Life Members Society

4:00 PM Tuesday, 25 May

The Nacala Dam Rehabilitation Project, Mozambique, Africa

Thomas Davidson, US Army Corps of Engineers

Thomas “Thom” Davidson will discuss his work on the Nacala Dam Rehabilitation project. The Government of the Republic of Mozambique (GOM) has received a grant from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), an innovative United States established foreign assistance program designed to reduce poverty by promoting sustainable economic growth. The MCC operates on the principle that aid is most effective in countries that promote good governance, economic freedom and investments in people. The GOM, through MCA (Millennium Challenge Account-Mozambique, a public institution created by the GOM) and its National Directorate of Water (DNA-GOH), intends to use a portion of the proceeds of this grant, to carry out feasibility studies relating to the rehabilitation and augmentation of the Nacala Dam and Reservoir. The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District is providing technical engineering services to support MCC for all deliverables associated with the rehabilitation and augmentation of the dam and reservoir.

The Nacala Dam is located on the Muecula River approximately 30 kilometers south west of Nacala and serves as the primary water source for the town of Nacala which is situated approximately 200 kilometers north east of Nampula City. It was designed and constructed from 1968 to 1975. The current water supply system is inadequate for projected development for the town of Nacala and its deep water port. In 1982 the dam embankment was overtopped for 10 consecutive hours due to the non operation of the spillway gates. In1983 the wash away area was reinstated and a layer of stone pitching was placed on the downstream face of the embankment as a protective measure against the possibility of future overtopping. Further repairs were undertaken in 1995 and 2002 during road improvement projects. A pre-feasibility study into the possibility of rehabilitating and raising the dam embankment was performed by Michael Baker Jr. Inc. (Baker) in 2006. In 2009, the Contractor (Jeffares and Greene), performed a geotechnical investigation program to assess the dam and reservoir for rehabilitation and augmentation.

Thom Davidson graduated in 1991 from DePauw University with a Bachelor of Arts in Geology, and in 2004 he received his Master of Science degree in Geology & Geophysics from Boston College. He began his career in the private sector where he worked with the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, as a Geologist on the Metrowest Tunnel Project. Over the next eight years he worked on various environmental and large civil infrastructure projects which included Defense Environmental Restoration Projects on Formerly Used Defense Sites (DERP-FUDS); the Fall River Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Abatement Tunnel Project; the Braintree/Weymouth Tunnel Project; the Iroquois Gas Pipeline Phase II Geotechnical Investigation Project, Northport/Bronx, New York and the South Boston Piers Transit Way Project for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Silver Line Maintenance Facility.

Thom joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District in May 2004. He is the Engineering Technical Lead on the Massachusetts Military Reservation (MMR) Groundwater Restoration Project in Bourne, Massachusetts. He has also been part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Dam Safety Inspection program since and is currently involved in assessing foundation conditions at dam rehabilitation projects within New England District.

Mr. Davidson has been an Engineering Geologist for several Civil Works Projects which include:

Nacala Dam Rehabilitation and Expansion Program, Mozambique, Africa. As the USACE Transatlantic Programs Center Project Delivery Team engineering geologist he provides independent technical and consulting services and support for the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Nacala Dam rehabilitation and embankment raising project for water resource and supply;
Lusk Dam and Mine Lake Dam, United States Military Academy, New York - Phase I Stability Assessments of Mine Lake and Lusk Dams two historic (1890’s) masonry gravity dams located on the U.S.M.A.;
Westville Dam Rehabilitation Project, Southbridge, Massachusetts (DSAC I);
Assisted with the design and implementation of the geotechnical boring and investigation program for the Ball Mountain Dam, Jamaica, Vermont (DSAC II) investigation and rehabilitation project;
Design and implementation of the geotechnical boring program, test grouting program, and bedrock grout cut-off wall at Hop Brook Dam, Waterbury, Conn (DSAC II);
Ft. Detrick USAMRIID Steam Sterilization Plant, Fredrick, MD -- Provide engineering geology support for geotechnical assessment for overburden and bedrock materials, deep rock excavation and earthworks.

