Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering
Triathlon: During 10-12 January, LTC Ken Allen and MAJ Will Koch traveled to Naples, FL with the West Point Triathlon Team to participate in the 4th annual HITS Olympic triathlon on 11 January. The HITS race provided a rare opportunity for the team to compete in actual race conditions in the winter as they prepare for the spring season and the USAT Collegiate National Championships in April. The cadet team was extremely successful, with the top performance by Dylan Morgan ’16 who was the 2nd overall male in the race. Additionally, Remington Ponce-Pore ’18 and Jacob Slife ’18 were 1st and 2nd in the 18-19 year-old male division; Angelica Dickson ’16, Mackenzie Williams ’18 and Catherine Sedy ’16 were 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the 20-24 year-old female division; Tom Hinds ’16, Brad Bachand ’15 and Kevin Miles ’16 were 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the 20-25 year-old male division. Along with the cadet athletes, the officers accompanying the team had success with LTC Ken Allen placing 2nd in the 45-49 male division and MAJ William Koch earning 3rd in the 35-39 male division. In total, eleven of the 19 athletes that raced ended up on the podium. As in previous years, the cadets were sponsored by the members of the West Point Society of Naples, FL who were, as always, outstanding hosts and role models for the team. In addition to the team winning, MAJ Koch was 3rd in his age group and LTC Allen was 2nd in his. This was Will’s first race in over 2 years and the first time he raced the Olympic distance.
Research Symposium: The purpose of the research symposium is to inform Yearling and Cow PANE majors of the diverse research opportunities in the department. Researchers from the Nuclear Science and Engineering Research Center (NSERC), the Photonics Research Center (PRC), and the Space and Missile Defense Command Space Analysis Research Center (SMDC-SARC) will be available to discuss their current projects with the PANE majors. Almost all projects support current research efforts important to the Department of Defense.
Department of Systems Engineering
Systems Engineering cadets conduct interviews with members of 2-87 Infantry at Fort Drum. Cadet Coree Aten, Cadet Andrew Michalowski, and LTC Paul Evangelista visited Fort Drum, NY to discuss tactical power management strategies with several 10th Mountain Division Soldiers. The cadets are working as part of a Department of Systems Engineering capstone team. Their project focuses on providing analysis that illustrates the operational impact of small unit power equipment and developing a decision support tool that helps commanders employ effective dismounted tactical power management strategies.
Capstone team visits the Office of the Director, Chief Management Office, Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). Dr. Michael Kwinn and his capstone team members, Cadets Samantha Dorminey, Angel Santiago and Dan Lasche traveled to Washington, D.C. to brief their client, Mr. David Tillotson. The cadets are developing a Systems Engineering tool that will inform the Secretary of the Defense of the department’s progress in meeting its annual objectives. Mr. Tillotson is the Assistant Director in the Office of the Director, Chief Management Office for OSD. While visiting the Pentagon, the cadets were given a tour of the Secretary of the Army's office and the Chief of Staff of the Army's office.
Department of Foreign Languages
Arabic: Three Arabic students arrived in Rabat, Morocco, for pre-session studies at AMIDEAST on 28 Dec 14. They have been undergoing an intensive 45 hour course of instruction designed to position them for a higher level of Arabic language learning within the Moroccan system. They will complete their studies this week and begin their semester at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco, on Friday, 16 January. Five Arabic students are also preparing to depart West Point Friday for a semester of study at AMIDEAST in Amman, Jordan.
Chinese: Five cadets departed West Point for Beijing, China on 7 January for their Semester Abroad Program at Peking University (Lashondra Maddox, Dylan Maher, Thomson Phung, Brad Smith, and Christopher Young). Four cadets departed West Point for Taipei, Taiwan on 7 January for their Semester Abroad Program at Fujen and Tsinghua Universities (McKenzie Beasley, Peter Neise, David Su, and Jinny Yan). Cadets Su and Yan will also be studying Computer Science courses at the University in Taiwan.
Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering
Engineers & Scientists for a Sustainable World (ESSW) Induction Ceremony. On 13 January, the Department of Geography & Environmental Engineering inducted Class of 2017 Environmental Engineering and Environmental Science majors into our ESSW club, a local chapter of the national organization Engineers for a Sustainable World, headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA. Fifty four firstie, cow and yearling cadets who major in environmental science or environmental engineering participated in the event on the 5th floor of Washington Hall. All were welcomed with a pizza lunch followed by a guest lecture by CPT Jessica Lynch, a 2010 Environmental Science major who branched Medical Service Corps and is currently serving at Fort Meade, MD as an Environmental Science and Engineering officer. CPT Lynch discussed how her West Point education and environmental major prepared her for her young Army career. CPT Lynch’s brief was followed by a brief introduction to the ESSW Club by the Cadet-in- Charge, CDT Carissa Pekny (’16). The new members were then officially welcomed by name to the “Green Team” by Dr. Marie Johnson, the Environmental Program Director.
Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
Guest Lecture – Roland Trope, Trope Schramm Law in NYC On January 8-9, 2015, the Core Program of the EECS Department hosted Mr. Roland Trope, law partner with Trope and Schramm in NYC and USMA Law Department Adjunct Professor.
Mr. Trope taught 560 Cadets from IT105 about copyright, intellectual property, and some of the ethical decisions cadets need to make when dealing with these concepts. The primary goal of these lectures is to enhance Cadets’ awareness and understanding that digital media is someone’s property and that it needs to be treated and afforded the same degree of respect as more tangible personal property. Through lively discussion and clever audience participation exercises, Mr. Trope also provided the Cadets with some practical guidelines for determining how to protect their own original works.
Mr. Trope continued his discussion on Intellectual Property with 296 Cadets in the IT305 course. These Cadets had previously experienced Mr. Trope's IT105 Copyright presentation as Plebes. This second lecture in the series complemented the presentation in IT105 and built upon that foundation, providing the Cadets with a further appreciation for additional forms of intellectual property protections, including Trademarks, Trade Secrets, and Patents.
VIP Visit – ADM Michael Rogers, US CYBERCOM, NSA/CSS In a visit from ADM Michael Rogers, Cdr of US Cyber Command, Director of the National Security Agency, and Chief of the Central Security Service, he expressed interest to the USMA leadership on the importance of continuing cyber-related internships with interested cadets and midshipmen. ADM Rogers also had a luncheon with the 15 Cyber Minors of EECS and in a briefing to the 300+ CS, EE, IT, Math, and OR majors stressing his interest in having cadets of all majors consider the Cyber branch, not only Computer Science and Information Technology Majors. He indicated the cyber threat is growing where anyone branching Cyber will have a hand in the country’s defense. He also indicated he want to increase the operational types of experiences that the cadets could have at NSA/CYBERMCD including having cadets assigned to Cyber Mission Teams during the summer, semester, or while awaiting BOLC.
SEEK Conference On 01-05 January 2015, cadets and faculty from Most Holy Trinity Catholic Chapel attended the SEEK Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Hosted by the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), the conference brought together 10,000 college students from across the country for faith-based discussions on leadership, resiliency, and integrity among others. One of the highlights of the conference was an inter-service academy gathering of over 70 cadets and midshipmen from West Point, the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy, and the Coast Guard Academy. Testimonies were shared about the challenges of faith on academy campuses and while an officer in the military. A total of 11 cadets from West Point attended the conference accompanied by Father (MAJ) Kenneth Nielson, LTC Christopher Korpela (EECS Faculty), and Brother Carlos Hernandez.