HOUGHTON – Building on over 10 years of successful industry experience, it was announced today that GS Engineering Inc. was awarded a multi‐year program by the Department of the Navy--Office of Naval Research, in support of the Marine  Corps to further develop Mine Roller Technology under the Rapid Innovation Funding Program (RIF). This program will insert technology that will increase threat‐neutralization effectiveness of the current mine roller systems. This technology insertion will allow significantly faster host vehicle speeds and improved convoy security for our warfighters.   
 
GS Engineering based its proposal upon Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) technology that was developed during GS Engineering’s SBIR efforts over the past years. The vast majority of the effort will be completed by GS Engineering engineers and test staff at GS Engineering’s corporate facility in Houghton as well as GS Engineering purpose built test facility. This award compliments the Green Forces Initiative that GS Engineering is heavily involved with by supporting Upper Peninsula business growth through direct defense related activities. 
 
Upon a successful technology demonstration, this award will allow for follow on production of the design improvements by GS Engineering. GS Engineering team members will build on previous efforts while evolving the technology to be cost‐effective and durable, thus allowing for an increased improvement in IED defeat technology in a logistically feasible solution. This program will leverage all aspects of GS Engineering’s core business, including Mechanical Design & Analysis (CAD‐CAE‐FEA), Advanced Materials, Prototype Building, and Testing – Validation. 
 
This effort is one of several recent awards for GS Engineering, including a new Phase I SBIR effort from the US Marine Corps in support of wheeled vehicle mobility. Chris Coxon, Vice President of GS Engineering, was quoted saying “our recent direct defense work, along with our organizations technical growth in advanced product development, continues to result in our success, and I look forward to everyone at GS Engineering truly demonstrating their capabilities to the Marine Corps.”