USF signs $85M contract with US Army for defense innovations

The University of South Florida has received yet another $85 million contract for national defense innovations and research — this one from the U.S. Army.

Officials from the university and the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory, known as DEVCOM ARL, signed the five-year contract Sept. 4 in a ceremony at USF’s Research Park Discovery Hall on the school's main Tampa campus. It builds upon an educational partnership agreement the university entered into with the agency last spring, bringing students and faculty from across the university into critical defense research efforts and hands-on student internships. 

The new contract will be overseen by USF’s Institute of Applied Engineering and focus on innovations and research in 16 core competencies including cybersecurity, biotechnology, humans and complex systems, photonics, electronics and quantum sciences, said USF President Rhea Law. 

“The Army is now prioritizing rapid prototyping, experimentation and fielding of technologies that can give soldiers an immediate edge on the battlefield,” Law said during Thursday’s ceremony. “They’re putting it directly into the hands of war fighters faster than ever before.”

In addition to its contract with the U.S. Army, USF has recently renewed another five-year, $85 million contract — this one with U.S. Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base. Under that agreement, launched in 2020, the Institute of Applied Engineering became a pipeline for more than 950 students to land internships within the military and related industries nationwide, Law said. 

“These students gain invaluable experience and insights and, in some cases, even have security clearances while they’re still undergraduates,” Law said. 

More than 80 research projects have been funded so far for the Department of Defense. Students working with the institute have developed satellites carried on SpaceX’s Transporter-1 intended to create a space-based internet network for vessels in orbit. They’ve re-engineered backpacks worn by soldiers on the battlefield to be less cumbersome and developed road maps that enhance soldiers' combat capabilities. Students and faculty are also conducting extensive research into mitigating traumatic brain injuries. 

“I’ve had the privilege of working with the Army Research Lab on projects that sound like science fiction, but they’re very much real,” said Deziree Price, a project engineer in the Institute of Applied Engineering who is developing ways for soldiers to use AI assistants during mission planning. 

While the institute will facilitate the contract, Law stressed that colleges across the university are prioritizing national security, intelligence and defense. In the last decade, USF has launched the Global and National Security Institute, the Cyber Florida cybersecurity hub, the University Mall-based Rapid Experimentation Lab and the Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing. 

USF has long been ranked among the top universities for veterans in the nation, and last year was named a Collegiate Purple Star Campus by the state of Florida for its commitment to supporting the military. The university also has a longstanding relationship with the Department of Defense, conducting more than 100 Army-funded research projects worth an estimated $150 million over the last 20 years. 

“There’s something really nice here, really special about teaming with a major R-1 research university with the ability to do protected research — that’s something very, very unique,” said Adam Rawlett, senior materials scientist for the U.S. Army. “I’m really excited. The sky’s the limit.”