The University of Alaska Fairbanks signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Defense Innovation Unit to research and host research for military technology.
FAIRBANKS, Alaska - Senator Dan Sullivan announced a Memorandum of Understanding on Friday which would see the University of Alaska Fairbanks helping to host and perform research on burgeoning military and other technologies in partnership with private industry.
According to Sullivan, the DIU program, which started under the Obama administration, involves the Pentagon working with private technology companies to develop innovations in military technology and hardware. Christian Whitchurch, director of the Defense Innovation Unit’s Human Systems Portfolio, explained that a benefit of the DIU model is that the technology development possible using entrepreneurship moves “at the speed of business, not the speed of bureaucracy.
” Seeing that DIU has established hubs across the U.S. for this purpose, Sullivan said he has worked to establish one in Alaska.
“This is the start of something I think is really exciting. It’s going to help the university. It’s going to help DIU. It’s going to help our war fighters.
It’s going to help advance technology in really critical areas like missile defense and hypersonics and drones, all of which are on the cutting edge of what we need in our military to keep our warfighters safe,” the senator said. Calling UAF one of the “elite defense universities in the country,” UA President Pat Pitney highlighted the university’s ability to advance the country’s national security in a number of fields, including space, engineering, energy and arctic research.
Interim UAF Chancellor Mike Sfraga went on to mention the university’s work in unmanned aerial systems and its rocket range at Poker Flat, as well as Alaska’s important geographical and geopolitical position, which he said make it a uniquely valuable partner to the DIU.
“As a university, we need to apply UAF’s expertise in Arctic research... and our understanding of the Arctic domain to the very real and urgent challenges DIU is trying to address,” Sfraga said. Discussing Alaska’s unique ability to test the endurance of different technologies with its extreme climate, Whitchurch said, “With the expertise that’s in this building, on this campus, I think this is a huge resource that we can lean into.
” Sullivan described current developments in Alaska, including the movement of F-35s to Eielson Air Force Base, a $7 billion recapitalization of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and three icebreakers planned for the state, as “one of the biggest military buildups in our state’s history. ” “We are one of the most, my view, should be one of the most important places for defense innovation. Not just the location, but innovating for our military, for technology that matters so much,” Sullivan said.
According to the senator, the MOU marks a starting point for the partnership, and funding for the research, which would primarily come from the Department of War, has not fully been secured yet, with that part of the process coming later. While the specifics of the partnership have not been hammered out, Sfraga said the initial focus of the research will be on energy, led by the Alaska Center for Energy and Power, and drone operations, led by the Alaska Center for Unmanned Aerial Systems Integration, among other efforts.
“The military is saying ‘We need these things very quickly. ’ Well, there’s a crosswalk between the needs and our ability to meet those needs at UAF,” Sfraga said.
“Where are they? They’re in the drones. They’re in energy. They’re in hypersonics.
They’re in the technologies. They’re in innovation sector, so we’ve had to identify those. Those have been identified. The next phase of the MOU is to actually bring teams from DIU and UAF together.
” Among the possibilities discussed at Friday’s announcement, Sfraga mentioned the idea of a DIU hub being physically housed at the university, geothermal energy being tapped to provide heat and electricity to military bases, and research on drone operations at 40 degrees below zero. The interim chancellor said he expects the details of how the DIU would operate in and out of Alaska to be worked on this summer.
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University Of Alaska Fairbanks Senator Sullivan Department Of War Defense Innovation Unit DIU Sfraga Pitney Whitchurch Military Research
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