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Seeking out new technology or exciting ideas at the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Global is something of a treasure hunt. Dr. Scott Walper, science director, ONR Global, says the search for innovative projects can take him and his team of program officers all over the world, relying on a bit of luck — or serendipity — to strike gold. But recently, Walper said he and his predecessor for Synthetic Biology at ONR Global, Dr. Patrick Rose, who is now with SPRIND (Germany’s Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation) had an idea to try something a little different. Walper said, “The thought was we would put out a call for a ‘Serendipity Collective,’ where we would sponsor a workshop and ask people to tell us their craziest ideas”. To attract innovators, the team worked with the company IdeatePlus. Walper said Kevin D'Silva, IdeatePlus CEO, and his team were instrumental in helping develop and manage the event, setting up a web-based platform to crowdsource and push out a social media campaign. The website generated 73 concepts from more than 225 active participants. The information was collected and shared it with a team of experts, including an artist, engineer, scientist and someone from the humanities. The experts scored proposals based on originality and feasibility. Eight teams were then invited to the “Serendipity Collective” held in Berlin in May. From those core concepts, another panel of experts composed of representatives from ONR Global, DEVCOM, the VW (Volkswagen) Foundation and SPRIND picked the ones they wanted to sponsor with an award of $50,000 to kick-start their efforts.

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) Global has promoted Dr. Marcus Tepaske to the role of Technical Director, where he will lead experts in finding cutting-edge technologies and solutions and getting them into the hands of Sailors and Marines.

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) Global welcomed new leadership during a change of command ceremony at the Admiralty House Garden in Portsmouth, United Kingdom, while also commemorating its 80th anniversary. Chief of Naval Research Rear Adm. Lorin C. Selby officiated the ceremony, which was attended by U.S. and Royal Navy representatives.

The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV), the Hon. Carlos Del Toro, recently convened with representatives from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Global's office in Santiago, Chile.

When in Rome, as the saying goes, do as the Romans do. So, when in Britain, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Global does what the British do – take tea at least once a month with potential industry partners. Jeffrey Brewer, co-director, ONR Global London Tech Bridge (LTB), said the Tea and Tech engagement is more than just a fun event. Its aim is to find solutions to problems that have been identified by U.S. Navy and Marine personnel or by the Royal Navy. Most of the companies that are invited are based in the U.K., although other European-based companies as well as U.S. companies may be approached. “We meet with several innovative companies in a rapid-fire format,” said Brewer. “Companies have a limited time to make their pitches, and we have subject matter experts from both navies on hand to ask questions and provide feedback. It’s almost a “Shark Tank” format.”

In July 2023, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) partnered with the 144th Airlift Squadron of the Alaska Air National Guard to deploy five different types of weather buoys across more than 1,000 nautical miles of the Arctic Ocean. Such deployments are critical for maintaining the Arctic Observing Network (AON), which provides observations for weather and ice forecasting and related research. “Understanding ocean and weather conditions in the Arctic region is crucial to ensuring safe, effective naval operations in this challenging part of the world,” said Chief of Naval Research Rear Adm. Kurt Rothenhaus. “Exercises like this buoy drop are a testament to the value of strong international scientific partnerships and collaboration, in order to share knowledge, resources and insights.” The buoy air deployment supported the International Arctic Buoy Programme (IABP), a collaborative program comprising more than 32 different research and operational institutions from 10 different countries and four international agencies — including the International Cooperative Engagement Program for Polar Research (ICE-PPR), European Meteorological Network, World Climate Research Programme and World Meteorological Organization.

In a first-of-its-kind transatlantic hybrid event, the Royal Navy and U.S. Navy recently converged at His Majesty’s Naval Base (HMNB) Portsmouth and Downtown Norfolk, Virginia, to explore how cutting-edge computer vision technologies can revolutionize the maintenance and sustainment of platforms across air, land, and maritime domains, bolstering overall warfighting capabilities.

Researchers from the University of New South Wales in Sydney are finding ways to increase the capability of human‐machine cooperation, by exploring a novel line of research based in future intent prediction.

The University of Manchester researchers are using synthetic biology to explore a more efficient and reliable pathway towards the production of jet fuels.

Quantum computers may be able to help create new pharmaceuticals, understand chemical reactions, solve certain problems that are otherwise intractable, create new materials and allow for highly disruptive applications in numerous sectors.