The Center for Mission Engineering (CME), founded early in 2025 as the nation’s first Mission Engineering applied research center, earned provisional status this March as an ODU “research institute or center (RIC)”, with kickstarting government and industry initiatives built on partnerships aligned with DivRED’s Strategic plan and OERI’s deep bench of modeling and simulation capabilities – amended by AI and Machine Learning resources.
As CME Executive Director Dr. Thomas Irwin notes, “We’re all about research that advances Mission Engineering and Integration, in alignment with the delivery of desired warfighting mission outcomes as directed by serial federal authorities including SECWAR Memo “Reforming Joint Requirements Process” (August 2025) and Dept. of War Report “Acquisition Transformation Strategy” (November 2025).” This is familiar DoW territory for Irwin, recently retired from a Marine Corps and Joint Staff career of delivering Innovation to the warfighter.
Further, the Office of Undersecretary of War (R&E) released on March 6 2026 a pre-decisional architecture for the DoW Mission Engineering Integration Activity, on which CME was consulted and for which CME plans to take implementation leadership on ODU’s behalf with government, industry and international partners with whom CME is already engaged to optimize mission readiness and realize mission outcomes. ODU AVP Dr. Marty Irvine, a former Pentagon colleague of Dr. Irwin, plays a key CME advocacy and support role.
Principal CME research themes include:
-AI/ML-optimized maturity models to enhance mission execution capabilities
-Digitally-based systems dynamics tools for mission readiness assessment
-AI-enabled maturity tools to digitally transform workflow processes
-Model-Based Mission Engineering (MBME) exploration of behavioral modeling
These themes leverage ODU and OERI engineering strengths as the first US university to develop “next generation” Mission Engineering improvements, provide aligned workforce upskilling venues for government and industry users, and test and evaluate research theme technologies in shipyards, Air Combat Command, Space Domain Organizations, and other operational mission environments. Critical maritime partners include two HII divisions: Newport News Shipbuilding and Mission Technology Solutions.
These collaborative CME activities are designed to contribute to further externally sponsored Mission Engineering research by government and industry — and energize internal ODU partnerships to complement and generate engineering curricula and certification.
CME leadership includes Dr. Deri Draper-Amason, currently designated Lead Project Scientist but with a history of ODU titles including Provost Faculty Fellow. Among other publications, Dr. Draper-Amason has published three Mission Engineering-themed papers via the Naval Postgraduate School, which plays a key role in the DoW transformation of Systems Engineering to System-of-Systems and on to Mission Engineering 3.0. Currently, she’s presenting at the 2026 Defense Manufacturing Conference on her AI/Machine Learning innovations in DoW “readiness” assessments, funded by OUSD (R&E) Office of Specialty Engineering.
CME partners include:
– OUSW R&E Digital Manufacturing Enterprise Working Group, with ~75 warfighting industry and government advanced engineers
– NDIA Digital Manufacturing Working Group, with ~30 warfighting industry digital engineers from >12 companies
– Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, a NATO affiliate seeking an East Coast Mission Engineering training center
– HII Newport News Shipyard, which has contracted CME to assess AI integration opportunities in yard workflow processes.
– Kompozition Inc, an AUKUS-related partnership focused on behavioral modeling consequences of Mission Engineering applications
– NSWC Dahlgren, co-offering intensive, comprehensive Mission Engineering Competency Workshops
– NSWC Corona, a logistics partnership with its NAVSEA Acquisition Director to expedite acquisition contracting processes
