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.
"In general, we endeavor to reach small, innovative companies and non-traditional defense contractors, who may not have established relationships with DoD and MoD [Ministry of Defence] programs."
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."
It was during one of the recent Tea and Tech events that Marc Christino, innovation program manager, London Tech Bridge, said he and colleagues saw a pitch for a bridge simulator called Vasco and recognized it could be a potential solution for a request from TechSolutions, ONR Global's rapid-response technology development program that produces prototype solutions to problems identified by Sailors and Marines.
"ONR TechSolutions had an end user who was looking for some way to be able to do VR [virtual reality] type of bridge training," said Christino.
"This is a commercial-based system for yachts and cruise ships and their crews. And, they have master mariners teaching and evaluating the crews all over the world, remotely."
As a retired Navy captain and former navigator, Christino had not seen that type of capability before. So, they tried out the system by integrating it on a laptop with a router that didn't have to connect through the Department of the Navy's (DoN) virtual protocol network (VPN).
"We did a demonstration to see whether or not this had a feasibility and desirability from end users to take it to the next step," said Christino. "To have the ship handling capabilities and the visuals of an actual Navy ship."
The demonstration of the bridge simulation worked out well, but the London Tech Bridge does not invest directly into companies. Rather, Christino said, "We go and find something that's happening in the commercial world that we could use as dual-use technology. The advantage of dual-use technology is that the R&D [research and development] is paid for by the company - instead of the R&D being paid for by the government."
Industry engagements, like Tea and Tech, are meant to uncover the cutting-edge of industry innovation and build the connections that will link those commercial applications with the naval programs in need of the technology.
"We provide a level of filtering so we're connecting only the most promising companies," said Brewer. "In general, we endeavor to reach small, innovative companies and non-traditional defense contractors, who may not have established relationships with DoD and MoD [Ministry of Defence] programs."
Because of the London Tech Bridge, those links are being made between the DoN and private industry, which may have something to offer the warfighter but have not yet had the opportunity to pitch their innovations. Of the hundred or so companies vetted in the past year and a half, they have connected one to two companies per month with naval programs or needs. Brewer said for Tea & Tech, they typically focus on a problem statement provided by a stakeholder in the U.S. Navy or Royal Navy in order to provide answers back to Naval Programs.
"My favorite part of Tea & Tech is the "aha" moment," said Brewer. "When we realize how to connect a novel technology in an innovative way to meet a naval requirement."
