NE North Dakota News

In December, the University of North Dakota (UND) hosted a roundtable event at Robin Hall, where faculty members, administrators, and students gathered to present their research related to national security. This event provided an opportunity for researchers to showcase their projects and network with peers while recognizing newly hired faculty contributing to national security efforts.

Scott Snyder, UND's vice president for Research & Economic Development, welcomed attendees. Snyder emphasized the significance of national security work at UND: “The fact that national security work was listed as a Grand Challenge is one of the reasons I’m here,” he stated. His experience includes collaborations with the U.S. Strategic Command and NASA.

Thirteen faculty members delivered brief presentations on various topics such as augmented reality, hypersonics, and counter unmanned aircraft systems in Arctic environments. Among the presenters were Jeremiah Neubert from mechanical engineering; Kaitlyn Gura from UND’s School of Medicine & Health Sciences; Tim Pasch from communications; Surojit Gupta from mechanical engineering; Chris Theisen from the Research Institute for Autonomous Systems; Mark Askelson from research-national security; Hallie Chelmo from mechanical engineering; Nuri Oncel and Deniz Cakir from physics and astrophysics; David Delene from atmospheric sciences; Amy Whitney from UND’s Center for Innovation; Brian Kalk from Energy and Environmental Research Center; and Joe Vacek from aviation.

Whitney discussed her research on North Dakota's defense supply chain analysis: “We have a lot of assets in national security that we should be leveraging in new and different ways.” She highlighted UND's growing focus on cybersecurity education through partnerships like Impact Dakota.

Askelson expressed gratitude towards alumni contributions which have supported UND’s national security mission by establishing endowed professorships and funding infrastructure projects such as the Mark and Claudia Thompson National Security Corridor: “We are a very defense-friendly state, and our alumni have responded,” he noted.

Snyder mentioned that events like this demonstrate to the North Dakota Legislature how its support has been utilized effectively. Over four years, $23 million in state funding has enabled UND to expand its Department of Defense and Homeland Security research portfolio significantly.

“These are the stories President Armacost and I will take to Bismarck,” Snyder concluded. “We are extremely fortunate for the state’s support.”