The Science Behind the Military
Russ Rhoads
Russ Rhoads presented at the Community Science and Technology Seminar Series event on Wednesday, December 10, 2003, at 7 p.m., in the Columbia Basin College Theatre. The seminar, sponsored by PNNL and CBC, was free and open to the public. Russ, a Senior Program Manager at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory spoke on the topic, "The Science Behind the Military."
Most conventional weapons systems in the United States military were designed and built in the 1970's and 1980's to respond to the threat of a possible Soviet invasion into Europe. The defense needs of this country are now much different. The war in which we now fight in Iraq may be declared over but the fighting goes on, and the need to more effectively defend and protect ourselves has become a formidable challenge. Our military must now be able to carry out an even broader range of missions, and they must be able to conduct these missions anywhere in the world.
The United States military is in the process of transforming itself, and technology is enabling this transformation. Russ addressed today's military needs and what is being done at PNNL to take armed forces strategies and technologies to the next level.
Russ Rhoads obtained a bachelor's degree in physics and a master's degree in nuclear engineering from the University of Washington. Mr. Rhoads has held a variety of line management and program management positions since joining Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in 1975. He has extensive experience managing and contributing to large, interdisciplinary research programs. For the past 15 years, Mr. Rhoads has been leading and contributing to programs helping Department of Defense organizations to modernize logistics systems and to develop strategies for configuring, modernizing and managing industrial operations.
The Seminar Series is sponsored by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Columbia Basin College, with the support of the Columbia River Exhibition of History, Science and Technology and by the local chapter of Sigma Xi, the international honor society of scientific and engineering research.
