The U.S. Army’s 18th Airborne Corps has partnered with several universities to collaborate on education and research as a part of its strategy to become the first “AI-ready corps,” the Army announced.
This partnership with Vanderbilt University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Duke University, Syracuse University, Middle Tennessee State University, and the University of North Carolina System will allow students to work on Army projects and for soldiers to teach courses on campuses. Each agreement is tailored to meet the needs of the corps and use what each university can provide.
The agreements are also intended to attract more science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) students to work on military technology problems, and “will strengthen these institutions existing relationships with the military and allow for new opportunities to encourage and enhance education, research, data literacy, and innovation in [STEM] and other disciplines,” the Army said in a press release.
“This is all about people. There are a lot of opportunities to create new mathematical formulas and technologies. Still, we are focused on the human component to build a foundation for a culture of innovation,” Colonel Molly Solsbury, Chief Data Officer for the 18th Airborne Corps, said in the release.
The 18th Airborne Corps has embraced innovation to become an AI-enabled Corps over the past year. According to Brigadier Robert Ritchie, Assistant Commanding General for Operations in the 18th Airborne Corps, the unit has been pursuing this transformation “under the banner of ‘Project Ridgway’ by fostering a culture of innovation, harnessing data as a strategic asset, and exploiting cloud infrastructure.”
