Symposium Opportunities Make the 'Military Industrial' Less 'Complex'

Support to the Warfighter Symposium logo

North Carolina is ready for a leadership role in military medical technology.

That’s the throw-down message from Scott Dorney, executive director of the North Carolina Military Business Center, for attendees at the 2019 Warfighter symposium in Chapel Hill.

The annual event connects businesses and academics in North Carolina with military and other federal agencies that require or purchase medical supplies, equipment, devices, pharmaceuticals, medical information technology and medical services.

NCMBC Helps Land Military Contracts

NCMBC, which conducts the symposium, is a business development entity of the North Carolina Community College System, headquartered at Fayetteville Technical Community College.

NCMBC has had considerable success in aiding NC businesses and researchers since its founding in 2005 through February 2019. It assisted firms that won 3,209 contracts worth at least $10.4 billion. The Department of Defense has awarded $3.7 billion in prime contracts to companies in 80 of North Carolina’s 100 counties.

Learning how to sell innovation to the military

The Biomedical and Biodefense Support to the Warfighter portion of the conference included sessions on the federal biodefense research and development landscape, mechanisms for engaging the defense and military biomedical R&D community, and new models for driving innovation through public-private partnerships.  

Scott Dorney
Scott Dorney

Sponsored by the North Carolina Biotechnology Center and both NC Senators, among others, the event provides NC business and academic leaders with a roadmap through the complex process for proposing research projects, products, or services to the military.

North Carolina is home to Fort Bragg, the largest U.S. Army base in the world, and the Womack Army Medical Center there. The state also has four Veterans Administration hospitals, 22 VA clinics, two major military medical facilities, and the Army Research Office. 

Womack, a state-of-the-art medical complex, is dedicated to Medal of Honor recipient PFC Bryant Homer Womack. He was a medic who gave his life tending to the wounds of his fellow soldiers, even though he, himself, had sustained mortal wounds during a surprise enemy attack in Korea in 1952.  

Y. Sammy Choi, M.D., director of research at Womack, has allied the center with academic and community partnerships through the Cape Fear Research Consortium, the Fort Bragg Research Institute, and the Greater Cumberland County Health Sector Partnership. 

Pitch-tank event set for September

During a morning panel session at the symposium, Choi announced the launch of the Military Innovation Operational Forum (MIO-Forum) and its upcoming “pitch-tank” session in September. The MIO-Forum will also include “think-tank” sessions for military professionals to announce operational requirements to the public. 

NCMBC and the Fort Bragg Research Institute co-host four think-tank and pitch-tank sessions across the state each year for selected businesses to present projects and technologies in response to MIO-Forum-announced requirements. 

The next pitch-tank session is scheduled for Sept. 12 at Coastal Carolina Community College in Jacksonville. Businesses will be selected to present from white-paper submissions, which are due here by July 17.

White papers should be no more than two pages, single-spaced, 12 font, without video links, slides, or attachments. They must include title, presenter name and contact information, 150-word abstract, technology background and description, proposed military application, FDA or other clearances, any prior military collaborations and five references.

Allan Maurer, NCBiotech Writer
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