From April 24 to 28, a team of U.S. Army Engineer Research and  Development Center (ERDC) representatives attended the exhibit portion of the Army Engineer Association (AEA) Regimental Week at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

The AEA hosted industry experts showcasing everything from construction equipment and robotics to training simulators and power generation equipment. The event gave military and civilian personnel the opportunity to see current and future equipment, meet industry partners and build awareness of capabilities.

“We are here to exhibit the capabilities and opportunities within the Environmental Laboratory (EL),” said Jenny Laird, research biologist with the ERDC-EL. “We brought unmanned aircraft  system, or UAS, platforms to demonstrate the operational capability of fast deployable systems for the warfighter for reconnaissance missions and situational awareness.”

The combined efforts of the ERDC’s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Environmental Laboratory (EL), Geospatial Research Laboratory, Geotechnical and Structures  Laboratory (GSL) and USACE Reachback Operations Center (UROC) brought an organizational synergy to the event, allowing attendees and other vendors to experience the collaborative effort within the group while gaining exposure to the ERDC’s mission, vision and goals.

As one of the most diverse engineering and scientific research organizations in the world, the ERDC helps solve the nation’s most challenging problems in civil and military engineering, geospatial sciences, water resources and environmental sciences for the Army, Department of  Defense, civilian agencies and the public. Headquartered in Vicksburg, the ERDC consists of seven laboratories in four states with more than 2,447 employees and a $1 billion annual research program.

GSL representatives said they attended the event to spread the word about the innovative work happening in Vicksburg. Maria Stevens, associate technical director for the ERDC-GSL, said, “We  really want the Army Engineer Regiment to know we are here for them, and we are working to make their lives better as they fight for our country.”

These sentiments were echoed by both Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) and UROC attendees.

“CERL is promoting its mission and its capabilities to the future of the regiment,” said Richard Weichsler, an engineer technician with the ERDC-CERL.

“UROC is here to show what technologies and capabilities that we have to offer to the future army engineering leaders to help them do their job better,” added Marc P. Gerald, training coordinator of the UROC. “We currently deal with many different types of engineer units, and we have  equipment that can help any of them.”