Thom has published and presented papers on various topics over the last 12 years dealing with various geological topics. He received the EPA, Region 1 - Region Applied Research Effort (RARE) Award for his work on Arsenic Pathways in Leachate Plumes at Five Landfill Sites in Central Massachusetts: An Integrated Approach of GIS, Relational Databases, and Thermodynamic Chemical Equilibria Modeling in EQuIS. He is a Registered Professional Geologist in the state of New Hampshire; he is also a Certified Professional Geologist with the American Institute of Professional Geologists and a member of the Association of Engineering Geologists.

The meeting will be held at the Lincoln Lab Auditorium at 4:00 PM. Refreshments will be served at 3:30 PM. Registration is in the main lobby. Foreign national visitors to Lincoln Lab require visit requests. Please pre-register by e-mail to reception@ll.mit.edu and indicate your citizenship. Please use the Wood Street Gate. For directions go to http://www.ll.mit.edu/. For other information, contact Ed Altshuler, Chairman, at (781) 377-4662, or edward.altshuler@hanscom.af.mil

4:00 p.m., Wednesday, 14 April

Genes and the Human Story

Prof. Lawrence Wangh, Dept. of Biology, Brandeis University

The lecture will begin with a brief consideration of geological change on geological time scales as the driving force of all of evolution, including and specifically human evolution in Africa beginning around 15 million years ago. With this backdrop we consider the emergence of homo sapiens approximately 200,000 years ago, followed by human migration out of Africa. To appreciate this part of the story we have to discuss DNA, mutations, evolutionary selection, chromosomal haplotypes, and mitochondrial genetics, as well as the specifics and peculiarities of human reproduction. By the end of the lecture Prof. Wangh will discuss the rise of civilization, about 10,000 years ago, and will talk about population growth, the genetics underlying human subpopulations (races), the human genome project, and genomic medicine of the future based on personalized SNP chips.

Prof. Lawrence Wangh Photo Prof. Wangh received a BA in biology from Brandeis in 1963 and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Rockefeller Univ. in 1973. He then did a post doc at the MRC Lab of Molecular Biology in 1975 in Cambridge, England followed by another post doc at the National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, England. He joined the faculty of the Department of Biology at Brandeis Univ. as an Assistant Professor in 1977 and is currently a Professor in that department. He is a member of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine 2000; American Society of Microbiology; Corporation Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory; American Society for Cell Biology; Society for Developmental Biology and the American Society of Reproductive Medicine.

Prof. Wangh is also a member of the Brandeis University Masters Program in Genetic Counseling, 2000 – present. This program is one of the most distinguished Masters Programs for Genetic Counseling. His participation has been as a member of the Board of Overseers and a member of the faculty, where he served as a designer and director of course material. In addition, he has been an Instructor in Genetic Family History from 2003-2010. This interdisciplinary course challenges undergraduates to experience their own genetic history while learning about the biology, policy, and sociology of genetics.

Prof. Wangh is a Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer for 2009-2011. The meeting will be held at the Lincoln Lab Auditorium at 4:00 PM. Refreshments will be served at 3:30 PM. Registration is in the main lobby. Foreign national visitors to Lincoln Lab require visit requests. Please pre-register by e-mail to reception@ll.mit.edu and indicate your citizenship. Please use the Wood Street Gate. For directions go to http://www.ll.mit.edu/. For other information, contact Ed Altshuler, Chairman, at (781) 377-4662, or edward.altshuler@hanscom.af.mil

4:00 PM, Wednesday, 3 March

Grand and Not-So-Grand Challenges for Engineering

Prof. Wesley L. Harris, Charles Stark Draper Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Associate Provost, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Centered on the four most important themes of the 21st century—sustainability, human health, vulnerability, and joy of living—fourteen engineering challenges for the 21st century have been identified. Following a review of the greatest engineering achievements of the previous century and a discussion of the rules of engagement for the 21st century, specific opportunities related to each of the fourteen engineering challenges will be presented. A contextual framework including a statement of barriers to capturing the challenges will be discussed. A mix of human dynamics is included.

