Wichita State University’s FirePoint Innovations Center has become one of five facilities chosen to deliver and operate a Defense Innovation OnRamp Hub program for the National Security Innovation Network.
FirePoint announced Thursday that it will operate the Great Plains Mission Acceleration Center to provide small businesses and academic organizations with a pathway to win Department of Defense contracts.
“The OnRamp Hub program is designed to tear down barriers between the private sector, defense and homeland security operations to accelerate technology deployment,” FirePoint Executive Director Steve Cyrus explained. “We’re extremely excited to bring this new opportunity to businesses here in Kansas and the region to give them a competitive advantage.”
FirePoint was co-created by Wichita State and the U.S. Army’s Combat Capabilities Development Command, Aviation and Missile Center. Its purpose is to expedite collaborative innovation, transfer and commercialization associated with technologies that can contribute to the service branch’s modernization plans.
The center is located at Wichita State’s Innovation Campus and is expected to benefit partners looking to identify new talent in its high tech projects.