The NSIN Capstone program is an opportunity for student technologists and entrepreneurs to serve their country and provide solutions to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) while solving real-world national security challenges via existing university capstone courses.

Overview

The NSIN Capstone program matches highly talented undergraduate and graduate students with operational military commands to deliver rapid, early-stage prototypes (whether technical or policy-centered), that help solve the project sponsor problems.

Participants

The NSIN Capstone program is open to students at the undergraduate and graduate level seeking to satisfy academic requirements while also serving national security. Participants possess a diverse set of skills ranging from mobile and web app development, data analysis and visualization, hardware prototyping, social media strategy, and technology scouting. Participants get the opportunity to work on a mission-focused real-world project, participate in a professional development opportunity, work directly with military and high-level national security leaders, and gain perspective on how their skills and experience can have an outsized impact on national security.

Military Project Sponsors

Addressing real-world defense problems that require technical and entrepreneurial expertise, the Capstone program matches problem sponsors with a small team of students with diverse viewpoints and skill sets that match the project needs. The program cohorts may span a single academic semester or a full academic year. To satisfy the educational requirement and provide novel solutions for the program, student teams will deliver rapid, early-stage prototypes to the project sponsor. During the program, military sponsors must supply an Action Officer to engage with their fellows every week (typically 2-3 hours per week).

Projects

Projects often include hardware design and prototyping, software development, data analysis and visualization, technology scouting, communications, and marketing strategy, and policy research. Successful projects are well-scoped with a clear end state and are achievable within the lifespan of the project.

Questions about Capstone?

Please email capstone@NSIN.mil to request an email problem submission form.