Auburn University Huntsville Research Center (AUHRC) Presented to AU CoE Colloquium

Transcription

1 Auburn University Huntsville Research Center (AUHRC) Presented to AU CoE Colloquium Rod Summers, Director of Research, AUHRC February 17, 2016

2 Areas of Presentation Organization Mission Roles Accomplishments AUHRC Exists to Help You 2

3 AUHRC Organization Core Team OVPRED OVPRED College of Engineering SMEs On Site Rodney Robertson Executive Director AUHRC Rod Summers Director of Research Vicki Kretzschmar Business Manager Vacant Admin Support TBD Army Domain Lead Mike Ogles NASA Domain Lead Located at: Davidson Technologies 530 Discovery Drive Cummings Research Park DeRon Decker Army SME Frank Ledbetter NASA SME Davidson Technologies provides: Non tenured Research Faculty Office space for core team and AU Visitors Facility Security Network Support Office Machines/Copiers etc. 100 percent customer funded and on site with customers Strategic hire SMEs in areas that align with Auburn s research priorities Domain knowledge 3

4 AUHRC Mission Leveraging Auburn University Faculty Students Capabilities Facilities Approach Increasing access to Huntsville and other markets through contracts, grants, and funding BY Building agile business processes that align with funded work Embedding customer funded (non tenured) research staff within key organizations Assuming a leadership role in key technology areas Strategic Objectives Grow Auburn University s research portfolio, funding and reputation TO Enhance economic development for the state and region Assist the University in promoting its strategic initiatives 4

5 AUHRC Roles Serving Multiple Auburn Organizations AUHRC Technical Roles Identify and understand customer requirements Maintain awareness of faculty research capabilities Provide domain knowledge to faculty Perform on contracts as required Identify and integrate capabilities across departments and colleges AUHRC Business Roles Develop customer interfaces, relationships, intelligence, and strategies Assist in negotiating and processing NDAs and Teaming Agreements Capture business, prepare proposal input, and respond to data calls Assist in contract and grant award processes within AU Perform program management and contract administration as required Community Engagement Roles Serve as Auburn University s interface to Huntsville Serve as the Huntsville s interface to Auburn University 5

6 AUHRC Key Accomplishments Growth in a constrained budget environment FY14 faculty, staff, and student active research contracts AU $ 3,899, HSV $ 973, Total $ 4,872, FY12 ~ $2.0M FY13 ~ $3.2M Moving from being hard to conduct business with Auburn to being easier to conduct business with Auburn Assisting faculty and students to do research on large umbrella IDIQ contracts Posturing AU PIs to be on winning teams for funding 6

7 How AUHRC is Serving You Establishing strategic partnerships with key government and industry organizations in areas that align with the CoE s research strengths Hiring customer funded CoE employees co located with customers to provide AU with greater insight, more research funding, advantageous agreements and better domain knowledge Positioning Auburn to be competitive for prime contracts Identifying the benefits of using a 501c3 for research activities AUHRC is helping to change the business processes and culture that will enable Auburn University to grow the research enterprise 7

8 QUESTIONS? 8

9 Huntsville s Primary Industries Redstone Arsenal Home for 55 Federal Organizations Over $50 Billion in Annual Contracts Cummings Research Park AUHRC location Over 400 Defense Contractors 2nd Largest Research and Technology Park in the US 4th largest Research Park in the World Largest per capita concentration of engineers in the US Life Sciences Defense Information Technology Aerospace Advanced Manufacturing Primary Industries 9

10 AUHRC Timeline Established AUHRC Hired Executive Director & Business Manager Promoted AU research to key markets Assumed leadership role in Cyber Huntsville Initiative Research Activity ($M) Hired Director for Research Positioned AU on multiple Federal contracts Streamlined AU business and contracting processes Developed efficient personnel hiring process for Huntsville market Hired (2) customer-funded Army Cyber domain specialists Developed strategic partnership(s) with Government and Industry $3.2M 2014 Hired (2) customer-funded NASA Domain Specialists Positioned AU with key Army customer for university-directed prime contract position Improved customer access by securing 27 subcontract agreements Streamlined program control and financial tracking processes AU extremely well positioned with Army, NASA, and Industry $4.9M Expand AU support beyond College of Engineering Add additional (nontenured) research staff Obtain (Fed) Prime Contract for Auburn Expand support to major AU Initiatives ( e.g. Cyber; Advanced. Manufacturing)

11 Support to AU (Other than College of Engineering) College/Office AUHRC Support Provided (2014) Agriculture Discussions regarding the leveraging of DoD research for agriculture purposes Architecture, Design and Construction Supported /facilitated meetings in Huntsville with Army and NASA Pharmacy Exploring support opportunities (e.g. space for Distance Learning courses; research contacts, etc.) Business Seeking opportunities in budget and finance, data analytics, big data and supply chain management Supply chain internships Lunch with leaders Human Sciences Participates in the advisory council for nutrition research Secured a small grant Facilitated research presentation via Webinar Sciences and Mathematics Supported /facilitated multiple business meetings in Huntsville Proposing test facilities for Army equipment testing Facilitated research presentation via Webinar Veterinary Medicine Supported /facilitated business meetings in Huntsville (HudsonAlpha) Facilitated research presentation via Webinar Continuing Education Supported /facilitated business meetings in Huntsville (Suggested topic areas / Strategy) Admissions and Recruitment Arranged numerous campus visits for prospective students and parents 11

12 Present Challenges with Mitigations Challenge Mitigation Increasing research capacity Increase (non-tenured) research faculty at campus through soft funding Improving business process flexibility and responsiveness Continue adapting / reengineering AU business processes Increase AU contracting skills and capacity Build tailored program control tools Embedding domain experts in (the best) new markets without threatening industry partners Investigating use of 501c3 in certain circumstances Targeted recruiting of key individuals in high(est) revenue markets Coordinating hires with key industry partners Slide 12