White Papers and Greenback Paper

The U.S. Naval Research Lab (USNRL) hosted its first Innovation Day for Industry, seeking industry partnerships.

“We had over 75 companies, and over 140 people show up for that,” said Capt. Jesse Black, the USNRL’s commanding officer.

The USNRL targeted 17 topic areas where partnerships could help speed innovation, but it is not all about creating new capabilities. The event also helped find collaborations that allowed to scale and bring novelties to the fleet.

“We may have a problem that we need to have solved, and we may have a theory for how it should be solved that we pitched, but we’ll need help in terms of doing the things such as prototype generation,” explained David Aha, director, Navy Center for Applied Research in AI at the USNRL.

This happens as the laboratory is open for white paper proposals, where entrepreneurs and developers can approach the institution and present an idea. If approved, the institution has contract vehicles to onboard and develop these projects.

While technologies going from the ocean floor to space are of interest to the Navy, quantum, artificial intelligence, biomedical and corrosion have special focus.

The USNRL will continue to organize this event, according to Capt. Black, and new editions will be announced on sam.gov and the USNRL webpage.