went to Oxford as a Marshall Scholar. Serving on the West Point faculty after company command, Ray left active duty, received an MBA from the Harvard Business School, and is currently on Wall Street and as an Executive Director at Morgan Stanley. During the interactive discussion, Mr. Eason and the Excel Scholars dialogued on the importance of scholarship programs, networking, and mentorship.
Cadets traveled to the Palisades Mall to conduct research on social interactions and phenomena, otherwise called an Ethnography, of the mall population. On Saturday, 25 October, 15 cadets traveled to the Palisades Mall to conduct research on social interactions and phenomena, otherwise called Ethnography, of the mall population. Each student of PL371, Introductory Sociology, prepared a research proposal to look at a topic of their choice, which included observing gendered family roles in walking with young children, the prevalence of walking with and using cell phones in a social setting, responses to broken social norms, racial and gender representation of fast food workers and kiosk sales representatives, and consumer demographics between high-end and low-end clothing stores. The cadets will each write a paper based on their research methods and findings, and also include a brief literature review of other research done on their same topic of interest.
On Saturday 18 October, Phi Alpha Theta, led by Major Shauna Hann and Captain Mark Ehlers, took seven cadets to learn about the significance of local history and how communities seek to preserve their history. The Orange County Historian, Johanna Yaun, explained the strategic importance of the Hudson Valley during the Revolutionary War and led a tour of Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site. The cadets then learned about the industrial history of the region from one of the board members of the Newburgh Historical Society, Russell Lange, while touring the David Crawford House, a nineteenth century restored mansion of one of the earliest shipping magnates in the region. Overall, the cadets gained an appreciation of the Hudson Valley’s importance to American history and an understanding of why public history and community involvement is important to saving its legacy.
On 27 October, students from the HI 158 Advanced Regional Studies in World History (East Asia) course had the opportunity to meet with Stanley J. Atkins, a WWII veteran and former Master Sergeant who served in the China-India-Burma (CBI) theater of operations. Mr. Atkins shared his experiences serving in Burma and Chongqing, China as an intelligence analyst under Generals Joseph Stilwell and Albert Wedemeyer. He described what it was like to fly blisteringly cold aerial resupply missions over the Himalayan Mountains (also known as “the Hump”) and discussed working with Chinese forces and some of the American impressions of Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong during the war. Finally, Mr. Atkins stressed the need for Army leaders to develop a strong understanding of foreign language, culture and history and thanked the cadets for their commitment to serving the nation.
On October 25 and 26, in partnership with 1st Battalion, 150th Aviation Regiment of the New Jersey Army National Guard, an expedition of 31 cadets from the Class of 2018 and 8 faculty from the History Department conducted a multi-faceted staff ride throughout the Hudson River Valley that explored the historical importance of the Fort Ticonderoga and Saratoga battlefields. In addition to physically exploring seminal historical events that the cadets have studied in the classroom, , the helicopter component of the staff ride offered an opportunity to execute real-world tactical training. Prior to boarding the four Blackhawks generously allocated by the New Jersey ANG, Lieutenant Colonel Jason Musteen trained loading procedures and provided an air mission brief that exposed the cadets to the importance, and professionalism, of standardized military operations.
The opportunity to experience well-planned and resourced Army training had a powerful effect on the participants, most of whom had never flown in a helicopter before. Cadet Edward Fullerton noted after surveying the Hudson River Valley and the strategically positioned fort that, “combining military training with academic pursuits is killing two birds with one stone. It’s getting us ready to be both historians and second lieutenants, but will also benefit us during summer training and later in our careers.” Another inspired attendee, Cadet Joy Schaeffer, agreed, emphasizing that “the aerial view” gave them “a unique perspective in order to analyze the battlefields.” She also attested that “viewing Mt. Defiance from the air” also allowed them “to appreciate how it dominated Fort Ticonderoga,” a point reinforced by Captain Jonathan Romaneski as he led the cadets through discussions from the parapets of the stone fort overlooking Lake Champlain.
