The Problem solvers: Navy researchers push the envelope of science and technology

摘要

At the beginning of each fiscal year, the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), the Navy's sprawling in-house corporate research facility in Washington, has a commitment to meet a $350 million payroll for the year, but no money from Congress to cover it. As a Navy working capital fund activity, the 85-year-old NRL does not operate directly on a budget appropriated each year by Congress. It relies on funding provided by its customers, primarily the Navy and Marine Corps, as well as a host of other federal agencies, universities and organizations, for each science and technology (S&T) research project it takes on. NRLs customers provided slightly more than $1 billion for research during fiscal 2007.