Department of Law
US District Court Judge Paul G. Gardephe visited with cadets in the Advanced Constitutional Law seminar. Judge Gardephe, who presides at the federal courthouse in Manhattan, was appointed to the bench by President George W. Bush in 2008. Prior to his appointment, Judge Gardephe was a federal prosecutor at the US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York, where he served as Chief Appellate Attorney, and was Special Counsel to the Office of Inspector General of the US Department of Justice. He discussed the 6th Amendment’s jury trial guarantee and its application to sentencing matters. The seminar is taught by Department of Law Assistant Professor and Constitutional Law Chair, Tony DiSarro.
Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering
CE371 Soil Mechanics and Foundation Design Trip Section. On Friday, 10 April, civil engineering cadets in the Soil Mechanics and Foundation Design course participated in a trip section as part of Moles Day. The Moles organization (http://www.themoles.info/) is composed of individuals now or formerly engaged in the construction of tunnels, subways, sewers, foundations, marine, sub-aqueous or other heavy construction projects. The group hosts an annual Moles Day, during which students are invited to tour some of the largest construction sites in the metro New York City area. This year, nearly 400 civil engineering students from 20 different academic institutions boarded a Circle Line Cruise boat in New York City and headed north to tour the Tappan Zee Bridge construction site. This $3.9B projected is slated for completion in 2018.
CIE sends EECS Cadets to visit Army Research Labs Supercomputing Research Center. Five EECS cadets and a faculty member, Dr. Suzanne Matthews, traveled to the Aberdeen Proving Grounds to visit Army Research Labs’ high performance facilities as part of an academic trip section for CS485-Parallel Computing. During the first part of their visit, cadets learned about ARL’s rich history in supporting computing innovation. Highlights included seeing the original Cray-2 supercomputer, the fastest machine in the world when it debuted in 1985. Students also got to see Pershing, which was the 50th fastest machine in the world when it went live a few years ago. In addition to seeing these revolutionary systems, students also learned about the power and cooling requirements to maintain such clusters. The day concluded with an overview of some of the research ARL performs on their HPC systems. The cadets in attendance were: CDTs Jorge Figueroa-Cecco (’15), Scott Horras (’15), Colin Hwang (’16), Luke Miller (’15), and Will Viana (’15). The faculty member in attendance was Dr. Suzanne J. Matthews, course director of CS485. The trip was generously funded by the DOD High Performance Computing Modernization Program (DoD HPCMP) at West Point through the Center for Innovation and Engineering (CIE).
ME496 Capstone: Cadets Conor Haaser, Chris Kolster, Connor McLeod and Matt Shinkwin were hard at work on Range 5 on 14 April 2015 with their ARDEC mentors Frank Battersby and Adam Foltz. The Cadets were testing their latest prototype suppressor for the M249. Taylor Hale, Henry Lee and Omar Morales from ARDEC were also supporting the research by collecting acoustic data for the team. Dr. Mark Ericson of ARL’s Human Research and Engineering Directorate (HRED) contributed to the testing effort with a mannequin head instrumented with microphones. This unique equipment is used to more accurately determine what the shooter’s ears are experiencing. An indication of the effectiveness of the prototype suppressor is provided by the two still images captured with CME’s digital high-speed video equipment.
Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering
EV301 Trip Section to the Wheelabrator Westchester L.P. Facility in Peekskill, NY. On 14 April, 16 Cadets from USMA’s Environmental Science class (EV301) traveled to Peekskill, NY, to view the generation of energy from combusting municipal solid waste. Wheelabrator Westchester L.P. generates approximately 60,000 kW of electricity, enough to supply 88,000 New York homes, by burning household and commercial trash from throughout Westchester County. Cadets saw firsthand how 2,250 tons of waste per day is incinerated and then converted to mechanical energy before being distributed onto the electrical grid. Cadets also learned about air pollution control devices that are used to ensure that the exhaust gases meet federal emission standards.
