NASIC-AFRL-AFIT Consortium Benefits Partners, Students, and Community

  • Published
  • By Kim Curry
  • AFIT Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio --  One of the many benefits of Wright-Patterson AFB is the opportunity for partnerships. Take, for example, the Wright-Patterson MASINT Development Consortium--which partners the Air Force Institute of Technology, the Air Force Research Laboratory, and the National Air and Space Intelligence Center. Its goal: to facilitate, enhance, and expand ongoing and planned Measurement and Signature Intelligence and Advanced Geospatial Intelligence activities on the base and in the Dayton area. 

Wright-Patt has been at the forefront of MASINT/AGI development for decades. Formed in 2003, the WPMDC formalized pre-existing AFIT, AFRL, and NASIC collaborative partnerships in MASINT/AGI via a charter. Under its current structure, the WPMDC establishes a local-level, formal linkage between MASINT/AGI technology development, education, and user requirements. 

According to Dr. Andrew Terzuoli, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering in AFIT's Graduate School of Engineering and Management, member of the WPMDC Steering Committee, and supervisor of many students supported by NASIC in the WPMDC, the consortium was formed when Dr. David Bunker, Assistant Professor of Engineering Physics at AFIT, was at NASIC and saw the need for growth in MASINT data exploitation. Dr. Bunker was supported in this effort by Dr. Ronald Tuttle, Associate Professor of Nuclear Engineering and Director of AFIT's Center for MASINT Studies and Research. NASIC looked to AFRL and AFIT for research and education to develop personnel with MASINT/AGI capabilities. Motivated by the WPMDC, NASIC funds AFIT, who in turn supports civilian students--via AFIT's contract with the Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education--to work part-time at AFIT and AFRL learning and conducting research related to NASIC's needs, which is ultimately fed back to NASIC. In addition to AFIT, AFRL supplies mentors and associated workspace. 

"AFIT was especially eager to be a part of this program," Terzuoli said. "We are facing a graduate student shortage in that area, and this program offers a viable way to cultivate interest among undergraduate students. The ultimate goal is that the interest the students develop during their part-time work encourages them to enroll as Dayton Area Graduate Studies Institute graduate students and eventually work in the field, likely at NASIC, AFRL, or with local contractors. It comes full circle, in that these new professionals will be able to mentor more young students." 

On May 17, the students will gather at NASIC to present what they've learned and worked on so far. Most of the student projects deal with various aspects of Remote Sensing, to include signal scattering phenomena and processing, object imaging and recognition, and other similar topics. "It's an ideal learning experience for the students, and the partner organizations certainly benefit as well," said Terzuoli. "But the program is good for Dayton and all of Ohio. This partnership is helping to build a solid engineering base for the local economy." 

For more information about the Wright-Patterson MASINT Development Consortium, go to http://www.afit.edu/cmsr/WPMDC/.