July 2008

Welcome to The CTMA Connector, a monthly newsletter designed to provide news and ideas about the Commercial Technologies for Maintenance Activities (CTMA) program. The CTMA program is a joint Department of Defense/National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (DoD/NCMS) effort promoting collaborative technology development between industry and the DoD maintenance and repair facilities. This newsletter highlights ongoing projects, serves as a forum for promoting new project ideas, and provides other news of interest to the program. Our goal is to stimulate your participation and solicit your input. Feel free to submit items for the newsletter as well as any suggestions to make it more useful. More information about the program can be found at http://ctma.ncms.org/. To subscribe or unsubscribe to the CTMA Connector, send a message to listserv@listserv.ncms.org with "subscribe CTMANewsletter" or "unsubscribe CTMANewsletter" in the message body.

•

We welcome the following new NCMS member company into the CTMA program:

Steinbichler Optotechnik GmbH (www.steinbichler.de)

 Steinbichler Optotechnik is a worldwide leading supplier of optical measuring and sensor technology. They develop and market highly precise systems with corresponding software solutions for a wide range of applications including automotive, aerospace, and the tire industries.

We welcome John B. Johns as the newly appointed Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Maintenance Policy & Programs)

Mr. Johns is Assistant Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Maintenance Policy and Programs. In this position, he is responsible for oversight of the Department’s annual $80 billion maintenance program, including the CTMA program.

In past assignments, Mr. Johns served the Army as Chief, Research Support Division, and Deputy Director, Aeroflightdynamics Directorate, NASA Ames Research Center, Deputy Director, and the Army’s lead, of the National Rotorcraft Technology Center, and Associate Director for Systems, Aviation Research, Development, and Engineering Center, Army Aviation and Missile Command. From July 2000 through October 2002, Mr. Johns served as Principal Assistant Deputy for Systems Acquisition, U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command where he was responsible for lifecycle management of over 20 Army aviation, missile, and ground systems with an annual budget of approximately one billion dollars. In October 2002, Mr. Johns was assigned as Deputy Commander for Systems Support, U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command where he managed overhaul and maintenance, or RESET, of all aviation and missile systems redeployed from Iraq and Afghanistan. From August 2003 to July 2005, Mr. John’s served as Special Assistant to the Commanding General, U.S. Army Materiel Command.

In August 2005, he joined the Navy as a member of the Senior Executive Service as the Director of Industrial Operations, Naval Air Systems Command, and Deputy Commander of Fleet Readiness Centers (FRC), Naval Air Forces. In this position, he was responsible for naval aviation maintenance operations across six FRC commands, with a workforce of over 14,000 personnel and an operating budget of approximately four billion dollars, and oversaw annual maintenance and repair of over 600 aircraft, 7500 engines and modules, and 500,000 components and support equipment.

Mr. Johns holds a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from Penn State University and a Master's in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Purdue. He is also a graduate of the National Security Management Program, National Defense University.

Mr. Johns awards include Meritorious Civilian Service Award (Aug 01, Nov 03, Aug 05), Superior Civilian Service Award (Sep 97), Commander’s Award for Civilian Service (Mar 93), and Army Commendation Medal (Dec 92, Sep 95).
 

Joint Technology Exchange Group (JTEG) and the Fleet Readiness Center Southeast Sponsored Workshop - “Roadmap to Successful Sustainment Technology Insertion”, 26-28 Aug 2008, Jacksonville, FL

The Services have long recognized the need for technological solutions that would address the Defense Department’s overarching strategic goals of reducing maintenance, increasing availability, and decreasing the life-cycle costs associated with communication and weapon systems. The JTEG will provide speakers from all Services to address the formal process and challenges of technology insertion. Open sessions will allow for facilitated discussions of a joint service approach to implementing formal sustainment technology insertion programs from an enterprise perspective. New and emerging technologies will be presented from industry, academia, and others with discussions on technology insertion and technology transfer. Meeting will conclude with a tour of the Navy’s Fleet Readiness Center Southeast.

The meeting will be held at the Crowne Plaza Jacksonville Riverfront Hotel. The Crowne Plaza Jacksonville Riverfront is a beautiful 10-story hotel overlooking the scenic St. John's River. All 292 guestrooms are non-smoking, and feature walk out balconies, great for enjoying the view and Jacksonville's fresh coastal air.

Register for the meeting by emailing: name, company, email address and phone number to steve.siens@wpafb.af.mil. For additional information call Steve Siens @ DSN986-2774 or 937-656-2774. Meeting is free to all DoD, Industry and Academia. The agenda can also be found at http://www.jdmag.wpafb.af.mil/08%20jteg%20agenda.pdf.  
 

CTMA Project being featured at the DoD DMSMS Conference - Rapid Manufacturing and Repair 

This CTMA initiative pilots the building of net-shape and near-net-shape parts and tooling in parent alloys and engineered materials, using Advanced Digital Fabrication – Rapid Prototyping (ADF-RP) technologies for the replacement or repair of “hard-to-find” legacy parts. The team evaluates materials and process factors, addresses part qualification, and wants to pursue, cooperatively with the controlling organizations, acceleration of standardization approvals for ADF-RP technologies. Introducing and establishing ADF-RP capability in DoD organic depots for legacy part replacement and repair improves readiness, reduces costs, creates CAD, stl or STEP files for future manufacturing use, and offers alternative fabrication methods for urgent requirements. ADF-RP processes include laser sintering (LS), electron beam melting (EBM), stereo-lithography (SLA), fused deposition modeling (FDM), and direct metal deposition (DMD.

The RM&R team members have included US Navy’s TRF-Kings Bay, NUWC – Keyport, NFPC – Philadelphia Detachment, NAVAIR – China Lake, Portsmouth and Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyards; US Air Force’s OC-ALC; US Army’s Anniston and Tobyhanna Army Depots; DOE, NNSA – Honeywell FM&T; NASA Marshall Space Flight Center; UTC – Pratt & Whitney; General Pattern; Raytheon; Eastman Kodak; Baxter Healthcare; DEKA Research & Development; H.A. Burrow, and NCMS.

Over the course of this CTMA program, the team has

• Installed 31 pieces of ADF-RP equipment and software at Defense Maintenance facilities and industrial partners’ facilities for use in case studies and production of DoD parts and tooling.
• Conducted over 70 case studies for DOD Maintenance facilities, demonstrating over $5.9 M of cost avoidance annually and 310 weeks of cycle time savings annually, representing up to 60% cycle time reduction and up to 90% cost reduction per part.
Initially, a standardization initiative in ADF-RP technologies would address comprehensively the use of these technologies for the production of rapid tooling in the form of molds and patterns directly from CAD for production of sand and investment castings.

Further information about the Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages (DMSMS) conference is at http://www.dmsms2008.com/index.html.

Participants needed on New Project Ideas:  Submit and view project ideas at http://ctmaideas.ncms.org.  Add your comments to new project ideas and indicate your interest in helping to define and participate in the project.

We now have over 100 new project ideas submitted for the CTMA program.  These projects are all being reviewed with the individual services in order to seek funding to augment the 2008 CTMA funding directed by Congress.  Keep the ideas coming, because they also serve to illustrate the tremendous need for new technologies to increase weapon systems readiness.  DoD staff - keep an eye out for opportunities to apply year-end funds to the CTMA program.

We appreciate your feedback. Please contact Chuck Ryan with suggestions or input on other topics that would be of interest to you in this newsletter. The CTMA Program is sponsored by the Department of Defense; the content of this newsletter does not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the government; no official endorsement should be inferred.