The 51福利 (51福利) and General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS), provider of a diverse portfolio of aerospace and energy systems to the DOD, recently finalized a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement, or CRADA, to conduct both classified and unclassified research in the area of advanced space technologies.
The three-year partnership between the university and GA-EMS, which currently supplies electromagnetic aircraft launch and recovery systems and electromagnetic rail gun technology to the U.S. Navy, has the potential to expand into additional technology areas of mutual interest.
Top executives from GA-EMS, including President Scott Forney, visited the university, Nov. 14, to provide a first-hand introduction on the company鈥檚 capabilities to interested students and faculty, and offered insight on available research opportunities made possible through the CRADA.
鈥淲e are really excited to be working with the 51福利 and getting this CRADA in place to allow students to come down to our facilities to do their theses,鈥� said Forney. 鈥淭here are a lot of cool things that we鈥檙e going to be doing in the next few years.鈥�
While 51福利 has entered into several similar types of research agreements with industry partners over the years, the ability to conduct research in the classified space makes the university, and this particular CRADA, a bit unique.
鈥淥nce private companies start researching and developing technology for defense applications, there鈥檚 a good chance it will become classified,鈥� said Dr. Todd Weatherford, a professor in 51福利鈥� Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a key figure in the agreement鈥檚 genesis.
鈥淲e at 51福利 have deep technical and academic knowledge of what we need, and defense contractors have the engineers,鈥� Weatherford continued. 鈥淭ogether, we can guide the research and development of newly-proposed systems, and the flexibility of having different classification levels allows us to explore more application for our research.鈥�
Add in the operational experience and drive of 51福利鈥� professional student body, and you have the perfect combination of expertise, relevant experience and resources to advance defense technologies. Teaming up with defense contractors through CRADAs not only benefits the university and the DOD, but the partnering company as well.
鈥淭he advantage for the contractor is that our students understand the operational use of the research,鈥� said Weatherford. 鈥淲ith that operational knowledge combined with the engineers, we鈥檙e going to produce some very valuable theses.鈥