Stargates

Aret Associates is an advanced science and engineering company that provides solutions for various technical problems faced by defense and intelligence agencies in the United States. The employee-owned company designs physics-based algorithms for the tracking, detection and identification of weak signals in heavy clutter situations. It employs more than 300 staff members in several locations. Aret Associates specializes in technology development solutions for the defense and intelligence sectors. The company offers field testing and image exploitation services. It also develops active and passive electro-optical sensors. Aret Associates operates an optical engineering division that maintains a production facility that has achieved ISO 9001:2000 certification.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a worldwide defense company. The company provides an array of products, services and solutions for the systems integration, defense electronics, information technology, advanced aircraft, shipbuilding and space technology markets. Its Newport News sector designs, builds and refuels nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines. The company also performs services for a variety of naval and commercial vessels. The company operates in more than 25 countries throughout the world. It employs a staff of more than 125,000 employees in nearly 10 business divisions. Ronald D. Sugar has been the chief executive officer of Northrop Grumman for more than three years. He has been with the aerospace and defense systems company for over six years. Sugar earned bachelor's and doctorate degrees at the University of California-Los Angeles. Northrop Grumman Corporation primarily serves the international military, government and commercial industries. Northrop Grumman Corporation is headquartered in Los Angeles.

The National Academy of Sciences was signed into being by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, at the height of the Civil War. The Academy is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research that is dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. The National Academy of Sciences is governed by a council comprised of 12 members and five officers elected from among its membership. The council is responsible to the membership for the activities undertaken by the organization and for the corporate management of the National Academy of Sciences. The Academy membership is comprised of approximately 2,000 members and nearly 350 foreign associates, of whom more than 190 have won Nobel Prizes.