GRAND FORKS — UND recently appointed two professors (Mark Askelson and Ryan Adams) to leadership positions on national security issues.
Askelson and Adams hold the titles of Associate Vice President for National Security Studies and Associate Dean of National Security, respectively. UND and North Dakota are naturally tied to national security initiatives, said Askelson, professor of atmospheric sciences at the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences.
“UND has a lot to offer to organizations focused on national security,” says Askelson. “My position represents an opportunity to serve more people with the skill sets and products we create. It resonates with our national security mission.”
Askelson, who took office in July, is a strategic partnership between the university and national security-focused organizations such as the Department of Defense, Customs and Border Protection, and contractors such as Northrop Grumman and General Atomics Aviation Systems. Responsible for developing strategic partnerships. He also oversees faculty research teams on campus and advises on projects related to national security.
“Various national security agencies that we work with put out requests for proposals,” Askelson said. “We analyze proposals, assemble teams, and pursue opportunities.”
One of the specific projects Askelson is working on is anti-drone technology, with the support of Odegard school faculty.
“We are helping DHS evaluate counter-drone systems that detect, track, identify and mitigate drones when they don’t want them near anything,” Askelson said. says. “This is a big challenge. We need to safely set up experiments and know the level of their effectiveness so that if DHS buys these systems, they will work on the missions they need.”
Director of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at UND, Adams focuses primarily on national security initiatives within the College of Engineering and Mines.
“I am responsible for national security initiatives within the university and liaison with other universities and organizations on campus,” Adams said. “Mark’s role is to provide leadership across campus.”
University of North Dakota
A research team overseen by Adams recently received a $650,000 grant from NASA to develop a wireless network for spaceflight. This network can classify data based on its importance to the mission.
“In space applications, there are different levels of criticality with regard to data,” says Adams. “Some data is very important and requires low latency so that information can move quickly and efficiently to where it is needed. Our new network implements real-time coordination across different classes of data. We conducted our tests within the UND’s National Security Corridor on the first floor of Harrington Hall, where we were able to achieve high altitude, near-space There is also the possibility of simulating the environment with balloons and using the university’s lunar habitat.”
UND also has a university partnership agreement with the US Space Force. This is the first university to establish such an agreement. Adams says the partnership will help develop a pipeline of personnel from his UND to the Space Force and opens up possibilities for collaboration in the form of grants with the U.S. Space Force.