James G. Kallimani

Senior Technical Analyst

Washington Office

Education

BS in aeronautical and astronautical engineering, Purdue University; MS in data analytics, Southern New Hampshire University

One Page Bio

Overview

James Kallimani (he/him) is a senior technical analyst at the RAND Corporation. He has an engineering and data analytics background, specializing in problem solving and creative thinking for public policy, national security, and government. Since joining RAND in 2005, he has performed projects for a number of clients including the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, U.S. Department of Defense, UK Ministry of Defence, Canadian Department of National Defence, Royal Australian Navy, and NASA. His analyses for these clients span a wide range, and include naval ship industrial base, cost and performance of military systems, combat systems, viability and utility of future systems, and organizational strategic planning. Kallimani worked with NASA on projects looking at mission risk, aeronautics testing demand, facility needs, and strategic planning. Kallimani has studied aircraft carriers in depth, performing analysis on forward presence, maintenance industrial base, new construction industrial base, and acquisition strategies. He has studied submarine construction and maintenance in the US, UK, and Australia, and has worked to identify the future shipbuilding and aircraft needs for the US, UK, Canada, and Australia.

Prior to joining RAND, Kallimani worked with NASA at the Johnson Space Center in Houston performing experiments to mathematically model the slosh effects of liquid fuel in zero-gravity. He has logged over 30 minutes of weightlessness while flying with NASA. Kallimani has studied methods to protect astronauts from the intense radiation that they would encounter on interplanetary flights between Earth and Mars, and studied improvements to methods for teaching engineering students.

Research Focus

Recent Projects

Assessing Aegis Program Transition to an Open-Architecture Model
Advancing Aeronautics: A Decision Framework for Selecting Research Agendas
Designing Australia’s Future Submarines: Challenges and Options for Domestic Design
Changing Aircraft Carrier Procurement Schedules
Assessing Department of Defense Use of Data Analytics to Improve Acquisition Outcomes

Honors & Awards

Silver Medal Merit Bonus Award, RAND
Impact Award for RSMD Contributions, RAND
Impact Award for Navy UAS Study, RAND