Field Trip to United Nations. On 10 April, 26 firstie environmental science majors enrolled in EV487 Environmental Security participated in a field trip to the US Mission to the United Nations and to the United Nations itself. The cadets were briefed by USUN staff members who work in the Military Affairs branch of the US Mission and by experts from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. They then toured the United Nations building with the highlight being visiting the Security Council and General Assembly chambers. The briefings and tour tied directly to class discussions on how military and NGO organizations can promote stability and security in developing nations and thus limit the global spread of terrorism and the ultimate involvement of the US military.
Exxon-Mobil remediation site visit. On 8 April 2015, cadets from the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering traveled to Brooklyn, NY to visit an Exxon-Mobil remediation site near Newtown Creek (a “superfund” site). The trip supplemented their environmental remediation studies as a part of EV488, Solid & Hazardous Waste Treatment and Remediation. The cadets were able to view full scale remediation systems that target the largest subsurface petroleum spill in the United States. The tour included several on-site remediation technologies, such as the free-product recovery wells, a catalytic oxidizer, an air stripper, carbon adsorption vessels, and an oil/water separator. This rewarding experience allowed cadets to see these processes first hand and talk with practicing engineers about their careers and the on-going waste remediation and recovery processes. Cadets also experienced cultural immersion by eating at Karczma Restaurant, which is located in a Polish neighborhood in Brooklyn.
Department of English and Philosophy
First Annual John Calabro Night of the Arts. On Friday, April 10th, The Department of English and Philosophy and the Cadet Fine Arts Forum celebrated cadet creativity at the first annual John Calabro Night of the Arts. This year’s event was truly special because it begins a tradition that honors the late Colonel (Retired) John A. Calabro, Jr., USMA ’68, former Academy Professor of English and Vice President of the AOG who was a fine artist, musician, and creative writer and a strong advocate for the arts as essential to officer development. Members of Colonel Calabro’s family, including his widow, Mrs. Angela Calabro, and his two sons, Jac and Tony, were present to honor the memory of Colonel Calabro.
The event brought in nearly 200 audience members representing faculty and staff members from several USMA departments, USMAPS, the Library, the West Point Association of Graduates, and the local community. At the event, department faculty presented awards to Cadets for outstanding work across a variety of creative and artistic fields such as photography, music, film, studio arts, and original literature. The first-prize winners for each category were as follows: Music: Danny Trainor (’15); Poetry: Jonathan Kelly (’15); Prose: Logan Comer (’18); Film: Scott Filbert (’15); Photography: Lila Garner (’16); and Studio Art: Uzoma Ezeonyeka (’18). The evening concluded with the presentation of the John Calabro Award for Excellence in Leadership and the Arts, which was posthumously awarded to First Lieutenant Christopher Shultz Goeke, USMA ’08. A member of USCC Brigade Staff who graduated 6th in his class, 1LT Goeke displayed his exceptional creative talents in various ways while a Cadet. His career ended too soon when he was killed in action on July 13, 2010, in Afghanistan while serving with the 82nd Airborne Division. His parents, Pamela Shultz and Randy Goeke, traveled from Minnesota to accept the award on their son’s behalf.
CFAF’s Opera Forum Hosts A Monday Night Opera Escape. On 13 April, CFAF’s Opera Forum hosted Viktoriya Koreneva (Mezzo-Soprano), Lorna Case (Soprano, USMA’99) and Dr Barbara Bacik (Piano) for A Monday Night Opera Escape at Jefferson Hall’s Haig Room during the club’s meeting. The trio performed opera favorites by Wagner, Ponchielle, Massenet, Saen-Saints, Bellini, Rachmaninov, Victor Herbert and more. After the performance, the artists engaged in a question and answer session. Ms. Case, a two-sport athlete and West Point graduate, described her experiences as an engineer platoon leader and her recovery from a parachuting injury at Ft Bragg that left her with a broken spine. Ms. Koreneva, who holds a graduate degree from the Russian State School for the Humanities, described how her understanding of being human and pursuit of excellence in the humanities assists in her duties as Vice President, Global Financial Services at Deutsche Bank.
Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership
6th Annual West Point Negotiation Workshop. On 2-3April, BS&L's West Point Negotiation Project ran a negotiation education workshop for approximately 105 participants, including 53 West Point cadets, 38 visiting cadets, and 13 Officers. Visiting cadets came from the US Air Force Academy and Royal Military Academy (Belgian), and ROTC programs at Boston University, Cornell, Dartmouth, Liberty University, Norwich, Princeton, Providence, Texas A&M, UCONN (Army and AF), University of New Haven, UNC-Chapel Hill, UVA, and Yale. This year WPNW welcomed its first European, truly OCONUS international participant, CDT Anthony Leduc from the Royal Military Academy (Belgium). WPNW hosted him the week as he researched and interviewed WPNP Officers and Cadets to prepare his Master's Thesis on cross-cultural negotiation. During the workshop, cadets learned the importance of negotiation as a leader competency, were introduced to a framework for systematic analysis of negotiation situations, and practiced negotiating in a series of role-playing exercises, including a team competition. Cadets also heard from guest speakers, who helped them understand how they will use negotiation as junior officers. Our guest speakers had great depth and breadth in experience to include the first WPNW NCO participant and two separate VTCs with Commanders deployed to Iraq. Guest speakers included LTG McMaster, the Director of ARCIC and Deputy Commanding General-Futures TRADOC; Graduate panelists CPT Zach Foster and CPT Mike Lavelle, USMA grads, who shared their experiences applying MG390 coursework in the Army, and CPT Charles Gallagher, D Co, 1-505th PIR, 3-82nd Airborne Division, currently deployed ISO Operation Inherent Resolve, who shared difficulties/successes negotiating with the Department of State and local Iraq forces via VTC. Cadets also heard from LTC Larkowich and CSM Burgoyne, the Commander and CSM for 1-505th PIR, 3-82nd Airborne Division, currently deployed ISO Operation Inherent Resolve who shared their expectations of and struggles that face their junior Officers in Iraq via VTC, and SFC Rothrock, SF Engineer assigned to DMI, who shared his stories on several ODA teams and deployments to Afghanistan. The West Point Negotiation Project is a USMA faculty effort to improve the ability of military leaders to negotiate and is an activity within BS&L's West Point Leadership Center.
On 8 April, cadets from MS300 and MS200 conducted an operations order briefing using the Augmented Reality Sandtable (ARES) in the Engineering Psychology Labs. This effort leveraged DMI and BS&L in order to gather data for the proof of concept of the ARES system. Cadets were able to rapidly build 3D terrain models in order to facilitate their communication of the order. CPT Paul Rickmeyer evaluated his cadets on their order delivery and provided feedback using features of ARES such as highlighting effects of terrain in a more three dimensional space. DMI and BS&L will meet with Dr. Michael Boyce, a post doc fellow from STTC, this week to continue to build the system to meet requirements for classroom and tactical considerations.
The Sociology Program in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership held its 15th Annual Alpha Kappa Delta International Sociological Honor Society Induction Ceremony on Friday, April 10 in the BS&L Conference Room. Sociology Major and Firstie Ian McWilliams was the sole inductee this year. Dr. David R. Segal and Dr. Mady Wechsler Segal both of the University of Maryland, gave the Induction Ceremony Lecture titled "Sociologists and Soldier 20/20." Their talk featured sociologists in the U.S. Army that have achieved Flag Officer rank and some of their insights working TRADOC with the integration of women into Ranger School and combat MOSs. The Segals also gave talks in three Sociology courses: PL482: Armed Forces & Society; PL384: Sociological Theory; and PL372: Marriage and the Family. COL Banks recognized the Segals at a special departmental ceremony and reception for 45 years of scholarship that has directly impact the United States Armed Forces. Additionally and notably, five plebes from G4 attended the Induction Ceremony, which recognized the fall semester G-4 Guppies Company Commander, CDT McWilliams (USMA '15).
