New Class Teaches Soldiers Innovation Skills

BMNT Inc., NC State partner for Innovation Project Leaders course

PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- BMNT Inc. and North Carolina State University will offer a series of training courses that teach members of the military community to apply lean innovation and entrepreneurship techniques to address national security and defense problems.

The series will offer both self-paced and instructor-led courses of varying lengths. Participants in the Innovation Project Leaders class will learn skills such as value proposition mapping and minimum viable product experiments. The class is one in BMNT's series of Hacking for X (H4Xtm) courses and is based on the curriculum for the national Hacking for Defense® program, which teaches students at 50+ universities to solve critical national security challenges.

"This partnership brings us the ability to scale from training individual innovators to creating a lasting culture across the armed services," says Bull Holland, who taught a version of the course at NC State, as well as for the U.S. Army's 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions; and directs BMNT's H4X training series. "Students in this first course will learn how to apply rapid experimentation techniques perfected over time by numerous innovative startups to the daily defense challenges they face in the field."

Sponsored by NC State's Office of Research and Innovation (ORI) National Security Initiatives and BMNT, the course will focus on filling a critical missing skill in the capabilities development process ? defining evidence-based product features. BMNT and ORI will also partner with NC State Entrepreneurship to identify additional opportunities for education, research and development. The National Guard Bureau is providing funding for guardsmen to take the course.

"Military leaders have been asking service members to learn 'how industry does it,'" Holland says. "The Innovation Project Leaders class is a giant leap toward that goal."

In the class, experts from the Army Research Laboratory, tech companies, universities and the capabilities development community will work with soldiers to develop solutions to challenges ranging from modernizing infantry mortar systems to improving Special Operations recruiting.  

"NC State proudly offers market-driven continuing education programs for individuals and groups in North Carolina and beyond, so this agreement with BMNT is a great way to support the specific training interests of our military community," says Alyson Wilson, NC State's associate vice chancellor for national security and special research initiatives.  

For information on the class, contact Bull Holland, [email protected].

Contact: Terri S. Vanech, BMNT Communications Manager, 203-918-1270, [email protected]

SOURCE BMNT Inc