NUWC Joins 401 Tech Bridge Project
The Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport has joined the 401 Tech Bridge innovation initiative in the state of Rhode Island.
“The Warfare Centers recognize that to be successful, whether it is on a submarine, on a ship or solving a technical challenge, you need a good team,” NUWC Division Newport Commanding Officer Capt. Mike Coughlin said. “We realize that Expanding the Advantage means reaching out beyond our Navy partners, Warfare Centers and traditional defense contractors. We need our team to include small businesses and educational institutions that don’t traditionally work with the Navy.”
Through Polaris MEP, NUWC Division Newport is now teaming with the University of Rhode Island, the Composites Alliance of Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Textile Innovation Network to reach out to businesses and educational institutions. This will allow them to conduct cooperative research and development to solve Navy problems with small business innovation and enable us to solve commercial problems with Warfare Center inventions.
The Tech Bridge construct will provide creative spaces for the Navy, industry, non-profits and academia to collaborate that are off-base and easily accessible. This may include innovation spaces at University of Rhode Island and the proposed Portsmouth facility this coming year. The partnership may also take advantage of collaboration facilities like those available at Innovate Newport where the signing took place today.