Dr. Teresita Sotomayor from the Army Research Laboratory--Human Research and Engineering Directorate (ARL-HRED) in Orlando, FL visited PL488E to work with cadets on Medical Simulation Training Systems. Cadets assessed the usability and training potential of 4 systems including 1) Intraosseous Humeral Head Prototypes, 2) Moulage Training, 3) Realistic Trauma Trainer and 4) Holography.
BS&L coached and prepared 7 teams of cadets to enter the Mid Hudson Regional Business Plan Competition. The teams competed across 6 categories of business ventures, and won three of those six categories, and placed 2nd in a fourth.
- Products/Services - Food: 2nd Place - Adam Still (a Yearling) for Buffalo's Nickel. He was second only to a team from the Culinary Institute of America!!! There were five teams in this category.
- Biomedical/Healthcare: 1st Place - Blaine Brown, Whit Thornton and Ungerman Meyer for iTrex assisted walking exoskeleton (a heel lifting walking aid for stroke victims). There were four teams in this category.
- IT/Software: 1st Place - Mac Lalor, Josh Richards, Chris Corbett and Luke Jenkins (about half of the Army Hockey team!) for Owe Yaaaa - an Online marketplace of favor exchanges for veterans to find work and education opportunities. There were ten teams in this category.
- Energy/Sustainability: 1st Place - Dan Shutov for xFIL (a device that transforms human feces or other 'brown' matter into electricity or 'green' power - hence the original name: "Poop to Power"). There were two teams in this category. I don't know if you remember, but we talked Dan out of pitching his other idea, which was "Shot City", which is an alcohol shot distribution scheme he has. ;)
- Products/Services – Non-Food: No Cadets Placed
- Social/Non-Profit: No Cadets Competed
The folks who did not place (but did an awesome job) were:
- Mike Bajuz with Lendder, an Online alternative loan (crowd) sourcing marketplace designed to compete with the more conventional bank loan systems.
- EJ Coleman (Cow Class President) with Goalie, an iPhone and iPad app that has already launched, designed to track and give feedback on the user's daily goals.
- Mark Kong for Performance Insoles, a boot and shoe insert/insole manufacturer designed to operate much like Zappos, but with some additional features that are very customer friendly.
- Jared Jerrick for Ruby's Frozen Yogurt Food Truck.
The state finals will be held at the SUNY Polytechnic Institute in two weeks on Friday 24 April, 2015 in Albany, NY. USMA will enter all three of its first place teams, and its second place team will be on standby.
Network Science Center
The 2015 International Workshop on Complex Networks. 25-27 March 2015 the Network Science Center at West Point (NSC) co-hosted the 6th International Workshop on Complex Networks (CompleNet) at the New York Hall of Science. CompleNet is one of the three largest conferences on network science held worldwide and brings together researchers and practitioners to share their publications and work in this fast growing field of study. Complex networks are becoming pervasive in many fields of science, from biological systems to computer science, and from economic to social systems. To learn more on current areas of research, NSC took 19 cadets down to NYC to attend one day of the three day conference along with 8 faculty members and researchers.
Cadets attended CompleNet as part of their course, MA490 (Applied Problems from Math, Science, and Engineering) with Dr. Chris Arney. CDTs Sooji Park and Adam Tapia are also part of the Social Network Analysis Club (SNAC), a club started in 2011 that meets every Monday during lunch to share knowledge on Network Science and work on problems. The conference offered cadets an opportunity to speak with many prominent researchers including Mark Newman, Reka Albert, Cesar Hidalgo, Arun Sundararajan, Albert-László Barabási.
Big Data Fest in NYC. The Network Science Center at West Point (NSC) was a key sponsor and participant for the first Big Data Fest held in New York City on 28 March. ‘The term “Big Data” is frequently used to describe everything from how social media are used to gather information about consumers, to how data affect political, environmental and economic decision-making, to data that address security and health concerns. Yet although we might know that Big Data affects our daily lives, its exact nature – what Big Data is, and how it works – remains a mystery to most of us’.