Publications

Report
Report on the Arctic Capabilities of the U.S. Armed Forces
This report summarizes the findings of research on U.S. and other armed forces' capabilities in the Arctic, the extent to which non-U.S. entities are operating where U.S. forces cannot, and how those operations might affect U.S. national interests.
Nov 1, 2023
Report
Assessing Department of Defense Use of Data Analytics and Enabling Data Management to Improve Acquisition Outcomes
Congress asked about acquisition data analytics in the Department of Defense. This report identifies and measures capabilities and recent progress. Barriers to improvement include a culture against data sharing due to security and burden concerns.
Aug 13, 2019
Research Brief
Assessing the Use of Data Analytics in Department of Defense Acquisition
This research brief addresses congressional concerns about the use of data analysis, measurement, and other evaluation-related methods in U.S. Department of Defense acquisition programs and decisionmaking.
Aug 13, 2019
Report
A Strategic Assessment of the Future of U.S. Navy Ship Maintenance: Challenges and Opportunities
This report assesses possible supply and demand capabilities in the ship maintenance workload for the U.S. Navy and notes long-term challenges facing mitigation efforts.
Sep 18, 2017
Report
Current and Future Challenges to Resourcing U.S. Navy Public Shipyards
To better understand recent trends at U.S. Navy public shipyards, RAND researchers explore how shipyard work is changing, whether more personnel are now required to perform it, and what risks shipyards may wish to address through additional hiring.
May 2, 2017
Report
Developing a Risk Assessment Methodology for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
This report provides a risk assessment methodology that integrates risk factors and risk management approaches tailored to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's management, operations, and acquisition structures.
Jun 29, 2016
Report
Expanding Flight Research: Capabilities, Needs, and Management Options for NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate
NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate asked RAND to assess flight research capabilities and needs, and to identify management options that would facilitate increased and improved flight research.
Jun 27, 2016
Report
Developing a Methodology for Risk-Informed Trade-Space Analysis in Acquisition
Through analysis of alternative courses of action and their effects on probability distributions estimated for performance, schedule, and cost, acquisition decisionmakers can understand the implications of certain risk-mitigating actions.
May 19, 2015
Report
Australia's Naval Shipbuilding Enterprise: Preparing for the 21st Century
RAND researchers explore the feasibility of Australia sustaining a domestic naval shipbuilding industry compared with buying ships from foreign shipbuilders. The authors outline the complex consequences and trade-offs of both options.
Apr 15, 2015
Report
Management Perspectives Pertaining to Root Cause Analyses of Nunn-McCurdy Breaches, Volume 4: Program Manager Tenure, Oversight of Acquisition Category II Programs, and Framing Assumptions
Concerned with cost overruns in programs that breached Nunn-McCurdy thresholds, Congress directed investigation of the root causes of these overruns, and the authors examine various possible contributors to these breaches.
Oct 3, 2013
Report
Assessing Aegis Program Transition to an Open-Architecture Model
To reduce costs and take advantage of commercial technology, the U.S. Navy is pursuing open-architecture software and other improvements to its Aegis combat system. This report examines the potential benefits and challenges of this new approach.
May 3, 2013
Research Brief
Australia's Domestic Submarine Design Capabilities: Options for the Future Submarine
To design a new naval submarine domestically, Australia's industry and Government will need about 1,000 skilled draftsmen and engineers. Cultivating this workforce could take 15-20 years; partnering with foreign designers could expedite the process.
Dec 22, 2011
Report
Australia's Submarine Design Capabilities and Capacities: Challenges and Options for the Future Submarine
Assesses the domestic engineering and design skills that Australian industry and government will need to design a new submarine, identifies the skills they currently possess, and evaluates how best to fill any gaps between the two.
Dec 15, 2011
Report
Root Cause Analyses of Nunn-McCurdy Breaches, Volume 1: Zumwalt-Class Destroyer, Joint Strike Fighter, Longbow Apache, and Wideband Global Satellite
Congressional concern with cost overruns in some major defense acquisition programs led to an investigation of root causes by examining program reviews, analyzing data, participating in contractor briefings, and holding meetings with stakeholders.
Nov 7, 2011
Report
Changing Aircraft Carrier Procurement Schedules: Effects That a Five-Year Procurement Cycle Would Have on Cost, Availability, and Shipyard Manpower and Workload
Proposed changes to the Navy's aircraft carrier acquisition program will have little impact in the short term. Later, the force structure and the probability of meeting deployment goals shrink, along with the Navy's ability to grow the fleet.
Mar 21, 2011
Report
Advancing Aeronautics: A Decision Framework for Selecting Research Agendas
Develops a unified decisionmaking approach for selecting aeronautics research agendas that quantifies the social and economic reasons for the research, balances competing perspectives, and enables transparent explanation of the resulting decisions.
Feb 17, 2011
Report
Sustaining Key Skills in the UK Military Aircraft Industry
This monograph reports on RAND Europe's support to the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence's Fixed Wing Sector Strategy Board towards development of a strategy and sustainment plan for the military fixed wing sector.
Jan 31, 2011
Research Brief
Sustaining Key Skills in the United Kingdom's Military Aircraft Industry
The UK currently has the industrial skills needed to develop, produce and maintain its military aircraft, but predicted future demand for design engineering activity is insufficient to sustain a number of key skills beyond the 2010-2019 decade.
Jan 31, 2011
Report
Applications for Navy Unmanned Aircraft Systems
Evaluates the U.S. Navy's ongoing and proposed unmanned aircraft system (UAS) programs and describes the most promising applications of those UASs to the Navy's operational tasks.
Jun 8, 2010
Report
DDG-51 Engineering Training: How Simulators Can Help
Increased use of training simulators could improve engineering watchstanders' proficiency before Navy destroyers go to sea, saving money and reserving time at sea for refined training.
May 13, 2009
Report
An Update of the Nation's Long-Term Strategic Needs for NASA's Aeronautics Test Facilities
The ability to develop aeronautical vehicles continues to rely on the capabilities of large government test facilities, and 26 NASA facilities continue to serve those needs, but national reliance and consolidation remains the next opportunity.
2009
Report
U.S. Navy Shipyards: An Evaluation of Workload- and Workforce-Management Practices
RAND examines how best to manage the multibillion-dollar annual workload of public shipyards, including alternative workload allocations, options to decrease overtime levels and hedge against workload growth, and other potential U.S. Navy strategies.
Dec 8, 2008
Report
Sustaining Key Skills in the UK Naval Industry
Building on prior RAND research, this monograph explores the need for and retention of technical skills in the UK's naval industrial base, particularly among designers and engineers involved with surface ship and submarine acquisition and support.
Apr 12, 2008
Research Brief
Aircraft Carrier Maintenance Cycles and Their Effects
This research brief summarizes RAND's analysis of the feasibility of different cycle lengths and their effect on the operational availability of Nimitz-class aircraft carriers. The authors also examine cycle length impact on shipyard workloads.
Apr 8, 2008
Report
Increasing Aircraft Carrier Forward Presence: Changing the Length of the Maintenance Cycle
Evaluating multiple one- and two-deployment scenarios, RAND examines the feasibility of different cycle lengths, their effect on Nimitz-class aircraft carrier forward presence, and their impact on shipyard workloads.
Mar 17, 2008
Report
A Methodology for Estimating the Effect of Aircraft Carrier Operational Cycles on the Maintenance Industrial Base
Describes modeling the extension of time between depot maintenance, varying the size of work packages, and using continuous-maintenance on the maintenance industrial base, and the effect of cycle length on operational availability.
Jul 29, 2007