Prof. Wesley L. Harris Photo Prof. Wesley L. Harris earned a Bachelor of Science degree (with Honors) in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Virginia in 1964 and a Masters of Arts and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Aerospace and Mechanical Sciences from Princeton University in 1966 and 1968 respectively. From 1972 to 1985, he held several faculty and administrative positions at MIT, including Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics. From 1985 to 1990 he served as Dean of the School of Engineering and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut. From 1990 to 1993, he was Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of the University of Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI), Tullahoma, Tennessee. He then served as Associate Administrator for Aeronautics, responsible for all programs, facilities, and personnel in Aeronautics at NASA from1993 to1995. He was head of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT from 2003-2008 and is currently, Charles Stark Draper Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Associate Provost, and Director of the Lean Sustainment Initiative at MIT.

His academic research has been associated with unsteady aerodynamics, aeroacoustics, rarefied gas dynamics, sustainment of capital assets, and chaos in sickle cell disease; he has made seminal contributions in each of these research fields. He has worked with industry and government to design and build joint industry - government - university research and development programs, centers, and institutes; he has transferred technology effectively and has developed an outstanding record in advancing cultural diversity in academe and in government. He is credited with more than 130 technical papers and presentations.

He has served as chair and member of various boards and committees of the National Research Council (NRC), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Army Science Board, and several state governments. He has been on committees of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the American Helicopter Society (AHS), and the National Technical Association (NTA). He has also served as a member of the Board of Trustees, Princeton University, 2001-2005 and as an advisor to several colleges, universities, and institutes. He has been elected a Fellow of the AIAA, AHS, and of the NTA for personal engineering achievements, engineering education, management, and advancing cultural diversity. He has also been elected to membership in the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), Cosmos Club, Confrerie des Chavaliers du Tastevin. He has held distinguished, endowed professorships and lectureships and has been awarded several honorary doctorate degrees.

The meeting will be held at the Lincoln Lab Auditorium at 4:00 PM. Refreshments will be served at 3:30 PM. Registration is in the main lobby. Foreign national visitors to Lincoln Lab require visit requests. Please pre-register by e-mail to reception@ll.mit.edu and indicate your citizenship. Please use the Wood Street Gate. For directions go to http://www.ll.mit.edu/ For other information, contact Ed Altshuler, Chairman, at (781) 377-4662, or edward.altshuler@hanscom.af.mil

NOTICE:

This meeting has been cancelled due to weather.

4:00 p.m. Wednesday, 10 February

Genes and the Human Story

Professor Lawrence Wangh, Department of Biology, Brandeis University

Lawrence Wangh Photo Prof. Wangh received a BA in biology from Brandeis in 1963 and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Rockefeller Univ. in 1973. He then did a post doc at the MRC Lab of Molecular Biology in 1975 in Cambridge, England followed by another post doc at the National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, England. He joined the faculty of the Department of Biology at Brandeis Univ. as an Assistant Professor in 1977 and is currently a Professor in that department. He is a member of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine 2000; American Society of Microbiology; Corporation Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory; American Society for Cell Biology; Society for Developmental Biology and the American Society of Reproductive Medicine.

Prof. Wangh is a Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer for 2009-2011.

