UAH I2C Partnership Announces Partnership with CMI2 to Further Innovation for National Security
The Civil-Military Innovation Institute (CMI2) has signed a partnership agreement with The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) to build an innovative workforce optimized to advance national security technologies in support of the National Security Innovation Network (NSIN), university officials announced today.
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In doing so, NSIN and CMI2 will join the Invention to Innovation Center (I2C) as a strategic partner to align the work of Huntsville-area innovators, UAH and other non-traditional technology companies with the activities of the Department of Defense. UAH currently supports NSIN’s Acceleration Portfolio which focuses on rapid conversion of dual-use technology solution concepts into functioning prototypes for the military.
“There has always been an enormous amount of entrepreneurial talent in the Huntsville area,” said Morgan Plummer, Managing Director, NSIN. “Entities like I2C create a hub of activity to collaborate and develop solutions to some of the most challenging national security problems and in this case, we are also able to leverage the expertise from UAH.”
The partnership of UAH, I2C and the Huntsville community, combined with CMI2 and NSIN provides an innovation concept that could be emulated elsewhere, according to NSIN officials. NSIN is a DoD program office that collaborates with major universities and the venture community to create solutions that drive national security innovation. NSIN operates 3 Portfolios of programs and services: National Service, Collaboration, and Acceleration. Together, these Portfolios form a pipeline of activities and solutions that accelerate the pace of defense innovation.
“CMI2 is committed to building a footprint in Alabama and no other place in the US exemplifies the intersection of “civil-military” innovation like Huntsville,” said Dr. Zenovy S. Wowczuk, Managing Director of CMI2.
“A key part of our mission at the I2C is to build partnerships and create entrepreneurial ecosystems and hubs to empower our area innovators,” said Rigved Joshi, Director of I2C. “Our partnership with NSIN and CMI2 supports this mission and also helps expand the impact of entrepreneurs in the North Alabama and South-Central Tennessee region.”