Captain Josh Silver encouraged them to marry their book knowledge with their newfound appreciation of the actual terrain. As the groups moved across the battlefield while following original attack routes and examining actual fighting positions, each cadet explained with faculty input their assigned leader’s actions and impact on the unfolding battle at key locations. According to Dr. Samuel Watson, a USMA Professor of History who specializes in early American warfare, this type of staff ride training “forces the cadets to adopt the perspectives of leaders and assess why and how real tactical leaders chose courses of actions with consequences.” The professor also noted that, “briefing these roles to their peers and professors, on critical points across the battlefield, also fosters mental agility that will serve them well at the Academy and as officers.”
By layering observation from above with analysis amongst the actual terrain where soldiers fought and died over mastery of North America, the cadets attained a more comprehensive understanding of timeless tactical fundamentals and decisional processes. Cadet Jared Cope, who played the role of colonial officer Rufus Putnam, summarized their perspective best: “The experience is awesome because no other history program does this. Only at West Point can you get an air mission brief and fly to your historical destination.”
DEP Hosts Luncheon to Welcome New Majors. On Wednesday 22 October, DEP hosted a luncheon for APL majors. DEP faculty members and majors from the classes of 2015 and 2016 joined in welcoming the 24 newest APL majors to the Department. After congratulatory remarks from the Department Head and a presentation on new and exciting changes in the APL program, everyone enjoyed lunch and some informal social interaction, while appreciating the venue’s historic views.
Philosophy Forum Hosts Dr. Henry Pratt of Marist College. On Tuesday, 21 October, the Philosophy Forum hosted Dr. Henry Pratt of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Marist College. Dr. Pratt discussed his work on the philosophy of comics and the viability of comic book to film adaptations. He explored the possibilities and limitations of the media of comics and film. The event was well-attended by cadets and faculty and the discussion was lively and searching. The forum explored innovative forms of expression while inspiring cadets to engage in deep, creative thought.
Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering. K’NEXercise – Building Construction Managers! Cadets enrolled in CE450, Construction Management, competed in the K’NEXercise on Tuesday, October 21st, 2014. The competition requires teams of cadets to prepare estimates, bids and construction schedules, and then execute the construction of the awarded project using rapid setting concrete and K’NEX components. The cadets complete the project by preparing a claim for the courts to hear to resolve issues that cost the team time and money on the day of construction. The winning teams in the Tower, Bridge and Hall projects were led by Cadets Frank Chen, Roman Burns and Marshall Kobylski, respectively.
CME Cadets and Faculty Build Air Force Bonfire Airplane. At the request of USCC CME cadets and faculty members built the airplane for the Air Force bonfire. Volunteer firstie mechanical engineering cadets Micah Uchida (Computer-Aided-Design drawings and ordnance fabrication), Christina Cox (landing gear and structural components), Taylor Ferguson (frame and wings), Andrew Barthel (frame and nose), and Mark Hesford (sheathing and landing gear) with faculty advisors MAJ Josh Keena, LTC Phil Root, and Dr. John Rogers constructed a scale model of an F-16 fighter for the Air Force bonfire over a three-day period, 24-26 Oct.
Department of Systems Engineering. Cadet James Cho presented the results of his social media study. CDT James Cho presented his AIAD research entitled “Analyzing Sub-national sentiment with Twitter” at the 2014 SAS Analytics Conference. CDT Cho conducted his research this summer at Data Tactics in Washington DC and was advised by Major David Beskow in the Department of Systems Engineering.”.
Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering. Physical Geography Terrain Walk This week cadets in EV203, Physical Geography, got up close and personal with the physical landscape of West Point during the terrain walk lesson. The rich and complex geologic history of the Hudson Valley offers outstanding learning opportunities for the cadets. Cadets observed the geomorphology they learned about the previous week, examining evidence of endogenic and exogenic forces that have shaped our ‘Rockbound Highland Home.’ The terrain walk reinforces several key concepts from the geomorphology block, including the theory of plate tectonics, rock formation, weathering, mass wasting, and erosion. Cadets also discussed how humans have modified the landscape of West Point over the centuries to suit our needs. Cadets
EV300/301 Cadets Measure Particulate Matter Concentration in Hayes Gym During IOCT. On Friday, 24 October, cadet teams from EV300 and EV301 coordinated with the Department of Physical Education (DPE) to collect indoor air quality data during the Indoor Obstacle CourseTest (IOCT). The cadet teams wrote their own hypotheses about the perceived poor air quality in Hayes Gym that causes "Hayes lung" during the IOCT and are using the scientific method to test these hypotheses. CDTs Emily Speziale, Alaura Walz, Matt Day, and Tiara Hansen tested for particulate matter in the air and CDT Nicole Zajimovic tested carbon dioxide levels. Their results will be detailed in term project reports and the cadets have invited members of DPE to attend their oral presentations at the end of the semester.
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Cadets Attend 2014 Grace Hopper Conference. Nine cadets, along with faculty CPT Marisol Torres and Dr. Suzanne J. Matthews attended the 2014 Grace Hopper Conference, held on October 7-11 in Phoenix Arizona. The EECS cadets who attended the conference were CDTs Lisa Jones, Angie Ketcham, Mary Liu, Alissah McGill, Jennifer Niemann, Anna Rapp, Holly Rodeo and Jinny Yan. CDT Audra Morrow from CME also attended this year.
CDT Lisa Jones presented a poster accepted at the conference: “Using MapReduce to Compare Large Collections of Evolutionary Trees”, a project advised by Dr. Suzanne J. Matthews. Dr. Matthews was also the scholarship committee co-chair of the conference, and received a token of appreciation from the Anita Borg Institute for her contributions. The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing is the largest consortium of women in computing in the world. It is named in honor of Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, inventor of the compiler, and an early pioneer in many aspects of computing. At the conference, students get to learn about (and often demo) the newest technologies, and attend talks given by famous academics, researchers and CEOs. Dr. Shafi Goldwasser, winner of the 2012 Turing Award for her work in cryptography and two-time winner of the Gödel Prize in theoretical computer science, gave the opening keynote at this year’s conference. Presentations were also given by Satya Natya (CEO of Microsoft), Dr. Arati Prabhakar (Director of DARPA), and Dr. Maria Klawe (president of Harvey Mudd College). The conference is produced by the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) and the Anita Borg Institute, and is sponsored by many of the giants of the tech world, including Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Cisco, DropBox, Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Yahoo! and LinkedIn.
EECS Faculty Member Presents at Frontier in Optics/Laser Science Conference. CPT Donald E Sedivy attended the Frontier in Optics/Laser Science Conference in Tucson, AZ from 19-23 OCT 14. During the conference, he gave a 15 minute presentation entitled “Simulation of Multiple-Optical-Axis Pattern-Integrated Interference Lithography (PIIL) Systems” based on this recent work at Georgia Tech. While in attendance, CPT Sedivy listened to 49 different lectures on a wide variety of developing technologies in the optics field to include a lecture from 2014 Nobel Laureate W. E. Moerner who spoke about his award-winning research on super-resolution microscopy.
French: Some of the cadets attending semester abroad at St Cyr, the French Military Academy, spent the weekend visiting Verdun, a famous WWI battle between the Germans and the French. 
Our SAP Cadets witnessed an annual ceremony there to commemorate all the French soldiers who died in battle there in 1916. As could be expected, it was quite an emotional event for the French cadets.
Arabic: 16 Cadets from the Model Arab League travel to Washington, DC this week to attend the National Council on US-Arab Relations Policymakers’ Conference. The conference will run all day Tuesday and Wednesday, 28 and 29 October, and features presentations and discussion by some of the greatest academic, diplomatic, Reported by Dean’s Institute of Innovation and Development and corporate minds working in the region. This annual event highlights key challenges facing the League of Arab States and kicks off the annual parliamentary procedure competition season for this West Point debate team run under the auspices of the Arabic desk of the Department of Foreign Languages