The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) continues to showcase its exceptional research capacity via the next Naval Research Working Group (NRWG), April 20-22, 2021. Per continued COVID-19 guidance, this year’s NRWG 21 will be executed as an entirely virtual event.
The NRWG is organized by the NPS Naval Research Program (NRP) and serves as a Chief of Naval Operations funded launch-point for new initiatives, which posture naval forces to meet current and future operational challenges. Through research, NPS’ world-class faculty and students deliver cutting-edge solutions to some of the most pressing challenges faced by operational naval forces across the globe.
Now in its 9th year, the NRWG continues to serve as the primary synchronization and collaboration event bringing together fleet topic sponsors, NPS faculty members, and students to communicate, review, validate and recommend topics for NPS research.
Numerous Department of the Navy (DON) Topic Sponsor Organizations are expected to participate in NRWG 21. Funding for FY22 is $11.54 million. In its nine-year history, the NRWG process has generated over 2,500 topics submitted through the NRP Topic Portal, with more than 500 research projects completed or in progress.
In this virtual environment, Research Topic Sponsors will have opportunities to discuss research opportunities, the benefit(s) to the naval services, and expected deliverables from selected NRP research projects via Breakout Sessions which are to be scheduled independently for individual NPS faculty and students.
NRWG 21 activities facilitated by the NRP will be interspersed over all three days of this annual event. NRWG 21 will again feature virtual Engagement Sessions, NPS Lab Tours/Capabilities Briefs, Moderated Panel Sessions, and the ever popular Social & Research Poster Session.
As part of the overall event schedule, virtual Engagement Sessions will continue to serve as a forum for Topic Sponsors to brief their topics, providing NPS faculty and students the opportunity to engage in a greater in-depth discussion of topic details.
NPS Virtual Lab Tours/Capabilities Briefs remain an integral part of the NRWG. At least 14 different labs will be featured in total. Virtual Lab Tours are the perfect opportunity for Topic Sponsors to gain a more in-depth understanding of specific research lab capabilities at NPS.
Back by popular demand are moderated Panel Sessions for Topic Sponsors, faculty, and/or NPS students, designed this year to discuss key institutional priorities in the areas of artificial intelligence, cyber, great power competition, human-machine teaming and innovation. Panel discussion will stimulate cross-disciplinary interactions and collaboration within NPS and among topic sponsors.
The virtual Social and Research Poster Session expands on information gathered during the Lab Tours and is primarily an opportunity for our many Topic Sponsors to gain a better understanding of the breadth and depth of the research taking place at NPS.
The NRWG will again use Whova, a free mobile application, to support participation. Whova allows participants to explore professional profiles of event speakers and attendees; send in-app messages and exchange contact info; network and find attendees with common affiliations, education and shared networks; access the event schedule to plan the agenda; and, receive updates from the organizers, among others. Microsoft Teams will also be employed as a delivery method and for session presenter/participant interaction.
All NRWG sessions require sign-up via Whova. Virtual Lab Tours have limited capacity, so early sign-ups are encouraged.
Review NRWG 21 event/track details, register for the event, and download the Whova app all at the NRP website. Join the conversation with the NRP online at @NPS_NRP on Twitter.
The NRWG is a non-industry event and is intended for DOD civilian/contractor personnel and uniformed service members only. All content is intended for public release and on demand viewing.