Overview

Innovating for National Security (i4NS)  is a quarter-long program on campus that offers the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) leaders an opportunity to collaborate with talented student teams to develop innovative solutions to their most pressing national security problems. Students learn to apply the Lean Startup methodology to solve real national security problems. Through student teams, the DOD is provided an avenue to connect with problem-solvers from academia, the private sector, and other non-traditional DOD partners.

From Immersive Learning to Validated Insights

You will be part of a student team working to solve an existing set of problems provided by the DoD/IC while learning to develop prototypes that match DoD/IC users’ needs in eight weeks. 

The class is team-based with related work and study completed in teams. In addition to the instructors, each team will be assigned a mentor (an experienced entrepreneur or subject matter expert) and a contact from the problem sponsor at DoD/IC.

The Innovating for National Security (i4NS) is not a product incubator for a specific technology solution. Instead, you will learn Lean Startup principles to gain a deeper understanding of selected problems, develop sustainable, user-centered solutions, and learn to work with the DoD and IC teams.

How to apply

Apply now to join a team https://forms.gle/MX5W2KAm8rA9ZTmDA. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. 

We welcome students from public policy, engineering, business, law, psychology, and many more disciplines to come together to show off the true power in the diversity of UCSD! International students are also eligible to apply.