{"id":245075,"date":"2026-07-16T18:17:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T18:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/245075\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T18:17:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T18:17:12","slug":"cmu-advances-defense-manufacturing-and-military-education-at-pennsylvania-defense-and-innovation-summit-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/245075\/","title":{"rendered":"CMU Advances Defense Manufacturing and Military Education at Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit – News"},"content":{"rendered":"

CMU and\u00a0Carnegie Foundry,(opens in new window)<\/a> in partnership with American drone manufactures,\u00a0launched an initiative<\/a> to develop reusable production, inspection, testing and automation capabilities to help U.S. manufacturers produce autonomous technologies more efficiently and at greater scale.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The university also announced that Learnvia, its nonprofit learning collaborative,\u00a0will expand to military colleges<\/a>, beginning with Valley Forge Military College near Philadelphia. The partnership will bring AI-enabled courseware and decades of CMU learning science research to students preparing for military leadership and national service.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Together with robotics demonstrations and workforce discussions led by CMU faculty and staff at the summit\u2019s trade show, the announcements highlighted the university\u2019s role connecting technological innovation, manufacturing capacity and talent preparation in service to the nation\u2019s security.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Building manufacturing capacity for autonomous systems\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, CMU\u2019s\u00a0National Robotics Engineering Center(opens in new window)<\/a>, Carnegie Foundry \u2014 a Pittsburgh-based venture studio that builds and scales companies \u2014 and U.S. drone manufacturers ViDARR Inc. and Envision Technology LLC,\u00a0announced a national initiative<\/a> to scale drone production through robotics, automation and advanced manufacturing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

\"Theresa<\/p>\n

Theresa Mayer<\/p>\n

Drawing on more than $50 million in CMU investments in robotics, advanced manufacturing and commercialization infrastructure, the initiative will create a new Autonomous Systems Manufacturing Platform that American manufacturers can deploy in their own factories to produce drones at the scale and speed needed to support national security priorities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs large-scale manufacturing of advanced autonomous systems becomes a strategic imperative, Carnegie Mellon is leveraging its decades of pioneering research to bridge the gap between invention and production,\u201d said CMU Vice President for Research\u00a0Theresa Mayer(opens in new window)<\/a>.\u00a0\u201cBy fostering deep industry partnerships, we are strengthening the nation\u2019s innovation ecosystem and ensuring vital advancements reach the field.”<\/p>\n

Expanding educational tools to military learners<\/p>\n

CMU also\u00a0announced<\/a> that\u00a0Learnvia(opens in new window)<\/a>, its nonprofit, AI-powered national learning collaborative, will expand to military colleges.\u00a0Valley Forge Military College(opens in new window)<\/a>, Pennsylvania’s only military college, is Learnvia\u2019s first academic military partner, with additional military colleges expected to join over the next year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Launched\u00a0earlier this year<\/a>, Learnvia combines free AI-enabled courseware and great teaching with decades of research in learning science to improve student success in gateway mathematics college courses. Designed to complement classroom instruction rather than replace it, the platform integrates lessons, interactive learning activities, homework, assessments, discussion forums and an AI tutor into a single learning environment.<\/p>\n

Showcasing robotics, AI and workforce expertise<\/p>\n

The announcements were accompanied by CMU faculty and researchers leading demonstrations and impromptu discussions throughout the summit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wennie Tabib(opens in new window)<\/a>, who leads the Resilient Intelligence Systems Lab at CMU\u2019s Robotics Institute, showcased\u00a0autonomy and agile flight<\/a> used in complex, unstructured environments, while\u00a0Howie Choset(opens in new window)<\/a>, CMU\u2019s Kav\u010di\u0107-Moura Professor of Computer Science, demonstrated snake robots and motion-planning approaches for confined, hazardous and hard-to-reach environments.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"Howie<\/p>\n

Howie Choset and Rachel Burcin<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nice to find collaborators who can use the technology and ideas we\u2019ve developed,\u201d Choset said of the connections he made at the summit. \u201cSometimes we find people who give input to our ideas, and academics don\u2019t hold a monopoly on being able to generate new concepts.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Choset said feedback from rescue workers, medical professionals, manufacturing workers and others who use technology in practice has helped his research group identify problems over time and develop more innovative solutions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The summit also helped to connect organizations and experts working across different parts of the defense ecosystem.\u00a0Thomas Longstaff(opens in new window)<\/a>, chief technology officer at CMU\u2019s\u00a0Software Engineering Institute(opens in new window)<\/a>, said those interactions enable summit attendees to better understand how capabilities in areas like cybersecurity, AI and software engineering fit together in support of the nation\u2019s defense goals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"Wennie<\/p>\n

Wennie Tabib and Thomas Longstaff<\/p>\n

Other CMU participants addressed the workforce and talent pipelines required to implement new technologies successfully.\u00a0<\/p>\n

David Ulicne, executive director for\u00a0executive education<\/a> at the Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy, said companies often underestimate the human and organizational dimensions of technology adoption.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe often say that the technology is easier than the people and process side of things,\u201d Ulicne said. \u201cWorkforce development is critical \u2014 both to get people up to speed on new technologies and to give them the confidence to implement them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Building a stronger defense workforce also requires expanding the pipeline of U.S. students prepared for advanced study in computer science, robotics, AI and related fields.\u00a0Rachel Burcin(opens in new window)<\/a>, global programs manager for the Robotics Institute, spoke to summit attendees about her work to\u00a0provide domestic undergraduates sustained research experience(opens in new window)<\/a> and a clearer path to graduate education.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are certain industries and certain positions where U.S. residency is especially important,\u201d she explained. \u201cBy combining research opportunities with talent-pipeline programs, we can help more U.S. students move into graduate education and prepare for those needs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Supporting Pennsylvania\u2019s defense innovation ecosystem<\/p>\n

\n

\"Voyager<\/p>\n

Voyager and Astrobotic booths<\/p>\n

In addition to university leaders and faculty, several CMU-connected startups \u2014 including Astrobotic, Lovelace AI, Near Earth Autonomy, Gray Swan and Strategy Robot, Inc. \u2014 participated in the summit, underscoring the university\u2019s role in connecting Pennsylvania\u2019s research strengths to its manufacturing and entrepreneurship base.\u00a0<\/p>\n

CMU spinout Carnegie Robotics announced it was selected for Phase III of the Army\u2019s GEARS\/ATV-S autonomous ground logistics program, positioning the company for a future production opportunity worth up to $400 million across more than 750 Army tactical logistics vehicles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Voyager Technologies noted its recent acquisition of another CMU spinout, Astrobotic \u2014 valued at up to $300 million \u2014 alongside a roughly $297 million NASA task order for lunar surface delivery.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In all, the summit served as the backdrop for nearly\u00a0$10 billion in investment-funds(opens in new window)<\/a>\u00a0 revealed in more than 30 individual announcements and devoted to advancing Pennsylvania\u2019s defense industrial base, innovation ecosystem and workforce pipeline.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CMU and\u00a0Carnegie Foundry,(opens in new window) in partnership with American drone manufactures,\u00a0launched an initiative to develop reusable production,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":245076,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-245075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245075\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}