What's Canada Researching These Days?

[milnews.ca]

"Study - infrared imager" (How can Canada build & supply its own IR imagers, instead of buying outside Canada?)

....Today, Canada relies on foreign suppliers for InGaAs detectors needs. As this technology is becoming more sensitive and strategic for each nation, it is becoming more challenging to acquire detectors from our allies. These challenges include export regulation, license and certificate requirement and the associated delays. In this study, we will gather pertinent information showing all the available options and propose strategic plans to improve the current status-quo of the Canadian Forces. We will identify all possible commercial suppliers of InGaAs detectors among our allies, the prices and specifications of available detectors, and the associates procedures and lead time of exporting such detectors. We will also explore the available domestic infrastructures, both in government and private industries, on possible fabrication and development of commercial graded InGaAs detectors at The Canadian Photonics Fabrication Centre (CPFC) in Ottawa and related read-out electronics....

"ANALYZIS (sic) OF RADIOMETRIC DATA"

....Through its participation to measurement campaigns, the Environmental Characterization Group of DRDC Valcartier has collected a large number of radiometric data. The analysis will consist of extracting radiometric information from calibrated infrared images and of performing comparisons with model calculations.

FIELD OF THE WORK
The objectives of Defence R&D Canada - Valcartier for the present project:
The work to be executed in this project is divided in specific task and some optionals.

Task 1: Maritime backgrounds. The supplier will have to identify the periods when background image analysis is possible from the data collected by the DRDC Valcartier team during the MIRAMER experiment in May 2008.
Task 2- Signature of zodiac in action. The supplier will have to derive the zodiac IR signature (the boat only) - in the 2 IR bands - from images collected at short ranges.
Task 3 - Tracking of a blackbody target. The supplier will have to analyze, in the 2 IR bands, two sequences of tracking of the 200 degree C-blackbody that was mounted on board the Atalante during the MIRAMER campaign, with the objective of deriving radiant intensity curves versus range....

"Brucella Vaccine Research"

....DND has a continuing requirement for medical countermeasures against biological agents. This need is being addressed through a tri-national program on vaccine research and Development under the direction of the Canadian Forces Medical Group and a Technology Demonstration Program (TDP) project for the development of a Brucella vaccine managed by DND. This research project is intended to perform all necessary studies to identify and characterize the immunogen, to develop a Brucella vaccine and to facilitate future acquisitions for the production of pilot lot quantities of this vaccine. Further research and development efforts need to be expended to have a vaccine that will meet regulatory approval. In order to meet international obligations, the required delivery date for the proposed contract is June, 2009....

"SYNTHESIS OF TETRAZINE DERIVATIVES"

....Objectives of the work:
The purpose of the contract is to synthesize nitrogen-rich energetic products.

Required Experience
The bidder must nominate a chemist with at least one year's experience in organic product synthesis to perform the work. Experience in energetic material synthesis will be considered an asset....

More on links

[Bullmoose Bailey]

"Study - infrared imager" (How can Canada build & supply its own IR imagers, instead of buying outside Canada?)



"ANALYZIS (sic) OF RADIOMETRIC DATA"



"Brucella Vaccine Research"



"SYNTHESIS OF TETRAZINE DERIVATIVES"


More on links

I admire their interest in self sufficiency. I've always felt that should be a primary goal. Maybe its because I read so much Schlafly from the 60s about nuclear redundancy, which I still believe by the way.

It is, I feel, still possible to be self-sufficient, non interventionist & prosperous. I wish my Canadian Brethren the best of luck at accomplishing just that.

[Ron Humphrey]

I admire their interest in self sufficiency. I've always felt that should be a primary goal. Maybe its because I read so much Schlafly from the 60s about nuclear redundancy, which I still believe by the way.

It is, I feel, still possible to be self-sufficient, non interventionist & prosperous. I wish my Canadian Brethren the best of luck at accomplishing just that.

Your belief unfortunately tends to leave out the fact that there are those who would encourage and applaud non-interventionism by some only to use the lapse to albeit much more subtly intervene themselves. This of course while perhaps leading to a greater prosperity (of sorts) for themselves comes at great cost to those whom might otherwise have been secured by a little productive interventionism by parties who actually give a darn about such things as self-sufficiency, prosperity, Freedom

[milnews.ca]

...from Canada's public tender web page.

....Defense Research and Development Canada (DRDC) have a requirement to retain the services of a contractor who will conduct Research and Development in the area of hearing conservation. The objective of this contract is to evaluate the utility of implementing advanced communication technologies during active combat. The initial resulting contract will be for a period from contract award to March 31, 2009 with an option to extend the term of the contract by up to two (2) additional one year periods. The ceiling price for this project is $85,000.00 (GST extra) and the basis of selection will be the responsive bid with the highest number of points within the point rated criteria....

