Leonard Wood Institute

The Leonard Wood Institute, or "LWI", is a Fort Leonard Wood-based, non-profit research organization that has invested millions of dollars in meeting some of the Army's most pressing technology needs and at the same has helped grow the region's and Missouri's defense industry.
LWI's office is located in the University of Missouri Technology Park on Fort Leonard Wood, one of the first facilities of its type to be constructed on an active duty Army installation. While LWI does not operate the Tech Park, it is closely involved with the University and other organizations in a partnership to promote and grow the Park and to make it a key asset for the Army's training and combat development missions at Fort Leonard Wood.

LWI was established in 2004 as a public/private partnership to connect the research and development (R&D) expertise of regional universities and businesses with the Army's technology-related problems, especially those connected to the Army's missions at Fort Leonard Wood. The idea behind LWI's establishment was to foster and manage collaborations between university and business researchers interested in Army-funded R&D projects and, because of the increased involvement with the Army at Fort Leonard Wood, grow the economy of the region and state over time. In addition to R&D, LWI is closely involved with efforts to expand and support the Army training missions present at Fort Leonard Wood and to help attract new missions in the future.

In the first few years of operation, LWI and its public-private partners-the Missouri Department of Economic Development, the University of Missouri System, the Battelle Memorial Institute, the Boeing Company, and Missouri Enterprise-provided staff support and worked in collaboration on several Army initiatives, especially in the areas of geospatial engineering, robotics, modeling and simulation and battlespace awareness.

LWI's office at the UM Technology Park

MG Randal Castro, the Commanding General of Fort Leonard Wood, and representatives of LWI signed a Memorandum of Understanding that established a mechanism for the Army and LWI to "cooperate in research, experimentation, and the exchange of information, in areas of mutual interest in support of Fort Leonard Wood's unique chemical defense, military engineering and military police missions". Today, the MOU helps guide and support Fort Leonard Wood's active engagement with LWI and its private sector partners and is the foundation of many of its mutual efforts.

In 2007 LWI was able to attract funding from the U.S. Congress through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory that allowed LWI to begin providing competitively awarded research grants through subcontracts with companies and universities, and to hire a permanent staff. In a press release issued at the time, LWI President Mike Dunbar credited 4th District Congressman Ike Skelton for playing the key role in helping LWI receive the money necessary to fund R&D projects. He said, "Congressman Skelton once again showed his strong support for the Army and for the region by working to secure this funding. The research will bring new technologies that will help our soldiers be the best trained and equipped fighting force in the world, and will also help grow the economy in our region and in the state in some real and meaningful ways."

Since 2007, LWI has been able to invest more than $55,000,000 in 111 separate research projects, most of which are being performed by organizations based in Missouri. LWI's role is to work with the Army to establish research topics, solicit research proposals from against the topics, and then use a competitive selection process to decide on which projects it will fund. In addition, LWI oversees and manages the research projects being performed by the research subcontractors, and reports the final results to the Army in a consolidated report. LWI is also working with the Army to ensure that the highest priority research outcomes are utilized by the Army.

LWI currently has an open solicitation for research proposal and expects to award about $9,000,000 of new research funding in August, with projects to be completed at the end of 2011. LWI hopes to continue initiating research projects for at least the next two years, but future plans are dependent whether LWI can secure additional funds from the federal government.

Through the applied research funding, LWI offers the Army quick and ready access to a group of researchers who otherwise might not have been involved in military technology development, while at the same time increasing the ability of those same organizations to compete for future defense work.

Several businesses have either relocated to the area or existing operations have been expanded as a result of LWI's research funding. As an example, a Florida-based company, Alakai Consulting and Engineering, has opened an office in the Technology Park to pursue its new generation laser that can detect explosives from a distance, offering a potential defense against roadside bombs and other explosive hazards. LWI has invested about $1.8 million in Alakai's technology, and Army laboratories have invested additional funds. There is a reasonable expectation that Alakai's technology will eventually become part of an Army acquisition program.

Another example of a company benefitting from LWI's research program is DefBar Systems of Lebanon and Salem, Missouri. LWI has invested about $1.4 million in DefBar's development of a lighter, cheaper ceramic armor that performs better than some metallic armor now being used by the Army. The Army has expressed significant interest in DefBar's products and the company may be in a position to build armor for the next generation of light tactical vehicles, possibly bringing new jobs and investment to the region.

Finally, Lincoln University of Jefferson City, Missouri, is an LWI research partner that has produced a technology that has been used by Army Soldiers on a world-wide basis. In 2007, LWI made its first research award to Lincoln to study the causes associated with a growing number of suicides in the Army and to recommend the best methods that could be employed by the Army to reduce the numbers. Through excellent research and a close partnership with the Army and LWI, Lincoln researchers recommended a new training and assessment system, largely using computer based displays and diagnostics. The Army was so impressed with the results that it purchased the system for use on a world-wide basis.

If you would like a complete list of LWI's research projects and other activities, please contact LWI's office at (573) 329-8502 or by e-mail at admin@leonardwoodinstitute.org.