Thomas Russell, director of the Army Research Laboratory (ARL), visited with leadership and faculty of the Georgia Institute of Technology in an effort to boost interest in the lab’s Open Campus initiative.

A collaboration between defense laboratories, industry and academia, the framework aims for the ARL’s scientists and engineers to work side-by-side with visiting scientists in ARL’s facilities, as well as serve as visiting researchers in collaborative institutions. A “science and technology ecosystem” will emerge from these partnerships, which will in turn enable both basic and applied research advances that mutually benefit all partners.

“To execute our mission, ARL leverages the substantial intellectual capital resident in the global academic scientific research community,” Russell said. “Formation of collaborative and transparent relationships with institutions such as Georgia Tech enhances our effectiveness in dealing with some very tough research challenges, while increasing the prospect for enhanced discovery and innovation across ARL's technical campaigns.”

Russell met with Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson and Executive Vice President for Research Stephen Cross, along with several faculty members, during his visit on Oct. 23, 2015. Senior Vice President and Director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) Andrew Gerber and several GTRI researchers met with Russell in the organization’s Secure Collaborative Visualization Environment (SCoVE). GTRI, Georgia Tech’s applied engineering and research unit, conducts the vast majority of its work for Department of Defense customers. 

“The Army is a longtime strategic partner of ours, and Georgia Tech has been solving some of the military’s toughest problems for many years,” said Robert Knotts, director of Federal Relations at Georgia Tech. “It’s important for Dr. Russell to explain his priorities to Georgia Tech’s leaders and researchers so that they can better understand the Army’s current research needs.”

Russell is responsible for the Army’s premier laboratory for basic and applied research and analysis. ARL, which consists of nearly 3,000 military, civilian and contractor employees, generates annual revenue of more than $2 billion. Research areas include weapons and materials, sensors and electronic devices, computational and information sciences, human research engineering, vehicle technology, and survivability and lethality analysis. ARL is located in Adelphi, Md., and has offices in Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.

From February 2010 to March 2013, Russell served as director of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) in Arlington, Va., where he oversaw the management of 200 scientists, engineers and administrators in the Arlington and foreign technology offices. In August 2006 he was selected to serve as the director of the Aerospace and Material Sciences Directorate of AFOSR.