Charles River Analytics Inc, developer of intelligent systems solutions, has announced a contract to conduct a program of study for the US Navy to improve talent management—the training of individuals and staffing of Navy positions, or billets. The follow-on contract for Crowdsourced Acquisition of Models of Learning Transfer Strategies, or CRAM-LESS, is valued close to $750,000 over a two-year period, with an option for an additional $1.25 million. Charles River is leading a team that includes Professors Frank Ritter and Rick Jacobs of the Pennsylvania State University.

Navy talent management must evolve to keep pace with the demands of new technology, battlefields, and enemy tactics in the face of budget reductions. It must fully use the existing skills of Navy personnel, and optimize the detailing and subsequent training of personnel to reduce costs and maximize job effectiveness. The understanding of skill transfer is key to talent management, and requires understanding which skills can transfer between positions, the training needed to transfer, and which training is unnecessary.

“The Navy assigns tens of thousands of new positions each month as Sailors join, transfer, and are promoted,” said Dr. James Niehaus, Senior Scientist at Charles River. “CRAM-LESS provides automated support to tackle this massive and complex task to provide the Fleet with the right person in the right place at the right time, saving manpower costs and improving Fleet readiness.”

CRAM-LESS is one of Charles River’s efforts in intelligent tutoring, which focuses education and training experiences on individual differences and instructional needs. Other efforts include:

MAGPIE – an adaptive game-based environment for powerful, personalized training

VMT – a virtual maintenance trainer for UH-72A helicopters

Trains of Thought – an interactive game for teaching STEM and entrepreneurship skills

This material is based upon work supported by the Office of Naval Research under Contract No. N68335-17-C-0150. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Navy.