Six cadets and two faculty members participated in Big Data Fest by offering three activities: A hands-on Konigsberg bridge activity introducing the foundation of network science - Graph Theory; building a small scale network to look at basic components and properties of networks using ShockNet, a cadet developed iPad app; and visualizing individual ego networks as a means to discuss structures commonly found in social networks. This outreach opportunity gave cadets involved in network science projects and the Social Network Analysis Club (SNAC) a chance to introduce and discuss network science to the broader community. Over a thousand people of all ages attended Big Data Fest, the first of its kind. Fernando Maymi from the Army Cyber Institute gave a talk on ‘Oh the places your data will go’ , a discussion of data security. Other participating organizations included MIT’s Media Lab, Rutgers University, Data Driven Detroit, Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, Sloan Digital Sky Survey, NYU, and the Beacon Institute.
Department of History
On 1 April 2015, five members of Phi Alpha Theta, the History honors society, volunteered their time to help the Dutchess County historian, William Tatum to preserve over 100 legal documents from the 1770s by indexing and cataloging them for a state archival digitization project. After cadets indexed each handwritten document, they prepared documents to be sent to the company who will scan and preserve it for posterity. This project intends to save over 25,000 documents from the local region during the 1730's-1800. These documents help preserve the history of the Hudson Valley region during the eighteenth century. MAJ Hann and Cadets participated in this project which enabled cadets to not only save history, but also to peruse original handwritten documents from over 200 years ago.
On 8 April, the History Department was thrilled to host a record-setting crowd of over 75 cadets at another “Night at the Movies” event to view the 2012 Best Picture Winner, Lincoln. LTC Dave Siry, CPT Matt Milikowsky of the Law Department, and CDT Zachary Thompson (’15) sat on a panel examining the film's depiction of Abraham Lincoln and his efforts to pass the 13th Amendment to abolish slavery. CPT Milikowsky's legal expertise was valuable in helping the cadets to understand the intricacies of Constitutional law during this national crisis. The film was well received by the audience and as always the discussion it generated was educational to all.
Department of Systems Engineering
DSE Capstone team visits 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne). A Cadet Capstone team from the Department of Systems Engineering traveled to Eglin Air force Base, FL to visit the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne). Team members included Cadets Coleman Grider, Hunter Wood, and Robby Hill. The purpose of the trip was to elicit information from Special Forces soldiers regarding technological advances that will enhance their ability to over-match current and future enemies. The cadets interviewed soldiers to learn how future technologies can improve their situational awareness, force protection, ability to communicate, achieve lethal and non-lethal effects, and command and control their elements. The cadets had a tremendous developmental opportunity to interact with Special Forces NCOs and Officers. They embedded with Operational Detachment Alpha 7122 and participated in mountaineering training where they learned about knot tying and performed a prusik climb up a 100-foot rappel tower. The information they gathered improved on their decision model that assesses future technologies in support of a funded research project for the US Army Engineered Research Development Center.
Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering
American Nuclear Society Student Conference: During 8-12 April, LTC Ken Allen traveled to College Station, TX with eight Nuclear Engineering major firsties to the American Nuclear Society student conference at Texas A&M University. The cadets presented their capstone projects and independent research projects as part of the conference which included graduate and undergraduate members from over 30 universities across the United States to include all the major NE research institutions such as MIT, University of California Berkley, Texas A&M, etc. 
Each of the cadets’ podium presentation was the culmination of months of research and design and they were selected to present based on a peer-reviewed process. In the end, CDT Todd McLaughlin won the best presentation in Education and Training division and CDTs Alex Burruss and Darrin Alba earned best presentation in Isotopes and Radiation division. In addition to the presentations, the cadets were able to interact with professionals in the nuclear engineering field and students from all the major universities with nuclear engineering programs in the United States.
