Defense Innovation Fund

Started in 2016, the Defense Innovation Fund (DIF) supports early-stage research and development projects at NPS that focus on improving national security, increasing warfighting capabilities, and addressing military inefficiencies.

DIF moves projects from concept to completion by providing the initial capital necessary to develop these research projects to the point where federal spending becomes available to fully implement the initiatives. Several projects have already reached this goal and are making immediate improvements in the Department of Defense. Without the support of donors through the Defense Innovation Fund, these projects may never have been developed.

If you want to make a tangible difference in our nation’s security, this is the way to do it. By helping to fund early-stage projects, ideas from some of our nation’s brightest military members are transformed into national improvements in the Department of Defense.
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In February 2022, the NPS Foundation invested $625,000 in defense research projects and NPS facility enhancement to support national security, including: $200,000 to support upgrading the current Mach 4 wind tunnel in the NPS Gas Dynamics Laboratory to allow for testing at true hypersonic speeds of Mach 5+ and $175,000 to support research for inverting the command and control (C2) pyramid for large-scale unmanned aerial system (UAS) experimentation and education among other projects. Five of the projects that received funding began as Seed projects in July 2021, receiving $10,000 each for initial research development.

Seed Program

Our Seed Program uses a venture capital model to support early-stage research projects that originate from boots-on-the-ground experiences unique to service members. When we add private funding to these students’ unique perspectives, intelligence, and work ethics, big things happen. First, we identify seed projects to fund. If the initial research is promising, these seeds can advance to become "seedlings" and receive additional funding. Many of these projects go on to create tangible improvements in the Department of Defense, directly impacting our national security. Supported by the Defense Innovation Fund, the program allows NPS students to partner with professors to turn ideas into action by pitching their plans to a panel to advance through all three phases:

Phase One

Open call for research proposals

Phase Two

Selected projects receive $10,000 each to develop a detailed plan

Phase Three

Selected projects receive additional funding to complete research

2022 Seed Projects Include:

Pseudo Random Number Generator
Turbulent Wake Detection
Inverting the C2 Pyramid
Sonobuoy Launched UAV Solar Edition

More About Our 2022 Seed Projects

2021 Seed Projects Include:

Athena "A Naval Education Enterprise Collaborative Research Tool"
Identification of Adversarial Submersibles using Thermal Signatures
An Electric Dynamometer Turbine Test Facility
Preliminary Design of a Hypersonics Continuous Flow Wind Tunnel with Mach 5+ Capability
Swarm Fire Program
Inverting the C2 Pyramid for Large Scale UAS Experimentation and Education
An Improved Decimation-based Secure Pseudorandom Number Generator
A Low-cost Design for Extending the Endurance, Range and Capability of the Sonobuoy-Tube Launched UAV (SL-UAV)
Monterey Bay: A “Geophysical Laboratory” for Improving Coastal Environment Prediction
Automating Detection of Ice for the US National/Naval Ice Center using AI Applied to Satellite Data

More About Our 2021 Seed Projects

2020 Seed Projects Include:

Using Data-Limited Mesh Networks to Create a Realistic, Distributed LVC Training Environment at the Small-Unit Level
AI, Human and Teams: Allocation of Decision Task in Complex Situations
Establishment of World-Ocean Acoustic and Thermohaline Parameter Database
Creating a U.S. Navy Practical Experimentation Guide
3D Printing Superhydrophobic Ceramic Surfaces
Synthesis of Nanostructured High Entropy Alloys via Cryogenic Mechanical Alloying
Evidence of Media Effects Theory in Cyberspace
Impact of Technology and Automation on Occupations in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps

More About Our 2020 Seed Projects

2019 Seed Projects Include:

Cybersecurity Exercises for All: Content Development and Usability Improvements for Labtainers
The NPS Data Center for the Global Temperature-Salinity Profile Program
The Strategic Value of the Defense Industrial Base
World Peace and/or a Piece of the World: Media's Supporting Role in China's Foreign Affairs Aspirations
Additive Manufacturing of Metal Foams Using Activated Precursors
Portable Dynamic Transmission Electron Microscopy Using Pyroelectrics
The NPS Cabled Acoustic Observatory
DTN-IP Fusion Communication Architecture for Survivable Tactical Mesh Networks
Naval Postgraduate School Emerging Technology Center
Neutralizing China's Power in Africa
Porting the CyberCIEGE Video Game for Broader Use
Adapting Commercial Technologies to Modernize Tactical Communications

More About Our 2019 Seed Projects

2018 Seed Projects Include:

Directed Energy Weapons Performance
Autonomous Sub-Munition Delivery Systems
Subsurface Mine Drift Identification for Planning Ship Maneuvers
Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology in Naval Systems
Enhanced Thermal Performance of Living Spaces
The Monterey Cyber Institute
Cross-Disciplinary Learning
Security Testing and Analysis of Cyber-Physical Systems
Technology for Improved Research, Teaching, and Learning at NPS
NPS Partnership with Stanford University in Spacecraft Robotics
Improved Energy Efficiency in Warhead Target Strikes
Tactical Communication Without Satellite Equipment
Diverting and Tracking Cyber Attacks
Dark Network Exploration
Brain-Computer Interfaces and Biocommunication
Case Studies for Leadership Transformation
Humanitarian/Disaster Relief Mission Metrics
Analytics Platform for Large-Scale Defense Data
Case Studies on Defense Acquisition
Sea, Land, and Air Military Research Facility

More About Our 2018 Seed Projects

Warfighter Wellness

Military personnel face extreme physical and mental demands that require the capacity to overcome the negative physical and psychological effects of operating in challenging field environments. There is a critical need to invest in research that can enhance our force's physical fitness and mental performance—promoting resilience and aiding in mission success. The Human Enhancement Research Group at NPS will ensure the streamlined transfer of military-specific cognitive and physiological research to military training and operations. The HERG will result in injury prevention, reduced effects of post-traumatic stress disorder and lower suicide rates among active-duty service members and veterans.

The Human Enhancement Research Group continues to be a major priority for the Naval Postgraduate School and the Naval Postgraduate School Foundation. Because of your support, $1.2 million has been raised to fund the infrastructure of the Operational Readiness Research Center. This is just the beginning of our investment in critical human performance and enhancement research that will place NPS at the epicenter of human enhancement research for the Department of Defense.

Your donation to the Human Enhancement Research Group at NPS funds physical and cognitive human performance research that will lead to injury prevention, reduced effects of post-traumatic stress disorder and lower suicide rates among active-duty service members and veterans while improving force capability and efficiency.

Support the Research

Research Support

Defense Innovation Fund

Seed Program

Phase One

Phase Two

Phase Three

2022 Seed Projects Include:

2021 Seed Projects Include:

2020 Seed Projects Include:

2019 Seed Projects Include:

2018 Seed Projects Include:

Warfighter Wellness

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