ORION provided a free, hybrid workshop to educate professionals on the impacts of Industry 4.0 (the 4th Industrial Revolution) on the Defense Industrial Base (DIB).
Professionals explored Industry 4.0 regional applications, organizational benefits, commercial and DoD best practices for implementation, and other regional impacts with national implications.
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has grown increasingly reliant on the Defense Industrial Base’s (DIB) research and development to deliver game-changing capabilities to the warfighter. The digitization of operations through the 4th Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) further enhances DIB’s ability to innovate and improve the military’s supply chain resiliency. This workshop will uncover DoD contributions to the warfighter and national defense in relation to IoT technology applications.
This workshop was sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) through ORION, which is a state-of-the-art ecosystem operated by subject matter experts to facilitate the development, test, and evaluation of IoT capabilities. ORION is a collaborative initiative between AFRL, Assured Information Security (AIS), Quanterion Solutions, the Griffiss Institute, and the New York State Technology Enterprise Corporation (NYSTEC). Quanterion Solutions, a local technical solutions provider, is leading the event supported by the Griffiss Institute.
“Our country is embroiled in a global economic competition in which Internet of Things technology is increasingly playing a role,” said Neil Fitzpatrick, Senior Knowledge Manger. “Technical education is struggling to keep pace with today’s dynamic expansion of devices, but we must educate our workforce to compete in the IoT technology realm and win.”
The DIB 4.0 Workshop focused on DoD stakeholders and the local defense manufacturing base, but it was open to professionals from all industries. The instruction is ideal for those with responsibilities in the defense manufacturing supply chain.
“This workshop is part of a larger effort to think through the latest defense-related technologies and their associated fundamental challenges,” said Cully Patch, Senior Program Manager at Quanterion Solutions. “The solutions we explore in this workshop informed members of the DIB, as well as industry, how to leverage IoT technologies to improve their operational effectiveness while additionally building reliability and resilience into the supply chain.”
The workshop’s keynote speaker was Don Berchoff, a retired Colonel of the United States Air Force, and current co-founder and CEO of TruWeather Solutions. Mr. Berchoff also is an Industry Advisory Board Member to the National Science Foundation (NSF) AI Institute for Research on Trustworthy AI in Weather, Climate, and Coastal Oceanography (AI2ES).
Photos from the defense industrial base (dib) 4.0 workshop
DIB 4.0 Keynote, Panelists, and Agenda
Keynote Speaker – Don Berchoff, co-founder and CEO of TruWeather
Don Berchoff (USAF-Ret.) is the co-founder and CEO of TruWeather with 40 years in the aviation, logistics and weather industry solving impactful weather problems for the government and businesses. Don has a B.S degree in Meteorology, M.A in Procurement Management and M.S degree in National Military Strategy from National Defense University.
In the Air Force, in the 1980s, Don earned non-rated crewmember wings as an airborne Meteorologist on KC-10, EC-135 and KC-135 aircraft to ensure the safe movement of fighter aircraft to overseas locations (when geostationary satellite weather data was in the nascent stages and just becoming available to operators.) His next assignment at Andrews AFB was as the Air Force One Weather Officer to President George H.W. Bush. Following several years at Kunsan Air Base in South Korea and at Air Force Global Weather Center, Don built and led a regional weather center (15th Operational Weather Squadron) at Scott AFB. The squadron supported worldwide tanker and airlift operations, while also providing weather warnings and forecasts for 138 Army and Air Force installations in the U.S. northern tier. Following a year at National Defense University, he was selected to lead all Afghanistan political and military strategy for the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff. In his last assignment, he was the first one-year 376th Expeditionary Mission Support Group Commander at Manas AB, Kyrgyzstan, where he was responsible for all ground operations at the Air Force’s main staging base for OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM operations in Afghanistan.
Following his Air Force career, Don was appointed a Senior Executive Service member as the National Weather Service Science and Technology Director where he led the complex transition of $500M in science and technology projects overseeing a multi-disciplinary team of scientists, data scientists, and software engineers. This included leading the NOAA Observing Systems Council Observation Optimization Working Group. It was during this time Don began to recognize how the lack of atmospheric boundary layer weather measurements was hindering improvements in micro-weather prediction.
Don started TruWeather in 2015 to unlock the power of science and technology in the Nation’s labs and universities to accelerate new capabilities into commercial operations to better serve businesses. At TruWeather, he brought V360 to market, an advanced micro-weather data and analytics platform producing custom weather insights for the emerging autonomous drone industry. Don led the development and publication of a new aviation weather standard under ASTM F38 with the FAA, opening the door for Internet-of-Thing weather reports to support aviation operations for Part 135 and 91 operations. The new weather standard provides a framework to bring the most transformational improvement in weather measurements to support the aviation industry since the fielding of Doppler weather radar in the early 1990s.
