Dr. Barna served five years in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) as an Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (ADUSD) for Advanced Systems and Concepts. In that capacity, he supervised the development of emerging unconventional fuel resources for the US Department of Defense (DOD). Dr. Barna worked closely with other government and private entities to support and promote the production of non-petroleum based fuels.

ICRC has long been at the forefront of synthetic fuels research for the Federal government and was awarded the largest contract under the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Ultra-Clean Transportation Fuels Program.

Working with its partner Syntroleum, ICRC was the prime contractor under the DOE program, which funded the design, construction and initial operations of a small footprint plant that produces  Fischer-Tropsch (FT) diesel fuel from natural gas. For numerous government agencies, including the DOE, the Federal Transit Administration and the US Army, ICRC has evaluated the performance of FT fuels in a variety of diesel engines. ICRC is currently in the early stages of performing work related to the production of coal-to-liquids synthetic diesel.

Dr. Barna was the driving force in the Pentagon for promoting the benefits of domestically produced Fischer-Tropsch fuels to the military. Thanks to his efforts, DOD and, in particular, the Air Force, is examining the performance of ultra-clean fuels and is expected to certify the fuel in the coming years.

—Jim Lexo, president and CEO of ICRC

Alexandria, Virginia-based Integrated Concepts and Research Corporation (ICRC) is a subsidiary of Koniag Development Corporation, an Alaska Native Corporation. ICRC is a diversified technical and management services company that serves the government market.