FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) — Fayetteville State University (FSU) has secured the largest research grant in its history, winning a $10 million award from the U.S. Department of Defense to launch a cutting-edge, defense-focused artificial intelligence program.
The five-year award places FSU among just five institutions nationwide selected for the highly competitive grant.
According to the university, the award is part of the Department of Defense’s fiscal year 2026 Research and Education Program for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions Pilot Program to Increase Research Capacity.
For computer science senior and military spouse Bridgit Graddy, the connection between artificial intelligence and national defense is personal.
“We’ll have a lot more funding here to support the eventual rollout of these drones, and right here at Fayetteville State University will be able to test and design software that will benefit the military,” Graddy said. “We work a lot with security, defense, satellite missions, stuff where we’re exploring, and keeping people safe. Defense is a huge thing. Applied AI at FSU and ISL here means that we’re applying our skills to keep everyone safe.”
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The new Ph.D. program will focus on applied air defense systems, logistics technology, and biomanufacturing, with the goal of training the next generation of AI innovators for defense and other critical fields.
Chancellor Darrell Allison called the award a transformational moment for the university and the broader Fayetteville community.
“We’re really excited about the three critical areas here as Applied Air Defense Systems, Logistics, Technology and Biomanufacturing,” Allison said. “There’s no reason why we can’t be the defense innovation hub where you have the largest military installation in the nation here.”
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The program is joining forces with city and county leaders to build a robust pipeline of skilled graduates and attract new industries to the region.
“We won an award for a drone manufacturer coming here,” Cumberland County Chairman Kirk DeViere said. “That’s why we have continued advanced manufacturers in follow-on logistical tales of the drone manufacturer beginning to look at our community.”
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Students see the investment as a major step forward for FSU and the surrounding area.
Jayden Bates, a Fayetteville native and computer science junior, said the program offers a rare opportunity to build a future close to home.
“Coming to this school and then seeing the growth, especially with what I want to do in life, it is really a big opportunity that I want to take on,” Bates said.
Paul Rodriguez, another student, highlighted the real-world applications of the research. “We have a project that is able to detect how much damage a vehicle sustained in combat may be a bridge by just analyzing the photo of when that situation happened. It should detect how much damage that equipment has. So, I can say, for instance, a combat vehicle got hit by some type of ammunition; we can detect that combat vehicle is mission-ready if it’s not on how much percentage of damage it has been to go and rule out for maintenance.”
Rodriguez added, “A lot of the work we do with the military, for instance, is to try to minimize how much time is spent on the extra work. And that’s how AI helps us. We’re able to work faster. We use AI in a lot of the things that we do.”
FSU’s efforts are supported by city leaders like Mayor Mitch Colvin, who said, “For Chancellor Allison to train a viable workforce that comes through this university that the chairman and I will continue to work with that other partners to make sure that we recruit industry here so they have a job, and they can live here.”
In addition to defense applications, the technology developed at FSU could extend to other real-world challenges, including hurricane response and disaster management, to leverage AI to improve safety and efficiency on and off the battlefield.
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