The meeting will be held at the Lincoln Lab Auditorium at 4:00 PM. Refreshments will be served at 3:30 PM. Registration is in the main lobby. Foreign national visitors to Lincoln Lab require visit requests. Please pre-register by e-mail to reception@ll.mit.edu and indicate your citizenship. Please use the Wood Street Gate. For directions go to http://www.ll.mit.edu/ For other information, contact Ed Altshuler, Chairman, at (781) 377-4662, or edward.altshuler@hanscom.af.mil

4:00 p.m. Wednesday, 13 January

Applications for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles in Science, Industry, and Education

Dr. Seth O. Newburg, Research Engineer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The oceans provide an important source of food and other natural resources and are a critical component of the global climate. The harsh environment faced in underwater exploration and study presents many engineering challenges because of the extreme pressures and temperatures encountered and the high corrosivity and electromagnetic absorption of sea water. Our mission is to develop advanced autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) technology and promote its use and benefits in the study and utilization of the oceans. By incorporating onboard sensors, computers, power supply, and pre-programmed missions, AUVs have several advantages over manned submersibles and remotely operated vehicles (ROV), resulting in reduced cost of construction and operation. Ultimately, these reduced costs will facilitate access to and expand our understanding of the ocean environment.

We have developed an AUV, the Odyssey IV, that is a multi-purpose vehicle system for a wide variety of applications. The AUV is capable of both cruising and hovering maneuvers, is rated for 6000 meter depth dives, and can operate continuously for over 8 hours on a single battery charge. Recently, the vehicle has performed imaging surveys of the ocean floor in Massachusetts Bay and Stellwagen Bank to study damage to offshore habitat caused by invasive species. The AUV is being prepared for upcoming deep water missions to discover new colonies of rare cold-water coral species. Also, the Odyssey IV is used to develop technology for autonomous inspection of ultra-deep manmade structures with navigation by machine vision for use in offshore oil and gas production operations.

The Reef Explorer vehicle is a lightweight, one-man-deployable, hybrid AUV-ROV that is capable of dives up to 25 meters. The vehicle is tele-operated with manual and supervisory control. Video and telemetry from the Reef Explorer is transmitted wirelessly and over the internet in real time to a pilot located anywhere with internet access. The vehicle is routinely deployed in Kaneohe Bay, HI and remotely piloted from Cambridge, MA. The applications for the Reef Explorer include habitat studies, ship hull inspection, and classroom-based virtual field trips to coral reefs.

Finally, as part of our educational programs to foster oceanography and engineering instruction in primary schools, we have developed the Sea Perch, a small, low cost ROV. The Sea Perch is constructed mostly of household materials and can be built in approximately 12 hours using a simple set of hand tools. Students benefit from and enjoy the hands-on experience of constructing and deploying the vehicles. The Sea Perch design can be easily adapted to carry sensor payloads and accessories that allow incorporation into curricula for physical science, biology, chemistry, and other courses.

Seth Newburg Seth Newburg has been a research engineer in the MIT AUV Lab since March 2009. His interests focused on underwater robotics technology ten years earlier while an undergraduate at MIT when he founded Project ORCA, a student team dedicated to designing AUVs for the International Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Competition sponsored by AUVSI and ONR. The experience of implementing sonar systems for AUVs led him to pursue research in auditory physiology, including that of whales and dolphins, for his doctorate in biomedical engineering at Boston University. As part of the AUV Lab's engineering team, Newburg draws on his multi-disciplinary background in carrying out his primary responsibility for the design and integration of robust sensor systems for the Odyssey IV autonomous underwater vehicle project. The meeting will be held at the Lincoln Lab Auditorium at 4:00 PM. Refreshments will be served at 3:30 PM. Registration is in the main lobby. Foreign national visitors to Lincoln Lab require visit requests. Please pre-register by e-mail to reception@ll.mit.edu and indicate your citizenship. Please use the Wood Street Gate. For directions go to http://www.ll.mit.edu/. For other information, contact Ed Altshuler, Chairman, at (781) 377-4662, or edward.altshuler@hanscom.af.mil

Life Members Society

4:00 p.m. Wednesday, 9 December

Computer Attacks, Cyber Warfare and Preparedness

Robert Nesbit, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Center for Intelligence Integrated Systems, MITRE Corp.

