NPS is the Department of the Navy’s flagship graduate school focused on science and technology applications. NPS President, retired U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Ann Rondeau, welcomed Secretary Phelan and his recognition of the school’s strategic role in developing naval leaders, relevant research, and warfighting innovation. 

“We were very pleased to host Secretary Phelan and show him all that NPS has to offer in support of his priorities,” said Rondeau. “A more lethal and ready naval force includes cognitive readiness, and NPS graduates effective, innovative, technologically competent leaders necessary to ensure U.S. seapower.”

Phelan met with NPS senior leaders and faculty, and toured the campus engaging with the school’s mid-career military students to hear about their studies and applied research whose recent operational experience informs their work. 

“The Naval Postgraduate School is one of the world’s preeminent institutions of military education.” said Phelan. “I want our best warfighters coming to NPS to develop their intellectual edge and turn their insights into real-world solutions for our Navy and Marine Corps.”

Several NPS students had an opportunity to present their research to Phelan showcasing their innovative work in ship systems engineering, acquisition reform, artificial intelligence (AI), ocean sensing, autonomy, space, and additive manufacturing. Phelan emphasized how today’s naval leaders must have a deeper understanding of the technologies driving rapid change, many of which are industry-led. 

“I am looking for ways to adapt and adopt industry innovation at greater speeds to modernize our Navy,” Phelan said to the students. “We need to equip our leaders with the knowledge and skills to help evolve technology solutions at the pace of modern combat, and I see this happening now at NPS.”

One of the student presenters was U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Dillon Pierce, a Ph.D. candidate in Space Systems, whose dissertation focused on developing low-cost missile capabilities with an emphasis on cost efficiency and commercial production capacity. Pierce conducted 43 test flights of his design in 18 months, with a total development cost under $300,000. To transition his research to a fieldable system Pierce partnered with Anduril.

“By selectively trading performance parameters of available technologies we can dramatically accelerate missile development timelines and reduce costs by orders of magnitude while maintaining core military utility,” Pierce said. “It was an honor to present my work to the Secretary.”

Phelan also met with key NPS staff including Vice Provost of Warfare Studies and lead for NPS’ AI Task Force, retired U.S. Marine Corps Col. Randy Pugh, who discussed a core aspect of what makes NPS student applied research, like Pierce’s, more impactful and deployable.

“The NPS innovation ecosystem includes partners and technologists from across industry, academia, and DOD,” explained Pugh, who espoused the benefits of Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADA) with industries in critical technology areas. As Phelan toured the NPS information technology (IT) spaces, one example Pugh focused on was AI and NPS’ key CRADA partner in this area, NVIDIA.

“NPS’ collaboration with NVIDIA will accelerate AI education with cutting-edge hardware to advance understanding of the technology as well as military applications for autonomous systems, wargaming, cyberwarfare, and digital twins laying the foundations for how the Navy, Marine Corps, and Joint Force train, experiment, and innovate at speed,” Pugh said, as he outlined plans for the new NVIDIA AI Tech Center at NPS to Secretary Phelan.

Modernization was another key theme of Phelan’s visit, and from IT to labs, the NPS modernization plan aims to completely overhaul aging buildings and outfit them with technology upgrades. Phelan toured the recently completed Bullard Hall, home to NPS’ System Engineering and Space Systems programs, to see first-hand how NPS is working to keep pace with the demands of 21st-century education and naval warfare. 

NPS acting Provost, Dr. Jim Newman, a professor, former NASA astronaut and Chair of the Space Systems Academic Group, was on-hand to explain.

“NPS faculty maintain relevant research projects, which modern labs are critical for in an age of rapidly emerging technologies,” Newman said. “Our students bring operational problems from the fleet and focus on research that helps to solve them.” 

Newman added that the unique integration at NPS of real-world warfighter experience, combined with faculty expertise, creates an education, research, and innovation environment that is responsive to naval needs.

President Rondeau then shifted to talk more about the vision for NPS as home to the Naval Innovation Center—a new facility that will leverage the school’s strengths, location, and partnerships to convene the best and brightest innovators to rapidly solve defense problems.

“The Naval Innovation Center at NPS is where warfighter insight meets cutting-edge technology in a defense-academic, classified environment,” said Rondeau. “From innovative startups to established defense contractors, the Naval Innovation Center will enable NPS, the Navy, and DOD to collaborate in new ways to mature and deliver solutions quickly, securely, and develop leaders educated to fully understand and employ them.” 

Reflecting on his visit, Phelan said, “It was a real pleasure meeting NPS students and faculty yesterday and seeing how they’re working with industry to bring innovation, capability and cost control to our warfighting domains. We need to do things faster, smarter and cheaper, and NPS has the ability to play a major role in that mission.”

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Established in 1909, the Naval Postgraduate School’s (NPS) mission is to provide defense-focused graduate education, including classified studies and interdisciplinary research, to advance the operational effectiveness, technological leadership and warfighting advantage of the Naval service. Located in Monterey, California, NPS offers master’s and doctoral programs for U.S. military and civilians, federal agencies, allied militaries and partner nations.