Hacking for Defense

About Hacking for Defense

Hacking for Defense Incorporated uses small, program-focused grants to support a national security training model built around university teams, educators, and government sponsors. Its recent awards cluster around program support for universities and related organizations that help students work on defense and public-sector problems through experiential, problem-centric collaboration. The largest recent grant in the list is $80,000 to Stanford University for program support, followed by $55,000 to George Mason University Foundation Inc and $43,125 to The University of Texas at Austin. Those awards point to a funding pattern centered on higher education partners rather than individual researchers or unrestricted institutional support. The foundation also backs institutions in different parts of the country, including The Regents of the University of California at San Diego, Carnegie Mellon University, and Trustees of the Columbia University in the City of New York. Recent grants also reach organizations outside the university core when they appear tied to the same program model, such as Neurosmart, J3d Labs Inc, Offset Ai, Project Agrippa LLC, Saif Systems Inc, and Valis Systems. Across the list, the common thread is direct support for program delivery, prototyping, training, and implementation within the Hacking for Defense network.

What Hacking for Defense Funds

Education and training is central to the foundation’s giving. It awarded $55,000 to George Mason University Foundation Inc for program support, aligning with its educator and sponsor training activity. The same pattern appears in support for conferences and curriculum-related participation across the Hacking for Defense model. University-based defense innovation is another clear theme. Hacking for Defense Incorporated gave $30,000 to Regents of the University of California at San Diego for program support and $20,000 to Carnegie Mellon University for program support, showing investment in institutions that can run student teams and connect them with real-world problem sets. It also funds public-sector problem solving through campus programs in multiple states. Examples include $15,000 to University of Cincinnati Foundation and $15,000 to University of Hawaii Foundation, both for program support, indicating a broad set of participating institutions rather than a single regional cluster.

How Hacking for Defense Gives