This BAA is open only to colleges and universities. On behalf of the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Warfare Centers, NSWC IHEODTD is soliciting research of interest in support of the NEEC.
Full Proposal Due: 30 October 2025
NSWCCD is interested in receiving proposals directed toward projects involving undergraduate or combined graduate student efforts that supports the professional development/growth of students across the technical disciplines within Ship and Submarine Design and supporting technologies. The expectation is that awardees will work closely with the appropriate experts at NSWCCD throughout the entire effort. Considerations will be given to proposals in either of the following categories:
CD-01: College & University Student Capstone/Senior Research projects:
NSWCCD seeks proposals for capstone projects involving significant undergraduate research and design. Graduate Student involvement should support the objectives of the undergraduate capstones. These capstone projects should be team-based and be able to demonstrate progress on preparing the students for future employment opportunities at NSWCCD and across the Naval R&D Enterprise. Individual awards made from this BAA under CD-01 plan to be approximately $35K to $75K with two 12-month option years.
CD-02: Graduate Research Projects:
NSWCCD seeks proposals for graduate student research projects which result in completed Master’s Thesis and/or Doctoral Dissertations. Individual awards made from this BAA under CD-02 plan to be approximately $50K to $90K with two 12-month option years.
CO-01: Multi Beam Antenna on Aerial Moving Platform
CO-02: Protecting Training Data in the Use of Large Language Models
CO-03: Synthetic Dataset Generation and Evaluation of Methods for Navy Data
CR-01 Photonic Compute
DD01: Thermal Protective System Material Analysis Thermal
DD02: Firmware Scanning
DD03: Embedding Systems Engineering Expertise
DD04: High-Power Antenna and Enabling Components
DD05: Hypersonic Materials and coupled fluid-thermal-structural interaction M&S
DD06: Improved Laser Weapons System Optics and Diagnostics
DD07: Non-Determinate System Impacts on System Safety, understanding the role of AI/ML and the ability to trust those systems
DD08: Cognitive EW
DD09: Effects Measurement Techniques
DD10: Clutter Recognition Algorithms
DD11: AI Analysis of Event-Driven Electromagnetic Spectrum Monitoring
DD12: Radio Frequency Machine Learning (RFML) Analysis for Anomaly Detection of Known Electromagnetic Emissions
DD13: Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI)
DD14: Guarantees in AI/ML
IH-01: Energetic materials that offer disruptive advances in performance
IH-02: Artificial Intelligence solutions that improve the performance of munitions and other energetic systems.
PD-01: Development of High Performance Photo-Activated Catalysts with High Activity and Quantum Efficiency for Oxidation of Airborne Contamination on Submarines.
PH-01: Additive Manufacturing (AM)
PH-02:: Metallic Alloys
KPT-01: Explore directional sensors on subsurface bottom mounted platforms and data analysis techniques to provide situational awareness for the underwater environment
KPT-02: Investigate potential payload designs to enable a Small Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (SUUV) to land (“bottom”) on the sea floor, maintain bottom position for extended periods (up to 24 hours), and separate from the sea floor under its own power.
KPT-03: Conduct basic, applied, and advanced technology research combining algorithms, data analytics, and computational science and engineering; especially in the areas of securing Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning technologies.
KPT-04: Conduct basic, applied, and advanced technology research in the areas of securing Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning technologies
KPT-05: Industrial robotic automation is critical to advancing maintenance and repair. Due to the high mix, low volume nature of repair and multitude of options for end of arm tooling (EOAT) it is critical that path planning algorithms support multiple orientations and control in 1) EOAT orientation constrained to a single axis, free rotation about orientation axis, 2) EOAT orientation constrained in a single axis, rotation constrained about orientation axis, and 3) EOAT orientation constrained in all axes. Explore integration of various EOAT position/orientation requirements for automated path planning. Demonstrate this capability by performing each of the orientation controlled actions on a provided geometry.
KPT-06: Industrial robotic automation is critical to advancing maintenance and repair Due to the high mix, low volume nature of repair it is critical that scan to path algorithms are developed to support the unique requirements of systems. Explore path planning for continuous motion, non-tiled applications for curved and complex surfaces to support laser ablation, corrosion/damage removal and/or surface preparation prior to coating. Demonstrate the laser ablation capability by scanning a provided part, auto-generation of path, and robot execution of continuous motion over a surface curved in both directions, orientation control is desired, but not required.
KPT-07:
Laser ablation is a powerful, proven process for coating removal with the ability to improve marine platforms, however, the pulsed lasers approved for coating removal operate at power levels that cause unintended substrate melting. Following resolidification, microstructural changes occur that potentially degrade material properties and structural performance. Hypothesis-driven scientific exploration is critical to understand the physical mechanisms at work, the relationships between surface and bulk properties, and long-term impacts on performance. This data will be utilized to inform and develop a future laser ablation performance specification.
NPT-01:
Innovative sensor techniques and sensor network modeling to increase the overall probability and confidence of detection, track quality, and collection of other target characteristics.
NPT-02:
Advanced AI/Machine Learning architectures that produce human-interpretable results and yield explainable decisions.
NPT-03:
Innovative technologies for multi-vehicle autonomy, mobile distributed sensing, undersea networks, and next generation signal distribution platforms in order to produce sufficient and reliable communications and address new challenges.
NPT-04:
Exploring the full electromagnetic (EM) spectrum to develop advanced imaging and electronic capabilities (antenna design, high dynamic range imaging, microwave interferometry, and high-energy laser research).
NPT-05:
Advanced materials, additive manufacturing, and metamaterials.
NPT-06:
Investigate solutions for enhancing Human-Machine Teams (HMT) within the realm of undersea systems delivering advanced command-and-control capabilities.
NPT-07:
Perform research to advance the understanding and application of decision science to the undersea domain.
NPT-08:
Fundamental research to develop advanced modeling capabilities for the design of impact and shock resistant structural configurations for use in undersea payloads and structures.
JHTO-01:
Seeking proposals directed toward faculty-run research projects involving undergraduate students where the focus is on hypersonics capability development. Focus is especially, but not solely, on research projects dealing with ground and flight test and evaluation, instrumentation, data analytics, modeling and simulation, and manufacturing.
This BAA is open only to colleges and universities.
Awards made from this BAA plan to be approximately $100k to $150k total for the base year with two 12-month option years for a potential range of $300k-$450k inclusive of options. Average award value for FY24 NEEC submissions was $410k. Anticipated award date is 1 April 2025.