Rapid Application of New Technologies
Rick Self - President, SCRA Applied R&D
Mr. Self oversees the strategic direction of SCRA Applied R&D, a $150M not-for-profit firm with the mission of minimizing the burden of government by helping industry, federal agencies and universities collaborate to rapidly commercialize applied research. SCRA Applied R&D-led consortia cover a broad spectrum of fields that includes automotive, aerospace, shipbuilding, ordnance, advanced materials, defense supply chains, interagency operations centers, signals intelligence, advanced manufacturing, and weapons system sustainment. Building multi-disciplinary teams from the private sector (Fortune 500 competitors to small businesses), federal agencies, and universities in the form of innovative business models is a prominent feature of these ventures.
Mr. Self's experience includes building and directing multinational research and development collaborations to develop and execute technology roadmaps. He advises government and industry on agile, non-traditional business models for public-private partnerships to aid in the customization of successful precedents to address challenges deemed appropriate for a collaborative business approach. He led the design and startup of R&D consortia in shipbuilding, ship design, copper technology, ISR and other areas. He served as Executive Director of a National Shipbuilding R&D Consortium from its 1999 inception through 2010. This public-private R&D consortium is jointly funded by industry, Navy PEOs and NAVSEA through an Other Transactions Agreement. He recently assisted the Ordnance enterprise in restructuring the Defense Ordnance Technology Consortium to adopt operational aspects of the Navy model.
Mr. Self has participated in defense studies with OSD, GAO, the National Research Council, the CNO Executive Panel, and a forum of industry CEOs and NAVSEA leadership. He has served as the Industrial Base advisor on the Navy League National Policy Committee since 2000 and testified before Congress on non-traditional business models for DoD partnership with industry. Earlier in his career, he directed a commercially-funded international data interoperability program, consulted extensively on a DARPA data fusion project, and led an international team on sensor design and testing. Before joining SCRA Applied R&D, he served as a nuclear attack submarine commander.
A 1977 Naval Academy graduate, Mr. Self holds an MBA, M.S. degrees in EE (signal processing) and Acoustics, and a B.S. in Physics. He completed executive education in Enterprise Knowledge Management (Harvard), Strategy Formulation (University of Chicago), Strategy Implementation (Wharton), Business Growth (Kellogg and Columbia), and Diversity Leadership (Furman). Mr. Self serves on the Board of Directors for the Forging Defense Manufacturing Consortium. He served on the Board of a small business that develops autonomous underwater vehicle systems for DoD and Intelligence Agencies until the company was acquired in 2009.
Mr. Self earned Navy designation as a specialist in Nuclear and Marine Engineering, Electronics Engineering (Signal Processing), Combat Systems Science and Technology, Acoustics, and Weapons System Acquisition. He was honored by the Naval Submarine League Lockwood Award for Submarine Professional Excellence, the Naval Sea Systems Award for Systems Engineering Excellence and the Navy Underwater Systems Center Award.