Edited by: John A. Parmentola and A.M. Rajendran

The 25th Army Science Conference (the 25th ASC) was held November 27-30, 2006, in Orlando, Florida under the auspices of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology. This silver anniversary conference celebrated 50

The 25th Army Science Conference (the 25th ASC) was held November 27-30, 2006, in Orlando, Florida under the auspices of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology. This silver anniversary conference celebrated 50 years of U.S. Army sponsorship of innovative S&T for our Soldiers and marked a significant milestone for the U.S. Army S&T community. The theme for the 25th ASC was Transformational Army Science and Technology -- Charting the future of S&T for the Soldier. Plenary speakers, oral and poster presenters and exhibitors focused their presentations on this theme, emphasizing the importance of the S&T community in providing unmatched capabilities for the Soldier, in the present and well out into the future. General Richard A. Cody, Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, in a letter to 25th ASC attendees, echoed this theme when he said, “Our emerging technological innovations must provide the strategic advantages our Soldiers need to always stay one step ahead in today’s dangerous environment. The Army is looking to its scientists and engineers to continue to direct their talents and energies in support of the Soldier.” The 25th ASC also hosted seven (7) Nobel Prize winners in either physics or chemistry, six (6) of whom performed their prize winning research under U.S. Army sponsorship. All of the Nobel Laureates spoke at the conference and several reiterated the importance and great benefit gained as a result of U.S. Army support of scientific research. 
Since its inception, the ASC has grown from a small gathering of U.S. Army scientists and engineers to an international event attended by approximately 1600 people from more than 25 countries. Additionally, scientists and engineers from the U.S. and foreign governments, industry and academia submitted 900 abstracts of scientific papers for presentation at the conference. From these 900 submissions, 80 abstracts – five each in one of sixteen technical categories – were selected for oral presentation; 72 of these papers are included in this volume. Also, winners of the 2005 and 2006 Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS) were invited to present their winning papers at the 25th ASC; seven took the opportunity to do so; two of the seven JSHS presentations are included in this volume.
Authors of the most outstanding technical papers presented at the conference received special recognition and awards at a banquet on the final evening of the conference. For this 25th anniversary conference, we initiated an International Collaboration Award that was presented to the group of authors whose work was deemed to be the most outstanding collaborative research effort between U.S. Army and foreign scientists and that expanded and enhanced the U.S. Army’s research and technology program while benefiting the scientific interests of the collaborating foreign scientists.
Major General Roger Nadeau, Commanding General of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, presented the 25th ASC International Collaboration Award and Best Paper Awards. Best Papers were selected based on originality of the subject matter, logical organization, clarity and conciseness, technical merit, and significance to the U.S. Army. Additionally, three papers were judged by scientific peers as representing the highest quality research presented at the conference. Authors of two of these papers received bronze medallions, while the author(s) of the paper judged as the overall best received the prestigious Paul A. Siple Memorial Award.

Hardcover. 680 pages. © 2008. ISBN-10: 0-9717880-8-1; ISBN-13: 978-0-9717880-8-4.