UC San Diego has been awarded a five-year $12.85 million grant to develop a Naval Innovation, Science and Engineering Center (NISEC) program funded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR). The program aims to target areas of naval advancement and national security while building and refining an innovation-ready workforce.
Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation
UC San Diego
“UC San Diego is known as a global leader in research and innovation, but I don’t think there has been enough recognition of how our researchers are working to improve and address national security issues,” Vice Chancellor for Research Dr. Corinne Peek-Asa, PhD said. “This partnership addresses naval research challenges and the very real need to expand the national security workforce…This is a win for our campus, a win for our region and, frankly, a win for the nation.”
In addition to funding new and emerging research (including 10 or more doctoral-level projects at any given time), the grant will be put toward student entrepreneurship – arming students with the tools and mentorship needed to turn lab studies into commercially viable products and services.
“This project leverages our existing strengths in research and innovation, bringing them together in a way that addresses naval research challenges and builds the national security workforce,” added Dr. Peek-Asa. “It really is a win-win for our campus, and a model that we want to build on over time. We will also use this as a catalyst to support campus relationships with local and national defense agencies.”
Three Areas of Research Targeted
Proposed NISEC program projects aim to target three prime areas of research, including autonomous naval platforms, integrative environmental-platform modeling and materials/energy resilience under climate predictions.
“[These areas] are opportunities in which the transition of research to innovation (meaning practical, useful technology and tools) has a high potential. The goal is to generate real-world solutions, not theoretical,” added Dr. Peek-Asa. “It also goes without question that there is a strong and ever-present need to expand talent in national labs and defense industry to maximize national competitiveness, particularly in the areas NISEC chooses to specialize in.”
She added that the university’s strengths in climate modeling and weather prediction can advance the U.S. Navy’s energy resilience. Meanwhile, its strengths in both ocean modeling (on the scale of tens of miles) and underwater robotics (on the scale of tens of meters) create new capabilities for operating underwater vehicles and advancing the understanding of their detectability.
Program Officer
Office of Naval Research Sea Warfare and Weapons
“Current technological needs of the Navy demand integration of leading-edge basic research with training optimized for future careers in the national labs and the defense complex,” said Mark Spector, program officer at the Office of Naval Research Sea Warfare and Weapons. “Adding innovation education and internships with Navy’s research centers to conventional doctoral research enlarges the nation’s workforce pipeline needed to maintain advantage in the area of defense technology.”
A key component of the commercialization and workforce development area of focus will be UC San Diego’s Innovating for National Security (i4NS), a quarter-long program that teams U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) leaders with students to collaborate and develop innovative solutions to pressing national security problems. Since 2020, 116 students have gone through the program. According to the university, 30 students enrolled in this fall quarter in the i4NS, including ONR-funded students. Notably, all the alumni have reportedly sought out San Diego-area career paths centered around national security.
Associate Vice Chancellor for Innovation and Commercialization
UC San Diego
“Most students don’t necessarily think of San Diego as a powerhouse of research – developing technologies relevant to the military – or consider national security as a viable career path,” said UCSD Associate Vice Chancellor of Innovation and Commercialization Dr. Paul Roben, PhD. “This funding will help expose more students to the massive national security opportunities available here, particularly in life sciences and technology, which are not what most usually associate with the Department of Defense.”
UC San Diego
FOUNDED: 1960
CHANCELLOR: Pradeep Khosla
FACULTY: 3,085
WEBSITE: ucsd.edu
NOTABLE: UC San Diego was ranked third among the nation’s top public colleges, according to the Forbes 2022 list of America’s Top Colleges. UC San Diego was No. 17 out of the complete list of close to 500 four-year private and public colleges in the country.
