Event Detail Information

Abstract: In his talk, Dr. Tripsas will discuss what a career in government consulting is like, how organizations such as the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) make use of the knowledge and research skills their analysts develop during their doctoral work, and their relationships with the government labs.

Bio: Dr. Tripsas earned both his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in physics from the University of Illinois. He performed his dissertation research in particle physics under Gary Gladding as a member of the Mark III Collaboration at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. After receiving his Ph.D. in 1988 Dr. Tripsas began work at the Center for Naval Analyses: a Federally Funded Research & Development Center that performs operational analyses for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps as well as for other governmental agencies such as the FAA. Although Dr. Tripsas has worked on studies that cover a wide variety of topics, the focus of his work has been assessments of the operational utility of research and development projects sponsored by the Office of Naval Research, the Naval Research Laboratory, and DARPA. These projects include hypersonic weapons for rapid response strikes, electromagnetic railguns for ship self-defense and fire support, and various laser systems for anti-air defense. CNA’s analysts spend a portion of their career on field assignments where they work directly for Navy and Marine Corps commands to provide them with immediate analytical support. Dr. Tripsas has had field assignments with two aircraft carrier battle group staffs as well as with a destroyer squadron that assessed new systems and tactics for anti-submarine warfare. He has also had assignments in the Pentagon with the staff of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations.