DOW student competition winners get hands-on experience, mentorship at Army Research Laboratory
The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, known as DEVCOM, Army Research Laboratory is the Army’s sole fundamental research laboratory serving as the scientific nexus between the military, academia and industry. ARL executes globally recognized research to accelerate delivery of war-winning, disruptive technologies for tomorrow’s Army.
The Joint Hypersonics Transition Office is a U.S. Department of War organization that coordinates research, development, testing and transition of hypersonic technologies into operational military systems across the services, industry and academia. A major focus of the office is workforce development to build educational pipelines to expand the specialized hypersonics talent pool.
The 2026 Joint Hypersonics Transition Office/University Consortium for Applied Hypersonics Competition challenged undergraduate teams to design a low-altitude, controlled hypersonic vehicle, with top concepts advancing to real-world flight or wind tunnel tests. The winning teams this year who visited ARL were from the University of Alabama and Rutgers University.
“DEVCOM ARL is uniquely positioned to assist the mission of JHTO due to active hypersonics research conducted by scientists and engineers in specialized facilities,” said Dr. Frank Fresconi, Army senior research scientist for Ballistics Research at ARL.
At the laboratory’s ballistic firing ranges provided hands-on experience with the launch and hypersonic flight of test models, enabling students and researchers to study extreme aerothermodynamic environments and explore technologies such as thermal protection materials.
“This supports the mission of JHTO through mentoring by ARL staff and hands-on access to unique ARL ballistic firing range facilities to inspire the future workforce in hypersonics who may ultimately consider careers contributing to the Army science and technology mission,” Fresconi said.
During their time at the laboratory, the students toured ARL unique facilities and spent substantial one-on-one time with on-site subject matter experts and engineers.
“The operational tempo across the range was fantastic and the overall event was aresounding success, delivering both exceptional experimental data and a tremendous workforce development experience for everyone involved,” said Dr. Joseph Vasile, program manager for Massed Responsive Fires and the Hypersonics Flight lead for ARL.
“These exchanges offered valuable technical mentorship and directly sparked discussions regarding summer internship opportunities at ARL for participating students,” Vasile said.
The researchers added that throughout the entire lifecycle of the competition—from early fabrication constraint reviews to live-range operations—both cohorts impressed ARL staff with their technical rigor, curiosity and professionalism.
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DEVCOM ARL is the Army’s sole fundamental research laboratory serving as the nexus of sciencebetween the military, academia and industry. Operating under the U.S. Army Futures and Autonomous Systems Command, ARL executes globally recognized research to accelerate delivery of war-winning, disruptive technologies for tomorrow’s Army.
For information, visit [https://arl.devcom.army.mil/](https://arl.devcom.army.mil/).
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