Robert Nesbit Photo The key to defending an IT system or network is to understand the threats it faces. How does the threat operate, what tools and techniques does it use, how does it achieve access to the target system, how technically sophisticated is it, how well financed is it, what are the intentions of the threat, and who, if anyone, is backing them? The purpose of this talk is to convince you that all cyber threats are not equal. They vary greatly in intentions, technical sophistication, access methods, financing and tools and techniques. In order to simplify things, we have created 5 different levels of cyber threats:

Cyber Vandalism – Use widespread non-targeted attacks over the Internet designed to cause disruption of services. May have loose affiliation using social networking sites for prestige and to establish bragging rights. Can also employ more targeted attacks to deface specific web sites. Intent is to cause as much widespread disruption as possible or to embarrass the victim.

Cyber Crime – Adversaries motivated by greed or ideology. The intent is to steal money, identities, services or intellectual property and in some cases to commit blackmail associated with corruption of data or denial of service. Perpetrator attempts to be more covert than the cyber vandal.

Cyber Surveillance – Broad based general surveillance conducted via internet-based attacks designed to gain large amounts of information held by the target. Could be information pertaining to national security, financial data, commercial products, or intellectual property. Could also be conducted for general infrastructure surveillance purposes or to plant seeds for later corruption of data or denial of service. These operations are generally better financed and more technically sophisticated than the Level 1 and 2 attacks.

Cyber Espionage – Very specifically targeted espionage using a number of highly sophisticated approaches. Can be Internet based or penetrations taking advantage of insider access. Remote attacks can also be enabled by physical attacks either via supply chain intercept or by using a co-opted or even unwitting insider. Intent is to remain highly covert in penetration, presence and exfiltration. May leave behind tools that can be activated on demand for future use in corrupting data or denial of service.

Cyber Warfare – Will use multiple approaches to degrade or destroy an opponent’s use of its information infrastructure. Non-state actors may develop more limited versions of these approaches in the future as well. The techniques can vary across the entire threat spectrum of those described and extend to physical or electronic disruption of communication equipment and paths, processing sites, data storage sites, command centers, and importantly to the homeland critical infrastructure.

Bob Nesbit is the senior vice president and general manager of MITRE’s Center for Integrated Intelligence Systems. He is responsible for the direction of MITRE research, development, and system acquisition support of advanced intelligence and information systems. These programs support numerous Department of Defense and Intelligence Agency sponsors. The technologies include image processing, signal processing, data mining, surveillance, countermeasures, cyber security, and special collection systems. Prior to this, Bob led MITRE’s work supporting on-site inspection and verification of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Arms Control Treaty with the USSR. He held project leader and management positions on work dealing with the analysis of foreign command, control, and communication systems and the development of countermeasures to exploit vulnerabilities in those systems. Before joining MITRE, Bob held technical staff positions with RCA Aerospace Systems and General Electric in circuit design and test for guidance and control systems.

Bob is a member of the Defense Science Board (DSB) and a past member of the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Scientific Advisory Board. He has also participated on task forces for the National Research Council’s Naval Studies Board and the Intelligence Science Board examining future sensor investment strategies. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Defense Technology Initiative and has been a member of the DSB for 10 years. He directed the 1999 DSB Summer Study on Information Technology and the 2000 DSB Task Force on Software and co-chaired the 2001 DSB Summer Study on Precision Targeting and the 2004 Task Force on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles. He co-chaired the 2005 Summer Study on Defense against Terrorist Use of Weapons of Mass Destruction and is currently co-chair of a Task Force on the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Strategic Plan for Advanced Computing. Bob received a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Northeastern University in 1973 and a bachelor’s degree in physics magna cum laude from the University of Notre Dame in 1969.

The meeting will be held at Lincoln Lab Auditorium at 4:00PM. Refreshments will be served at 3:30PM. Registration is in the main lobby. Foreign national visitors to Lincoln Lab require visit request. Please pre-register by e-mail to reception @ll.mit.edu and indicate your citizenship. Please use the Wood Street Gate. For directions go to http://www.ll.mit.edu/. For other information contact Ed Altshuler, Chairman, at (781) 377-4662, or edward.altshuler@hanscom.af.mil