Speaker: 
Mr. Brandon Naylor
Faculty Associate - Research, Energy Academic Group,
Naval Postgraduate School

Lecture title:  Challenges to Implementing Energy Projects and Improvements

Lecture Abstract: 
Energy is a convoluted subject and there are no silver bullets or one-size-fits-all solutions. In an era with an increasingly diverse number of stakeholders, considerations, and scales of the problem-space, how does the Navy address so many different challenges related to or stemming from energy? This seminar will take a brief look at the multi-faceted nature of the considerations involved in solving our defense energy challenges and provide perspective on the necessity of a holistic approach when devising and implementing energy solutions. Key topics include:

• Educating leadership to understand energy issues
• Separating the viable tech options from the snake oil
• Measuring and defining the value of resilience when competing for funding
• Institutional and cultural pushback when deviating from the norm
• Conflicting standards and policies

The U.S. military sees a growing need in its Indo Pacific and other areas of operation for integrated expeditionary water and power systems that minimize logistics tails. The Marine Corps currently has several active development programs underway in response to specific directives from its Installation Command to address serious power and water issues. Safe, secure, sustainable access to low-cost and environmentally friendly power and water is critical for force projection, resilience, base protection, and to address community concerns. The presentation will inform of breakthrough technology developments accomplished by CAP (and now CAPWAPII) in advanced seawater desalination using renewable energy.

Speaker Bio:
Mr. Brandon Naylor is a researcher with the Naval Postgraduate School Energy Academic Group. His research areas include development of Navy surface fleet fuel optimization tools, surface fleet fuel consumption models, conducting business case studies on emerging energy technologies, additive manufacturing, and micro-grid platforms. Outside of these research areas, Mr. Naylor supports educational programs at the Naval Postgraduate School through content development for joint energy education efforts, supporting student thesis projects, and managing summer intern project teams.

Mr. Naylor received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering with Minor in Robotics from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in 2015 and certificate in Defense Energy from Naval Postgraduate School in 2019.

Full event details can be found on the EAG website at https://nps.edu/web/eag/seminars. 

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Flyer: view flyer

On 21 January 2025, the Naval Postgraduate School Foundation is hosting an NPS Innovation in Action Emerging Technology Showcase in the McNitt Ballroom.

This innovation networking event for NPS students and faculty and more than 25 defense and tech companies is an opportunity to DISCOVER current research at NPS across all disciplines, CONNECT with students & faculty, and EXPLORE collaborative research & innovation opportunities with industry.

All students, faculty and staff are invited to attend the NPS Innovation in Action Emerging Tech & Student Showcase on January 21 between 1300-1630. Light refreshments will be provided.

RSVP here | View Flyer

The Tech & Student Showcase will enable NPS faculty and students to engage with industry partners, learn about ways to leverage technologies to support/advance research activities, and explore the wide variety of possibilities for a thesis or capstone project.

The Naval Postgraduate School Foundation is hosting the event under the auspices of their partner intermediary agreement with NPS.

To maximize officer participation, this classified tactical design workshop is intended to be on a not-to-interfere basis with regular class schedules (participate as you are available).

The workshop's objectives are to develop tactical employment concepts for uncrewed and crewed systems in direct support of PROJECT KRAKEN (TS/SCI clearance required) and Hybrid Fleet/EABO/SIF integration (Secret clearance required). Officers from all services with the appropriate clearances are invited to participate as their schedule allows.

Interested to register? Contact Jeff Kline at jekline@nps.edu

www.nps.edu/fx

www.nps.edu/web/fx/upcoming-jifx

Document

The JIFX team leads experimentation in alternative methods to enable rapid technological development by cultivating a community of interest and hosting broadly scoped quarterly collaborative field events that enable DOD, U.S. government, and allied stakeholders to identify, influence, and accelerate early-stage technology development that address national and collective security challenges.

The JIFX program exists to provide an opportunity for NPS faculty, students, private companies, and academia to demonstrate and evaluate new technologies related to the Department of the Navy and the Department of Defense research in an operational field environment, and also to provide the operational community the opportunity to experiment with these technologies to better understand the capabilities that they may represent.