Panelist – Mike Frame, Executive Vice President, MACNY, the Manufacturers Association
Reporting directly to the President & CEO, Mike serves as second-in-command and a key member of MACNY’s Executive Leadership Team responsible for all policy and strategic decision-making including operations, budget, programmatic offerings, talent development, and partnerships.
In this role, Mike is a builder: developing, implementing, and leading all MACNY talent development initiatives. This includes workforce development programs, like the NYS Manufacturers Alliance Intermediary Apprenticeship Program, Partners for Education and Business, Inc. (PEB), and Real Life Rosies™ – New York’s first direct entry pre-apprenticeship program in advanced manufacturing. He also provides oversight to MACNY’s corporate and member services, including energy, grant writing, training and development, and the Career & Talent Platform. Leading the development of strategic partnerships and initiatives, the EVP engages in regional, statewide, and national collaborations in alignment with MACNY’s organizational strengths and competencies. He first joined MACNY in 2022 as Senior Vice President of Workforce Development and Chief Operations Officer.
Prior to joining MACNY, Mike had extensive experience working for several institutions of higher learning including SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Florida State University, the State University of New York, and Binghamton University. In his role at SUNY Poly, he served as Chief Operating Officer, overseeing strategic and operational activities of SUNY Poly’s Utica and Albany campuses. This included direct involvement in the administration of the Albany Nanotech Complex, including serving as Chairman of Fuller Road Management Corporation (FRMC) and on the Board of Directors for the New York Center for Research, Economic Advancement, Technology, Engineering and Science (NY-CREATES) and SEMATECH.
Mike has degrees from Syracuse University, Cornell University, and Cayuga Community College. He is very involved in the community as a member of several professional and civic organizations and currently serves as Vice Chair of Mohawk Valley EDGE, Vice Chair of the Syracuse Regional Airport Authority, and as a board member of the Cayuga Community College Foundation.
Panelist – Kaylon Paterson, CEO and Founder, Paterson Aerospace
A Space Systems Engineer from Trinidad & Tobago with a passion for research and environmental preservation. He holds a B.S. in Mathematics, an M.E. in Space Systems Engineering and an Executive Master of Global Management in Space Business, Leadership & Policy.
He has been repeatedly awarded for his exceptional research and leadership ability, and has served as a Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Fellow in Germany and a John S. McCain Strategic Defense Fellow at the U.S. Space Force.
Panelist – Cully Patch, Senior Program Manager, Cybersecurity and Intelligence, Quanterion Solutions
Cully Patch is a Senior Program Manager for Cybersecurity and Intelligence at Quanterion Solutions Incorporated and currently provides technical planning, resource management/coordination, customer outreach, and advisory assistance to cybersecurity-oriented customers.
Cully’s expertise has been incorporated in the development of an end-to-end IoT testing environment to allow for open, cloud-based hosting and testing of IoT devices and systems to fulfill development, testing, and potential STEM and technical competition requirements.
Cully is a prior-enlisted, retired U.S. Air Force officer with experience in aircraft maintenance, intelligence, space and cyber operations, and professional education.
Defense Industrial Base 4.0 Workshop Agenda
8 a.m. – Check-In
9 a.m. – Welcome, Event Details, Introduction of Keynote Speaker
9:20 a.m. – Keynote Address by Don Berchoff, co-founder and CEO of TruWeather
10:30 a.m. – Impacts of Industrial Revolutions
11:15 a.m. – Panelist Previews
12:15 p.m. – Lunch
1:15 p.m. – Optimizing Industrial Operations
2:15 p.m. – Technical Resources for Your Organization
3:15 p.m. – Interactive Panel Discussion (Answering Your Questions)
4 p.m. – Workshop Closeout and Networking
Other upcoming ORION events include a workshop titled Wearable IoT for Healthcare and Defense to be hosted Oct. 10. ORION’s inaugural UAS Hack event will be hosted on Monday, Aug. 19 through Friday, Aug. 23. Also on Aug. 23, the official launch of ORION will be celebrated at a ribbon-cutting ceremony open to the public. Visit https://orionassured.com for more information about future events.
Contact the ORION team with any questions about upcoming events.
The Defense Industrial Base (DIB) 4.0 Workshop was sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Information Directorate through the ORION ecosystem, which is a collaborative initiative between AFRL, Assured Information Security (AIS), Griffiss Institute, NYSTEC and Quanterion Solutions. Quanterion Solutions’ IoT Subject Matter Experts led the event with support from Griffiss Institute.