Faculty members' AI expertise accelerates U.S. Navy preparedness
Faculty members at the Virginia Tech National Security Institute are leveraging their knowledge in artificial intelligence to help civilian researchers and engineers for the U.S Navy keep pace with emerging technologies and threats.
Virginia Tech faculty train civilian researchers and engineers with the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) in a classroom.
Faculty members at the Virginia Tech National Security Institute are leveraging their expertise in artificial intelligence (AI) to help civilian researchers and engineers for the U.S Navy keep pace with emerging technologies and threats.
Faculty members collaborated with the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division, the largest of the 10 warfare centers in the U.S. Navy, to launch the inaugural sessions of the Virginia Tech National Security Institute AI Training Program in June 2025.
“Our command plays a central role in developing and integrating advanced warfare systems,” said Melanie C. King, business operations training manager for Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD). “Correctly applying AI and machine learning can significantly impact NSWCDD’s mission by accelerating systems engineering, improving modeling and simulation, and enhancing test and evaluation through faster data analysis and anomaly detection.”
Faculty members from across the institute, the Virginia Tech Statistical Applications and Innovations Group, and the Sanghani Center for Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics are helping ensure U.S. researchers and engineers can do just that through three courses. Created for the entire workforce, from senior leaders to entry-level, the courses cover AI policy and governance, the methodologies and models behind AI and machine learning, and AI and test and evaluation.
“Together, these programs provide our researchers with both the leadership insight and the technical depth needed to design, evaluate, and integrate trustworthy AI capabilities into complex naval systems,” King said.
Since the program launched, the three courses have been completed by 80 of Dahlgren's civilians. Leadership at both the institute and Dahlgren say they see the benefits of the collaboration.
“We’re able to listen to NSWCDD experts and leaders on what they want their engineers to know and incorporate that into the curriculum we’re bringing to the table,” said Kelli Esser, chief strategy officer at the at the Virginia Tech National Security Institute (VTNSI). “For VTNSI as a research institute, it’s helpful for us to get to see first-hand what a partner like NSWCDD is looking for in terms of workforce and practical adoption of AI.”
The second and third courses are one week long and conclude with a capstone project on their final day. The first level course is only one day, but Esser said the leadership course sets the foundation for the entire program.
“We use that day to bring leaders into the room and tell them what they need to know about AI from a higher level,” Esser said. “We also use that time to interact with them through different activities and discussions to find out what they believe is most relevant to their organization and their workforce right now.”
Courses for the program are scheduled throughout 2026 to bring AI training to more researchers and engineers, but the material may be adjusted to meet the evolving landscape of AI.
“As these programs continue to mature, I expect them to evolve alongside the rapid advancements in AI and machine learning,” King said. “Because the technology, policy landscape, and operational use cases are constantly shifting, the curriculum will naturally expand to incorporate emerging model architectures, new evaluation techniques, updated guidance, and lessons learned from real‑world system deployments.”
