ACADEMIA

SGI today announced that its Technology Solutions Organization is collaborating with the U.S. Army Battle Command Battle Laboratory at Fort Huachuca, AZ, to develop promising technology that is expected to significantly enhance the U.S. military's abilities to locate and identify underground structures. Under the Subterranean Target Identification (STI) program, they will help the Battle Command Battle Lab develop a much-needed prototype capability to identify and characterize underground facilities through the use of advanced sensing and data processing capabilities. Working with the Battle Lab and leading software providers, SGI expects to develop cutting-edge military technology for the advanced acquisition, processing and analysis of land surface seismic data based on its proven solutions for the energy industry, which widely uses SGI visualization and compute technology to help discover new oil and gas supplies far beneath the earth's surface. Major oil and gas companies rely on SGI solutions to analyze large volumes of complex scientific and engineering data in order to confidently identify and develop onshore and offshore oil and gas prospects. Under the STI program, SGI will leverage the same expertise that has allowed oil and gas companies to achieve dramatic time and cost savings for their underground drilling activities by providing highly accurate and detailed seismic analysis to the U.S. military for locating and identifying subterranean structures. "Programs like STI are critical to our national security. This R&D effort at Fort Huachuca directly supports our military in its fight against global terrorism," said U.S. Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona. "By leveraging the latest advanced sensing and data processing capabilities, Fort Huachuca and SGI can develop technologies that are much more effective in identifying underground facilities, posing less risk to our military men and women." Caves burrowed into mountainsides and subterranean concrete bunkers often serve as underground havens for housing command centers and ammunition depots. Because they are buried underground, they are often difficult for the U.S. military to find. To help address this problem, Congress appropriated monies in the Fiscal 2005 Defense Appropriations Act to fund the STI program at Fort Huachuca to better identify underground facilities. Under the STI program, the Battle Command Battle Lab and SGI will also work closely with the DoD Thunder Mountain Evaluation Center at Fort Huachuca to endorse the development of promising technology that is expected to significantly enhance the U.S. military's abilities to locate and characterize underground structures.