HBCU Insights: Howard Wins Historic $90M Defense Research Contract

Howard University is joining the ranks of schools like MIT, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Texas at Austin in being selected by the Department of Defense to lead a University Affiliated Research Center (UARC), the first-ever HBCU to be chosen and only the 15th university overall.

“Together, we will harness the talent, the curiosity and the passion that you can feel when you walk onto this campus, or to any other HBCU campus,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Monday when the news was announced at the Founder’s Library at Howard.

The Department of the Air Force along with the Air Force Research Laboratory is partnering with Howard for this center. It has been in the works since September when the Department of the Air Force first announced its plan to establish a UARC at an HBCU.?

The research at this center will be focused on tactical autonomy, which the Air Force defines as “autonomous systems acting with delegated and bounded authority of humans in support of tactical, short-term actions associated with a longer-term strategic vision.”

The initial Defense contract is for five years and Howard will receive $12 million per year, for a total of $60 million. However, the maximum ceiling value of the contract is $18 million per year for five years, a total of $90 million, the Howard Office of Research told The Plug.

This research contract is also helping push Howard to R1 status, President Wayne A.I. Frederick hopes.

“We're in pursuit of an R1 classification, which signifies very high research activity, and we anticipate that this center can move us one step closer to that very lofty goal,” Frederick said.

Howard is not the only HBCU to be a part of this program. As a UARC, Howard is leading a consortium that includes eight other schools: Bowie State University, Delaware State University, Florida Memorial University, Hampton University, Jackson State University, Norfolk State University, Tougaloo College and Tuskegee University.

The stated goals of the center are to:

• Establish and maintain research and development for the Department of the Air Force to deliver operationally relevant autonomy.
• Advance the field of autonomy.
• Build institutional research capacity to get an HBCU to R1 status.
• Grow and diversify the available pool of scientists and engineers to support the Department of Defense.?
• Create a science, research and development ecosystem of business, academia and the DoD.

But there are ethical questions tied to this research. According to IEEE, autonomous weapons systems’ capabilities today “extend beyond such competencies as navigation and radar detection to include facial recognition software, swarming technology, extensive data analysis, and much more.”?

There have been documented issues with how well AI and facial recognition technology can distinguish Black faces. “Part of the way to get at that is to diversify the people who are working in the field of artificial intelligence,” Bruce Jones, Vice President for Research at Howard, told The Washington Post. The consequences of bias in artificial intelligence are amplified when the technology is being used by the military.

The Department of Defense has adopted five broad ethical principles for artificial intelligence — the systems should be responsible, equitable, traceable, reliable and governable.

“As we develop any form of autonomy, we will abide by ethical principles as we work to develop and encourage norms that promote stability, security and compliance with the laws of armed conflict,” Frank Kendall, Secretary of the Air Force, said at Monday’s announcement. “Howard will assist in that work.”

Over the next five years, students and faculty at not just Howard, but the other HBCUs, will get a unique opportunity to do cutting-edge, well-funded research. What comes of that for the schools, as well as how the research is put into practice, will be interesting to see.

In the work,

Mirtha Donastorg