NC State is starting a pilot program with the Department of Defense, now known as the Department of War, projected for Fall 2026. 

This program targets graduate students from the College of Engineering and the College of Sciences. This project involves a two-semester graduate course, Electrical and Computer Engineering 592-121: “Interdisciplinary Graduate Class to Solve Defense Problems.” The university is “very keen to see [the program] succeed.”

“Students will work in teams working on projects which include design of portable decontamination units, protective gear to combat biological and chemical agents, sensors for chemical and biological agents, handheld bio agent detectors, improved vision goggles, and high-performance protective materials,” an email to students and faculty said.

Co-Instructors include Priya Gill, interim director of the engineering entrepreneurship program, and Mike Provence, a representative from the Department of War. Mentors include department faculty, industry professionals and Department of War operators. 

On Mar. 12, Mick Kulikowski, director of strategic communications and media relations, responded on behalf of Gill, iterating the class was developed months before any military action was taken in Iran, intended to be an interdisciplinary, entrepreneurial class focused on solving real-world problems, “many of which may have more utility than protecting soldiers.”

Kulikowski continued saying the class has nothing to do with the warfare in Iran. The U.S. military is currently moving forward with Operation Epic Fury and the mission to “dismantle the Iranian regime’s security apparatus, prioritizing locations that pose an imminent threat.”