University System of Maryland and U.S. Army Research Lab Launch Research and Education Partnership
Adelphi, Md. (July 2, 2018) -- The University System of Maryland (USM) today announced the signing of a partnership agreement with the U.S. Army Research Lab (ARL) designed to increase research and educational collaborations and exchanges between the two institutions, as well as members of their respective communities.
“As Maryland’s public university system, USM is already a research and education powerhouse,” USM Chancellor Robert Caret said. “As the Army’s foremost research lab, ARL leads discovery and technological innovation for much of America’s armed forces. Many of our scientists and engineers – as well as USM students – are focused on similar areas of research, including drone technology. The opportunities for collaboration are immense. Working together, we can drive discovery and, ultimately, improve lives and create jobs in Maryland and beyond.”
“At the same time, this agreement enables the USM to expand its footprint in Harford County, home of Aberdeen Proving Ground,” Caret continued.
In addition to educating future leaders, USM’s 12 institutions throughout Maryland spearhead groundbreaking research in fields from cancer to autonomous vehicle technologies. Since 2012, USM institutions have launched more than 500 companies, executed more than 320 technology licenses and secured more than 460 patents. Last year alone, USM attracted more than $1.2 billion in external research funding.
With nearly 3,000 researchers and staff at Maryland’s Aberdeen Proving Ground and Adelphi Laboratory Center, ARL is the nation's premier laboratory for land forces. Through its Open Campus initiative, ARL scientists and engineers work collaboratively and side-by-side with visiting scientists in ARL's facilities, and as visiting researchers at collaborators' institutions, with the goal of building a science and technology ecosystem that will encourage groundbreaking advances in basic and applied research areas of relevance to the Army.
“We have, from a Cooperative Research Development Agreement point of view, a number of agreements with the different University of Maryland campuses,” ARL Director Philip Perconti said. “Although we don’t have an agreement with University System of Maryland, this is a perfect time for the partnership and the opportunity. From an efficiency and innovative point of view, there is a lot we can do together.”
Two USM institutions – University of Maryland, Baltimore County and University of Maryland, College Park – already enjoy research partnerships with ARL. Building on and expanding these relationships will enable joint research projects and exchanges between and among USM and ARL scientists, engineers and students, particularly in areas such as high-performance computing, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and robotics.
With this agreement, USM faculty also will be able to teach relevant courses to and share instructional materials with, ARL personnel. The partnership will also help foster relationships that may lead in the future to the hiring at ARL of graduates from USM universities.
Contact: Mike Lurie
Phone: 301.445.2719
Email: mlurie@usmd.edu
