College, high school cadets visit Information Directorate Published March 14, 2014 By 1st Lt. Gordon Lott Rome Laboratory WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- More than 130 college and high school ROTC students visited the Information Directorate (RI) in Rome, N.Y., to learn everything from cyber security, to war fighter computer technology, to quantum entanglement as part of RI's outreach program to encourage students to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) degrees. About 50 Air Force ROTC students from colleges all around central New York were the first to participate in what was dubbed "Lab Day" Feb. 28. ROTC Detachments from Cornell, Syracuse and Clarkson Universities as well as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute attended. On March 7, RI welcomed over 70 Junior ROTC cadets and supervisors from the Rome Free Academy High School. RI is one of the technical directorates within the Air Force Research Laboratory which is headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. RI is the Air Force's research organization for command, control, communications, cyber and intelligence technologies. Col. David Blanks, Rome Research Site commander, kicked off visits by briefing the visitors on RI's mission. Cadets then were divided into groups to visit some of the labs where they saw a Condor PlayStation 3 supercomputer, Android Tactical Assault Kit, small unmanned aerial vehicle operations, nanotechnology, and quantum computing demonstrations. Lab personnel also discussed the current state of cyber security with cadets. Following lunch, company grade officers in the science and engineering career fields held a panel discussion on job duties and career paths for cadets. CGOs were able to show the direct application of the hard work associated with STEM degrees to directly supporting the warfighter through research and innovation. The Company Grade Officers' Council created, organized, and led Lab Day. More than 20 RI personal contributed their time and effort to teach and inspire future Air Force scientists and engineers. According to Lt. Col. David Jurk, Air Force ROTC Det. 550 commander from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, "This was so much more than a base visit for the cadets. We would enjoy a repeat invitation to attend again."