Wanted: A Few Good Problems

First taught at a single university in 2016, Hacking for Defense will be offered at over 20 universities in the upcoming spring semester.

Four years ago we started an experiment to see if it was possible to graduate students at universities interested in working alongside members of defense and intelligence agencies to solve some of our country's most pressing problems. We thought maybe we'd get a handful of students interested. Instead we got an army.

It's not just about data and coding or big headquarters problems

In three years we've seen problems submitted by agency directors, Congressional panels and individual tactical units, groups and even divisions aboard Navy ships.

These have touched nearly every facet of national security. While some have been purely software focused, others have been hardware related. Still other problems have been purely policy or business process focused . Regardless of where they came from, All have been complex, hard and real.

The upside for the return on your investment of your time?

• World class market research into your problem
• Recruitment and expansion of a network surrounding your problem that spans the government, academia and industry
• Development and understanding of viable pathways towards solutions

Need more info on the ROI? Check out this podcast from the USAF 548th ISR Group where they talk about the impact of their unit's participation as problem sponsors for Hacking for Defense courses.

Its time to put this army to work for our country

These universities have teams looking for problem sponsors for the spring semester:

• Stanford University
• Colorado University - Boulder
• University of Pittsburg
• Duke University
• University of Texas - Austin
• University of California - Berkeley
• Ohio State University
• John Hopkins University
• Georgetown University
• University of Southern California
• University of Southern Mississippi
• Georgia Tech University
• Defense Acquisition University
• Brown University
• University of Alaska
• Boise State University
• Purdue University
• James Madison University
• Rochester Institute for Technology
• North Carolina State University
• Colorado School of Mines

Need more info on getting involved?

If you have a problem so submit please send it to [email protected]

If you are working on a problem and need help reach out to BMNTs problem curators Meg Mannix, [email protected] or Katie Saviano [email protected]

If you want talk to someone about the the overall program reach out to Alex Gallo [email protected] or Matt Reynolds at [email protected]