Analysis of other transaction agreements to acquire innovative renewable energy solutions for the Department of the Navy

MBA Professional ReportThe purpose of this project is to use a case-study approach to analyze the effectiveness and efficiency of other transaction (OT) agreements and the OT Consortium Model to acquire innovative renewable energy solutions. OTs are typically used for prototypes; however, the fiscal year (FY) 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) expands the use of OT authority per statute 10 U.S.C. § 2371. Our research includes interviews with Defense Innovative Unit–Experimental personnel to highlight their experience with innovative businesses previously reluctant to pursue federal contracts. Additionally, our research leverages best practices from the Army Contracting Command–New Jersey, as well as industry partners, such as the Consortium for Energy, Environment, and Demilitarization and the National Security Technology Accelerator consortium, to compile recommendations for the Department of the Navy's acquisition strategy for renewable energy. The results of this case study include recommendations on the best use of OT agreements to drive innovation into the procurement of renewable energy solutions in accordance with Better Buying Power 3.0 initiatives.http://archive.org/details/analysisofothert1094551627Lieutenant Commander, United States NavyLieutenant Commander, United States NavyLieutenant, United States NavyApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

High-precision Dynamical Masses of Pre-main-sequence Stars with ALMA and Gaia

The Keplerian rotation in protoplanetary disks can be used to robustly measure stellar masses at very high precision if the source distance is known. We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of spatially and spectrally resolved (CO)-C-12 (2-1) emission toward the disks around 2MASS J16262774-2527247 (the tertiary companion to ROXs 12 at 5100 au), CT Cha, and DH Tau. We employ detailed modeling of the Keplerian rotation profile, coupled with accurate distances from Gaia, to directly measure the stellar masses with similar to 2% precision. We also compare these direct mass measurements with the masses inferred from evolutionary models, determined in a statistically rigorous way. We find that 2MASS J16262774-2527247 has a mass of 0.535(-)(0.007)(+0.006) M-circle dot and CT Cha has a mass of 0.796(-0.014)(+0.015) M-circle dot, broadly consistent with evolutionary models, although potentially significant differences remain. DH Tau has a mass of 0.101(-0.003)(+0.004) M-circle dot, but it suffers from strong foreground absorption that may affect our mass estimate. The combination of ALMA, Gaia, and codes like pdspy, presented here, can be used to infer the dynamical masses for large samples of young stars and substellar objects, and place constraints on evolutionary models.Heising-Simons Foundation; Homer L. Dodge Endowed Chair; National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship [2012115762]; NSF AAG grant [1311910]; NASA's Science Mission DirectorateThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]