By Mike Seper
The Midwest is refining the innovation process by bringing together academia and defense partners to solve national security challenges. Experiential learning opportunities are available to outstanding schools across the region with an educational infrastructure that supports engineering, innovation, and entrepreneurship students through intriguing interactions with national labs and defense technologies. Stimulating student excitement for dual-use innovations is more accessible when direct interactions with cutting-edge inventions and brilliant inventors create futuristic technologies to protect the United States.1. Retaining Talent in the Midwest to Develop National Security Solutions
Over fifty students from Midwestern universities participated in the NSIN X Force Fellowships for placements in labs, such as the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC) in Crane, Indiana. Faculty also participate from numerous schools to consult with Department of Defense customers to develop new collaborations with academic institutions benefiting from funding to advance research. Washington University, for example, receives $500,000 per year through the National Security Academic Accelerator (NSA2) to develop dual-use med-tech startups with defense applications and allows faculty researchers to focus on advancing technologies with this financial support, rather than the distraction of developing grant proposals.Dual-use technologies that can serve commercial and defense applications are hot in the Midwest. The momentum of millions invested in innovation ecosystems is growing with the new National Science Foundation I-Corps Great Lakes Hub selection announcement. The University of Michigan is leading this renowned program that offers experiential entrepreneurial training to academic researchers in STEM. Universities from Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa represent the Midwest to advance innovation on a national scale.
