A fully loaded experience at Picatinny Arsenal

On September 19th, Connie Mehl, Gurveer Grewal, Matthew Joseph, and myself had the privilege to visit Picatinny Arsenal, a unique facility that provides support for all branches of the US military, to attend a presentation from the retiring FIRST president, Mr. Don Bossi. In his presentation, Mr. Don Bossi focused on the connection between the Department of Defense (DoD) and FIRST, showcasing how FIRST is creating the next wave of engineers to fill jobs in the US military. The leadership and soft skills taught in FIRST programs, as well as the exposure to STEM ideas, enable students to succeed in the work environment of the DoD. Mr. Don Bossi stressed that FIRST constantly tries to give back to the military, as the DoD has been a sponsor of FIRST and a multitude of FIRST teams for many years. From there, Mr. Don Bossi shared a story about a week that he spent with the military, experiencing the life of a service member in each of the five branches. He traveled across America, spending a little over a day with each branch and saw first hand their training and daily operations. Mr. Don Bossi cited this opportunity as instrumental in garnering his utmost respect for the men and women who serve this country.

After the presentation, we were given a tour of two machine shops on the base. The first building we visited was being renovated into a nanotechnology materials lab for the production of alloys used in a variety of different armor platings. We were shown a few CNC (Computer Numerical Control) mills and state of the art reaction chambers for making 3D printable metal dust. Next, we toured an additive manufacturing building, housing most notably industrial grade 3D metal printers. The machines can be used to make anything from detailed micro scale models to robust structural beams, all of which are incredibly strong, especially compared to parts made on the plastic 3D printers in our technology lab.

Nemesis is very grateful for Picatinny Arsenal’s invitation to witness Mr. Don Bossi’s presentation and a tour of their labs, as well as their generous donations and support.