Energetics Technology Center Is Well-Established in Charles County’s Western Tech Corridor

Tech businesses, especially those working with energetics, are relocating to the Western Charles Technology Corridor to be near the Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division (NSWC IHD) and to be a part of the energetics renaissance taking place there. The Energetics Technology Center (ETC)  was actually the first business of its kind to relocate in the Town of Indian Head in 2017. ETC provides engineering and data analytics services, policy development, and technology development to government, academia, and private industry. 

ETC was launched in late 2006 in Waldorf, Maryland, in partnership with the Center for Energetics Concepts Development (CECD) at the University of Maryland. Their early work focused on energetics-related research and engineering projects in collaboration with the CECD and the NSWC IHD. As ETC grew, their work moved into adjacent fields, such as robotics, autonomous systems, and literature-based discovery. ETC’s current energetics initiatives focus on artificial intelligence and machine-discovery of next generation energetic materials and critical material network analysis in support of the National Energetics Enterprise.

A Move to Indian Head

Matt Martin, ETC’s Executive VP/CFO said, “Back in 2017, there was a push to revitalize Indian Head and bring people here. ETC was the first company to say, ‘we’re going to uproot and move to Indian Head.’ There was no space at the time, so we took the second floor of the Black Box Theatre. It was a less-than-ideal space, but it was the commitment necessary to be in Indian Head and start this process.” In 2020, ETC upgraded to a 3,000-foot space next to the CSM Velocity Center. 

In reference to the town’s revitalization, Martin said, “It has taken awhile—revitalization doesn’t occur overnight—but we’re seeing the benefits of that. The streetscape down here at the bottom of the hill looks a ton different, and the top of the hill is looking different too. And, it will look even more different once Oasis Fresh Foods Market is completed and ETC is able to announce a new Town revitalization project.”

Helping Revitalize the Community

ETC’s FastFORWARD initiative was launched a couple years ago to support the NSWC IHD and revitalize the Town of Indian Head in various ways. Indian Head FastFORWARD is an initiative to cultivate the energetics science and technology ecosystem.

Martin said, “ETC’s goal in Indian Head is to create a fully functioning energetics ecosystem to support the activity behind the gate at Indian Head, such as the Navy’s Energetics Comprehensive Modernization Plan. Things like office space in town are important things that support the base. So are places for people to live and play. It might sound like those are not energetics-related, but if you don’t have those things, you can’t attract and retain the people and companies that are necessary to support the base. Our FastFORWARD program works on all the related activity that not only supports the base, but also the quality of life for the employees and residents of the area.”

STEM Education

ETC also supports STEM education. One-quarter of computer science jobs in the Department of Defense go chronically unfilled, and the existing national shortage of computer science talent is expected to increase. For our nation’s security, it is imperative to develop local science and engineering talent. ETC helps create sustainable science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) ecosystems that support rapid delivery of proven curricula, particularly in underserved communities.

ETC makes the following programs available to Charles County (and surrounding area) youth, ages 8-18, in the form of after-school, summer, and internship programs, and apprenticeships for college students.

• RoboMasterminds
Funded by the National Defense Education Program, RoboMasterminds is an after-school, summer, and internship program for students ages 8-18 and college undergraduates that builds age-appropriate technical skills in robotics, programming, and engineering.  ETC currently operates this program two days a week with the Boys and Girls Club located in Indian Head with no cost to the Boys and Girls club or the participants.

• NETAP
The Naval Energetics Technology Apprenticeship Program (NETAP) provides rising high school juniors and seniors an internship to develop critical thinking, problem-solving and engineering skills.
• ETC TechTerns
ETC manages several internship programs that create opportunities for high school and undergraduate students to perform real work in their field of interest. ETC’s interns are teamed with ETC employees who provide technical and professional mentoring. 
• AEOP GEMS
Get the details on these and other STEM education opportunities here.

A Part of the Western Technology Corridor

ETC welcomes all businesses joining them in the Western Technology Corridor, an area spanning from the town of Bryans Road to Indian Head via Maryland Route 210. They support the rezoning of the land around the Maryland Airport in Bryans Road as a way to support jobs, the naval base, and the tech corridor as a whole. Speaking on the NSWC IHD’s recently announced Modernization Plan, ETC’s Deputy Program Manager, Brandon Paulin said, “We’re doing all we can to make sure that outside the gate is ready. ETC is a proud partner of everything that’s going on there [on the naval base] but also committed to helping our community outside the gate.”