....Most public safety and security incidents are managed locally and are typically handled by local communications/dispatch centers, and emergency management/response personnel within a single jurisdiction, and direct supporters of emergency responders. The majority of responses need go no further. In other instances, incidents that begin with a single response within a single jurisdiction may rapidly expand to multidisciplinary, multi-jurisdictional incidents requiring significant additional resources and operational support. Whether for incidents where additional resources are required or are provided from different organizations within a single jurisdiction or outside the jurisdiction, or for complex incidents with national implications (such as an emerging infectious disease or a bioterrorism attack), the effective decision making requires a flexible core mechanism for coordinated and collaborative incident management .... This requirement support the section of the CORA TIF project related to the development of a meta-organizational shared decision making (SDM) framework and the development of a capability of testing this framework in vivo through simulation.

.... Defence Construction Canada (DCC) is calling for Abbreviated Proposals from Design Consulting Services for Supporting Infrastructure for Polar Epsilon Joint Space-Based Wide Area Surveillance and Support (Masstown, NS and Aldergrove, BC). In accordance with the rules, regulations, statutes, and guidelines of the provinces and the professional associations where the projects will be carried out, Defence Construction Canada (DCC) is requesting Abbreviated Proposals from consulting firms for the design of the physical supporting infrastructure for sensing and detection antennas.... (Canadian Forces Backgrounder on Polar Epsilon)

....Defence Research and Development Canada - Suffield (DRDCS) has developed a fully instrumented anaesthetized swine model that they have used extensively in both research and training efforts. Initial efforts using this animal model focused exclusively on issues involving chemical warfare (CW) agents. However, due to recent circumstances the Canadian Forces have become increasingly interested in non-NBC (nuclear biological chemical) casualty care. Blood loss is well known as being the primary causal factor in battlefield mortality, and hypovolemic shock adversely impacts the medical treatment of casualties in a variety of ways that are not well understood. The objective is for the development of a model of hypovolemic
shock using swine....

....This request for proposal (RFP) is required by 5 Area Support Group (5 ASG) of the Department of National Defence (DND) / the Canadian Forces (CF) for the production of an audiovisual document intended for use as a pedagogical tool during the post-deployment phase of the Military Resilience Training Program (MRTP). This programme will contribute to increase military resilience at this critical time in the deployment cycle. To achieve this objective, the video will illustrate how operational stress is perceived in the military community at this particular time in the deployment cycle, and the efforts that must be made to heal stress injuries, including recourse to professional mental health services, using the example of a mission in Afghanistan. This forty-minute training production....

[milnews.ca]

....for signs of fatigue/anxiety (in the former) or hostile intent.

“The objective is the design and development of a decision support system through the fusion of biometrics signals for behavioural diagnostic applications. The design and development of the system will be completed over 3 phases. The system will be based on the automatic processing and the classification of data stemming mainly from Electroencephalogram (EEG), Electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings and tracking of 3D stereoscopic facial characteristics. This processing should provide the integrated system capability, including vital signs, stereoscopic cameras and EEG, to quantify and provide automated diagnosis of the stressors that may affect the operational readiness of Canadian Forces (CF) operators and identify behavioural patterns with the aim of detecting hostile intend.”

Statement of Work available here - PM me with your e-mail address if you'd like to see the entire bid package.

[milnews.ca]

....what's out there (software) that would bring both classified and open-source information together into one platform to make it easier for incident commanders to assess, predict and manage what's happening?

Public Request for Information here, meatiest bits of the bid package here, and a bit more plain language translation here.

[milnews.ca]

....with other departments and agencies within your own government ....

.... The Organizational Behavior Group (OB Group) within the Collaborative Performance and Learning Section (CPL Section) of Defence Research and Development Canada – Toronto (DRDC Toronto) has received approval to conduct a three year Applied Research Project (ARP) to explore and identify the mechanisms of establishing and maintaining interagency trust. More specifically, the purpose of the Interagency Trust ARP is to understanding the psychological processes associated with trust in such environments in order to contribute to and enhance the development of this mission critical capability....

(PDF of Statement of Work here.)

.... as well as with members of militaries, departments and NGOs from other countries.

.... As part of a global community, Canadian Forces (CF) personnel must be able to work effectively as part of a team, either in the context of co-ordinated joint operations or in collaboration with various government and non-government agencies and organizations, international organizations, or multinational military forces, embedded in diverse social and cultural settings. Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) will conduct research that will facilitate the realization of the full synergistic potential of teams operating in Joint, Interagency, Multinational, and Public (JIMP) environments. The objectives of the Applied Research Project (ARP), entitled "JIMP Essentials in the Public Domain: Implications for the Tactical Commander," include: 1) a conceptual clarification of the aspects of JIMP, with implications for the development of knowledge, education and training tools for the tactical commander; 2) identification of individual differences/aptitudes that facilitate effective collaboration in a JIMP environment, with implications for training, selection and teamwork; and 3) integration of historical and international perspectives on the Public aspects of JIMP. The challenge is to understand the critical human-centric, psychosocial and cognitive aspects of collaborative work and to develop methods and models to foster collaborative behaviour ....

(PDF of Statement of Work here)

More here if you're interested in how much velcro the Canadian Forces is looking for (hint: think miles)