Interns provide capabilities to the Air Force Published Nov. 13, 2008 By Pam Smith Global Cyberspace Integration Center HAMPTOM, Va. (AFNS) -- This summer, officials with the Global Cyberspace Integration Center and the National Institute of Aerospace successfully completed a cyberspace innovation and integration initiative, or CI3, for undergraduate and graduate students interested in technology projects. CI3 allows upper-class college and post-graduate students to participate in a 10-week "hands-on" career experience working alongside subject-matter experts and collaborating on defined projects. "The intent of the initiative is to collaborate with education, research and industry communities to address Air Force and Department of Defense technology needs," said Stan Newberry, GCIC director. "Additionally, the interns are integral to the development, integration and assessment of leading edge capabilities." CI3 provides an environment where interns can learn as team members and assist with ongoing projects and experiments. CI3 links the GCIC to academia, providing a ready source of fresh ideas and perspectives, and builds awareness of the Air Force and military careers. Two of the three most recent interns worked on a new capability to automate in-processing new personnel into the organization. "Mr. Newberry provided the interns with the project requirements to digitally integrate newcomers across an organization that has operating locations around the U.S.," said Maj. Cuong Nguyen, deputy branch chief for concepts under the modernization and innovation directorate. "The interns brainstormed and developed milestones and courses of action." The interns met with subject-matter experts in each of the areas, gaining knowledge to build a plan and an architecture that determines events needed to trigger responses, critical paths and interdependencies. Finally, the interns constructed a prototype, demonstrating the new capability to the GCIC and NIA senior leaders. The third intern, a PhD candidate, evaluated algorithm methodologies and use case options for determining optimal orbits for unmanned aircraft systems. The military uses UASs for a wide variety of tasks, from surveillance of an area looking for unusual activities to disabling or destroying targets. For this internship project, the unmanned aircraft serves as a communication bridge allowing troops at multiple locations to talk and send data to each other. The algorithm recommends flight paths and positions to optimize communication coverage based on needs and requirements on the ground. "Course-work and interactions within academia provide the theoretical aspects of algorithms, but the internship allows the student the opportunity to apply their studies to a current real-world problem," Captain Nguyen said. "Summer internships are an important element in the education of our nation's next generation of engineering and technical professionals," said Dr. Robert Lindberg, NIA president and executive director. "The Air Force gains valuable assistance and the chance to highlight their important mission to bright, young people. The students gain valuable experience in a real-world environment." The program also exposed the interns to state-of-the-art command and control and aerospace facilities, an F-22 Raptor demonstration and myriad team members, from operational warriors and civilian employees to subject-matter experts from a wide range of defense contracting companies. Comment on this story (comments may be published on Air Force Link) View the comments/letters page