 Welcome to this special edition of ARL TV News. I'm TJ Ellis. 2016 has been a banner year for the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, welcoming new operations on the West Coast and in the South, advancing scientific discoveries for our soldiers and broadening relationships with national and international interest. This year, ARL and the University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies formally opened ARL West, accessing untapped expertise in areas that include simulation and training, intelligence systems, and human system interaction. Regional expansion continued in Texas with the opening of ARL South thanks to new partnerships with a group of Texas universities, including the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M. ARL South will primarily focus its research efforts on materials and manufacturing, including additive manufacturing, biosciences, energy, and power. The Army's innovation efforts are positioned to benefit from closer collaboration with universities, startups, and established companies. ARL's Aberdeen Proving Ground location became the brain center for the new Center for Adaptive Soldier Technologies. This collaboration offering connects people to research and inspires greater understanding on how and when to adapt technologies to humans. Earlier this year, ARL opened a cutting-edge laboratory for network science, which has been described as a widely shared space where a number of researchers can see information on multiple screens together rather than everyone sitting at remote locations behind individual screens. A number of VIP visitors toured ARL in 2016, strengthening collaborative relationships and seeding potential new ones. In February, Turkish military officials visited the lab at APG to become familiar with the mission and structure of ARL and to identify potential areas for collaborative research and development. A delegation of Singaporean defense officials visited in April. The U.S. and Singapore have for comprehensive relationship with cooperation on economic, political, and security issues. Robotics, autonomy, and the future potential of machine intelligence are areas of common interest between the United States and Japan. And these were the focus of an October visit to the laboratory by a delegation from the Japanese Association of Defense Industries. A highlight of their visit included a demonstration of a unique ground robot with arms called Robel Simeon, an eighth-like robot developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. On his first visit to the laboratory, Major General Cedric T. Wins, commanding general of the research development and engineering command, got up close and personal with the Joint Tactical Aerial Resupply Vehicle, a rectangular-shaped quadcopter also known as the Hoverbike. I'm very impressed. First opportunity to come out to the Army Research Lab. As a new commander, I'm just getting around to all the different R-decks in the labs. Certainly impressed by the specific item I wanted to see which was the Hoverbike. Senior leaders from the Department of Defense, Army staff, and Army Materiel Command also toured ARL facilities and met with Army scientists and engineers. In September, ARL's Acting Director, Dr. Philip Prakanti testified before Congress for a subcommittee hearing on Defense Department laboratories. And much of what we do for the command is to really understand what the Army future warfighting challenges are and how we can bring technology to bear to support those those challenges. Prakanti became Acting Director at ARL in April when Dr. Thomas Russell assumed the role as Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for research and technology. Well, there are a number of key events. I think Open Campus Open House clearly was a key event. To me, we're just getting better and better at showcasing what ARL is all about and how we can work with our collaborators, both industry and academia, to get at the problems that are most important in the Army and to leverage the work that we're doing here with the work that's happening at universities and industry partners. Prakanti will continue to serve as the ARL Acting Director. In November, the Department of Defense named an ARL scientist, Dr. Christopher Darling, as his laboratory scientist of the quarter for his research into nanomaterials that may revolutionize engine technology. Also in November, the laboratory kicked off a year-long celebration of its 25th anniversary, which pays tribute to past contributions to national defense and to American advances in science and technology. It's a year-long celebration to really think about the future of ARL, to celebrate the past, but focus on the future and to really get our message out about how we, as the nation's premier lab for land forces, are going to influence how the Army thinks about technology and the kind of technology the Army is going to use in the future. ARL continues to move forward with the discoveries and inventions that make soldiers safer and stronger, but also have other benefits such as head protection systems that may protect future NFL players from head injuries. During the 25th anniversary celebration, the laboratory will also showcase past research achievements that made the organization into the premier laboratory for land forces. On the lighter side, ARL staff and employees bide for bragging rights at the annual RDECOM Turkey Bowl, November 9th at APG. The ARL Laboratory Retrievers defeated CERDAQ 42-21. The championship game ended in an upset with ECBC barely beating ARL 6-5. Earlier in the year, employees celebrated Bring Your Child to Work Day. Kids from elementary through high school learned about the states of matter, 3D computer visualization, and how chemicals form bonds. During a visit to the computer center, attendees watched a performance by a two-foot-tall dancing robot. Innovation was a key theme for the year. So I think what also was most important was our ability to really showcase ARL as this nation's premier lab. We really have hit that mark. People are viewing us as the engine of innovation within the department of innovation. That's major. ARL joined military and civilian leaders, scientists, and engineers from across the Army for two innovation summits during 2016. In April, at a two-day conference at APG, RDECOM hosted the event to aspire evolutionary problem solving directed at specific operational and tactical issues. In August, the Army Materiel Command and the Training and Doctrine Command hosted a summit at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Army leaders conceived the idea for innovation summits as part of a long-term innovation campaign plan focused on far-term Army modernization. In 2016, the laboratory advanced technology to increase aerial delivery accuracy. ARL researchers developed a new system to enhance the capabilities of U.S. Army pathfinders as they conduct aerial operations. The ARL system is equipping pathfinders with manned portable Doppler LiDAR and other LiDAR systems to enhance precision air drops and environmental awareness for Army operations. I think for next year, the best is yet to come. I think for us, we've done a lot of work in our research leadership management strategy to set the course for the organization. I think people are really starting to embrace what's going on in ARL, both from an open campus point of view, to a people-first point of view, to a science and technology point of view, and now from a business acumen point of view which is going to be the next big push for us in 2017. So that, I think, is really what we're going to get after to help really streamline the processes within ARL, the business processes, and we're going to work hard to get that right. I think there are a lot of themes. I mean, first and foremost, it's people, right? The research staff, the administrative staff, the operations staff. If you didn't have great people, you wouldn't have a great organization. So that's the most important thing. You know, I think we're, I like to use the word family. For me, it's about the community. And we have to work together so that we trust one another, at all levels of the organization, that we're working for a common goal, which is the United States Army, to support the future of this country, and to be service-minded, and to think less about ourselves and more about how what we do impacts each other, and ultimately impacts the country. I've been here four years now, and I've noticed that change since when I first came here. So that's what's most important at every level, that we develop pride, professionalism, and trust in you, like a family. From all of us, happy holidays and best wishes for the new year. For ARL TV, I'm TJ Ellis.