JHU-APL Director, Dr. Ralph Semmel sparked lively discussion and invited guests to explore, discuss, and collaborate on current APL innovations from digital radar technology to ingenious and affordable detection materials. These sustainable solutions with critical impact to national security challenges are distinguished by break-through science and engineering. Dr. Semmel noted, "Our gravest problems, require creative systems engineering, applied research expertise, and objectivity for practical, sustainable solutions."

JHU/APL officially unveiled its Collaborative Analysis Center in Crystal City—a dynamic forum for policy and strategy leaders, warfighters, systems engineers, threat specialists, and technical experts to analyze new and advanced concepts, define new requirements and meet the challenges after next using facilitated seminars and electronic decision support tools...

Each technical solution or innovation included an abstract, and several detailed displays (see thumbnails of unclassified posters and abstracts on this web page). Applied Expertise included:

• Automated monitoring of ships of interest evading in merchant traffic
• Near term technical approaches to mitigate against denial of satellite communications in forward theaters
• A "Persistent Ground Surveillance System" for urgent operational needs.
• A Line of Sight Network for antisubmarine warfare with distributed netted sensors using existing assets.
• Extremely high resolution foliage penetration LIDAR prototype

APL Researchers and sponsors attended to discuss recent studies on the Anti-Submarine Warfare Way-Ahead, Air Defense Way Ahead, and the Integrated Layered Defense Study for Ballistic Missile Defense.

The CAC Innovation Open House is one of several 2010 initiatives to inspire proposals from APL scientists and engineers for Independent Research and Development (IRAD) with cross-domain approaches and potential near-term impact to key national defense challenges.

Proposals offering potential impactful contributions across multiple challenges, technologies, and capability gaps receive collaborative feedback or funding. IRAD Proposals selected in 2010 include:

• Watch station automation to enhance cyber situation awareness and courses of action decision options.
• Operational approaches for tactical cyber defense.
• Fusion of dissimilar, distributed sensors from swarming, self-organizing ISR vehicles
• Ultra low-weight surveillance aperture for satellites and UAVs

The challenges after next require innovation in Neuroscience, and chemical, biological and nuclear detection systems, as well as cross domain technologies and systems of systems engineering.