Fubini Award Honors Longtime Defense Science Board Member

By Terri Moon Cronk

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10, 2014 – Defense Undersecretary for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Frank Kendall presented the coveted 2014 Eugene G. Fubini Award to longtime Defense Science Board member Robert Stein in a Pentagon ceremony today.

Since 1996, the Fubini Award has recognized an individual from the private sector who made highly significant advisory contributions to the Defense Department over a sustained period of time, Pentagon officials said.

Stein, of Boston, said he was surprised and humbled when he learned he would receive the Fubini Award, noting that he knew award namesake Gene Fubini and many awardees.

“It’s really humbling to me to be associated with that crowd of people,” Stein said of the honor.

Stein retired from Raytheon Co. in 2000, and now serves as an adviser for Lincoln Laboratories. He also is a previous member of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency Advisory Committee.

Under Raytheon, Stein developed advanced systems and concepts for the company’s existing and future government product lines – including modern missiles, radar, electro-optical sensors, integrated systems and associated technologies.

Awardee Had Major Security Impacts

As a key member of many DoD studies, Stein’s advisory work had major impact in defining future national security systems, technology and policy directions.

Affiliated with DSB studies for 25 years, Stein was part of a team that defined advanced air-directed surface-to-air missile architecture concepts.

His system analysis and recommendations influenced the development of the Joint Land-Attack Elevated Netted Sensor program, which is now a part of several new programs for wide-area defense against low-flying targets, including the Enhanced Regional Surveillance Architecture program for the defense of the National Capital Region, officials said.

Work Integral to DARPA

As a former member of the DSB task force on investment strategy for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in 1999, Stein was a key figure in recommending that DARPA invest in affordable standoff precision-target engagement systems. That effort also led to related DARPA programs and other task force recommendations that greatly influenced the DARPA system and technology investment portfolio, officials noted.

Stein also served as co-chair of the DSB task force on improvised explosive devices in 2006, where he led a methodical effects-chain analysis of several IED approaches, and highlighted the need for improved intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems to detect new IED-related signatures.

The task force later influenced areas of emphasis for the Joint IED Defeat Organization, officials added.

Stein was co-chair of an extended DSB Summer Study on Electronic Warfare in 2013, a study in which he assembled a membership that included much of the top electronic warfare talent from across the nation.

The study highlighted areas that were clear near-term needs for enhancing U.S. electronic attack and electronic protection systems. The study also recommended organizational structures to better lead the development of new electronic warfare systems in a more rapid and effective way, officials said.

Served as Missile Defense Adviser

Stein additionally supported activities across DoD for the Mitre Corp., and the Missile Defense Agency.

He has been a principal speaker, panel member and session chairman at numerous national, European and Asian symposia on air and missile defense, the impact of advanced technology on the evolving security environment, the interplay between defense and commercial technology, the military use of space and the role of system engineering and operations analysis in support of military programs, officials said.

Of Stein’s many accomplishments in the defense arena, it is his affiliation with DSB of which he says he is most proud.

“I have an abiding respect for [DSB],” Stein said. “It’s a phenomenal institution that deals with very difficult problems that cross technology, culture, bureaucracy and all kinds of issues.”