Persian Gold Tabletop Exercise: On 10 April, the Persian Gold Exercise allowed all cadets in NE450 Nuclear Weapons Effects to all participate in a simulated case study facilitated by experts in the field of weapons of mass destruction from the National Defense University visiting from Washington, DC. The exercise created an important opportunity for cadets to examine the strategic objectives of the U.S. and its partners vis-à-vis Iran and to explore how to counter or mitigate Iranian efforts with regard to its nuclear program and potential proliferation. This is very timely as the current talks with Iran near a potential agreement.
Rochester Symposium for Physics Students: During 10-11 April, MAJs Will Koch and Tony Clark traveled to Oswego, NY with six cadets to present their research at the Rochester Symposium for Physics Students. This provided them the opportunity to engage with students and faculty from the local region and to practice their communication skills. They were able to interact with their civilian peers and also civilian faculty. This was also an opportunity to show local institutions some of the research being conducted at USMA.
Director of Los Alamos National Lab visit to USMA: Dr. Charles McMillan, (SES), Director of Los Alamos National Lab visited USMA 12-13 April. Dr. McMillan is visiting the military academies in order to promote the need to balance the humanities and technical education of our future leaders and to foster the collaboration between the military academies and LANL. During the visit Dr. McMillan spoke to a group of 150 cadets and faculty about technology and how it relates to and affects decision making. In late January 2015 Dr. and Mrs. McMillan visited the USAFA.
P&NE Academic Awards Banquet: On 14 April, the Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering hosted their Annual Awards Banquet at the West Point Club to induct cadets into the Society of Physics Students and American Nuclear Society as well as present certificates for excellence in physics and nuclear engineering course work throughout AY15. The guest speaker for the event is Dr. Larry Foulke (previous American Nuclear Society President).
Department of Foreign Languages
Arabic: Eight Arabic students in Morocco and Jordan continue their studies abroad. Cadets in Jordan took advantage of the Orthodox Easter holiday to visit Jerusalem and other sites in Israel, and returned to their studies on Monday.
Chinese: 17 Cadets from CL484, LC486, and LC476 visited the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office in New York City on 14 April. Building on a semester of class discussions of the foundational legal-diplomatic Chinese-language documents that constitute the framework for US-China-Taiwan relations, the cadets engaged in a day of candid and insightful Chinese-language discussions with seasoned members of Taiwan’s diplomatic corps stationed in NYC. Although TECO usually gives its presentations in English, they provided all the presentations in Chinese once they realized the high level of proficiency of the USMA cadets.
Spanish: Eight cadets from Dr. LaPlatney’s LS486 participated in a Trip Section to New York to attend a production of Frederico García Lorca’s La zapatera prodigiosa. The cadets were able to enjoy the play, produced entirely in Spanish, and contrast Lorca’s famous comedy with the tragedy that they are currently reading in class, La casa de Bernarda Alba.
Persian: The Persian section welcomed a distinguished guest speaker, Mrs Deborah Thomas, from the US Department of State who not only spoke about her own service in the diplomatic corps in Turkey and Dubai, but also addressed her lifelong pursuit of foreign languages. Mrs. Thomas, who speaks a number of languages including Japanese and Persian, began her talk with an introduction in very fluent Persian and went on to speak about the important intersection of language and culture. She also discussed her experiences as a professional woman, especially when dealing with other cultures. Mrs Thomas, who was accompanied by her two cadet children, Elizabeth (who took Arabic in USMA) and James (who is currently taking Persian) also brought an abundance of Persian sweets for the cadets, as well as a host of Iranian cultural artifacts and books.
Chinese: Two Chinese Majors, Cadets Kaiwen Lin (2015), and Daniel Glockler (2015), both have been awarded 2 year Fulbright Scholarships to earn M.A. Degrees in Taiwan beginning in the Fall of 2015. The Fulbright application process is extremely competitive, and to have two awardees from within the same department in the same language is an excellent example of the academic performance of West Point Cadets.