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• University of Connecticut

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Research & Technology Deployment

NIUVT research initiatives leverage institute expertise to effectively develop and transition technologies to address critical Navy capability needs.

1. Technologies for enhanced design processes
   Delivering first time quality within schedule and cost constraints requires accurate and powerful computational ability to model and simulate the performance capability of advanced technologies and innovations for undersea vehicle designs. The development of validated design tools that can analyze designs rapidly and accurately is a high priority to the Navy. NIUVT advances the state of the art by providing the infrastructure to partner vehicle designers and builders with researchers to develop high-fidelity physics based computational algorithms, codes, and validation data in the areas of stealth, hydrodynamics, and materials in order to significantly improve the accuracy-to-cost ratio for the design of undersea vehicles.
2. Technologies to improve manufacturing processes and life cycle support
   Delivery of new capabilities through undersea vehicles requires manufacturing and life cycle innovations to hold the line on total ownership costs and reduce manufacturing schedules and downtime during maintenance periods. Undersea vehicles must be affordable and producible, while ensuring capabilities to stay agile, deployable, sustainable, and dominant. Reducing material waste, achieving first time construction quality and schedule performance, while delivering a sustainable product, is the key to successfully managing a superior fleet with fiscal accountability. The NIUVT capitalizes on advances in materials, additive manufacturing, biofouling and corrosion, logistics, and robotics in order to continually bring affordable, defense-critical manufacturing and maintenance technologies to the shipbuilders and sustainment facilities.
3. Technologies to enhance capabilities of existing submarines and other undersea vehicles
   In order to continue maritime prominence, the speed of technology development and transition for cutting-edge technologies requires continual improvement. Submarines are complex systems of systems that require a constant vigilance in leveraging advancements from continuing basic research. Missions will change as threats change, and submarines will need to adopt new technology solutions to always stay ahead of the adversary. In order to deliver on the best platform for national security, while maintaining flexibility and adaptability for the future, the NIUVT works to provide technology solutions for human system interaction, communications, cybersecurity, stealth, and electric ship technologies.
4. Off board and undersea systems technologies
   Increased proliferation of inexpensive threats targeting individual warfighters and high-value assets, combined with continued rapid advances in computing, power and energy, robotics, sensors and position guidance technologies, drives the requirement to augment expensive manned systems with less expensive, unmanned, fully autonomous systems that can operate in all domains. In order to meet the demands of rapidly deploying undersea domain technologies to dominate the adversary, the NIUVT provides research and development capabilities to further unmanned systems including: power density, autonomy, stealth, persistence, networking capability and reliability.

Accelerated Technology Transition.

While research is the core activity of the Institute, the most highly leveraged activity is the transition of technology advancements into major DoD acquisition programs. Effectively transitioning research results is critical to provide s a significant and positive impact on naval capabilities. Members of the Institute jointly develop integrated transition plans to ensure that a path to transition exists. These plans include technology targets and resource plans and are integrated with ship design schedules to reduce risk and deliver the technology in a timely manner.