Company: DRC
Company Description: Founded in 1955, DRC® provides innovative management consulting, science, engineering, and information technology solutions to government customers. We support our customers in the primary mission areas of Cyber Security, Information Assurance, Health, Homeland Security, Intelligence, Financial and Regulatory Reform, and Priority Defense Programs. DRC improves the health and welfare of Americans.
Nomination Category: Information Technology Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Technical Professional of the Year

Nomination Title: Douglas Grosvenor Deploys Cloud In Afghanistan

Tell the story about what this nominee achieved since January 1 2011 (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

In August 2011, Doug Grosvenor, systems integrator with DRC, worked with the Army to build and deploy a cloud-based intelligence system, the Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS-A) and Secret Internet Protocol Router (SIPR) cloud solution. Grosvenor played a key role in integrating and deploying DCGS-A, the Army’s first cloud designed to deliver advanced intelligence analysis in support of the Army's mission and Warfighter operations. Normally, this work is carried out from the comfort of an office, but Douglas became the first DRC employee to be deployed into an active warzone: Afghanistan.

Before DCGS-A, the Army struggled to access large amounts of data in remote areas. Army computing platforms were faced with the challenges of extracting useful information from peta-bytes of information. Each cloud can store half of the information housed in all of America’s academic libraries. Imagine trying to find a useful piece of data among all of that information. Because of Grosvenor's work on the DCGS-A, warfighters in the field can use their laptops with a customized user interface to create a detailed analysis of peta-bytes of data across a secure network. They can use the information for missions ranging from entering a village to capturing an enemy leader. The solution provides infrastructure, platform, and software as a service for Army operations that protect the lives of our troops and the people they are pledged to defend.

For this vital solution, Grosvenor has
(a) deployed and implemented software across 200+ machines located in the States and overseas,
(b) supported the operational staff in Afghanistan by diagnosing and fixing problems
(c) integrated custom, as well as third-party software, into the cloud,
(d) and ensured a strong relationship with multiple companies to help the program succeed (Grosvenor worked with the Army and 6 other companies, successfully navigating the logistics and cultures of so many organizations).

Grosvenor’s work on the DCGS-A spans across the US and Afghanistan time zones making for long work days that stretch around the clock. His dedication demonstrates how he goes above and beyond his core responsibilities. His innovative ideas have led to the development of new technology to better meet the Army's intelligence needs.

Grosvenor’s work has helped create infrastructure and intelligence analytics that have laid the foundation for future adoption by forward-deployed analysts. The deployment included the installation and configuration of the following cloud technologies: Hadoop, CloudBase, Zookeeper, Katta, Condor, and Cassandra. He updated the existing configuration to achieve evolving system performance requirements, and he configured and executed integration testing. He designed and developed scripts to aid with deployment needs. He designed and developed software policies to deploy the cloud in a given order, and he tested the deployment to make sure the software was deployed correctly. During a six-week deployment in Afghanistan, he worked closely with the client and came back with more requirements to ensure the success of the system—putting more powerful and useful computing in the hands of our warfighters.

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Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the nominee:

Douglas joined High Performance Technologies, Inc., a DRC company, in 2009 straight from college. He has quickly risen to become an expert in his field. In addition to his responsibilities under the DCGS-A contract, Grosvenor is currently working on a Master’s in Computer Science and is active in corporate activities including; community service, college recruiting, and developing and supporting initiatives to enhance DRC's employee programs. His efforts were recognized with the company’s Employee of the Year Award in 2011.