www.montereycountynow.com JULY 31-AUGUST 6, 2025 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 11 In a classroom inside newly renovated Bullard Hall at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Ross Eldred pulls a wheeled table to the front of the room to show off his invention, an “autonomous spherical robot for shipwreck interior exploration.” Normally looking like a model-sized sphere, something akin to the Star Wars Death Star, the prototype is in pieces to show the inner workings to the over 50 businesspeople and investors in the audience. This is the opening “reverse pitch” of the day on July 23, at NPS’ first-ever “From Lab to Launch” event, showing off six patented inventions by NPS professors and former students. NPS invited businesses and investors to come to campus for a 90-minute presentation showcasing six inventions born out of military needs—referred to as “capability gaps” in military parlance—but often with real commercial applications. Each inventor pitched the audience, much like TV’s Shark Tank without the celebrities or dramatic music. The idea is that interested businesses or investors will consider licensing the patented ideas for manufacturing and sales. Since 1973, the school has produced 192 patents, each of them available for licensing by civilian companies. “The goal is to find partnerships that are able to take ideas from lab to launch,” Kaitlin Penry, director of emerging tech and innovation in the NPS Office of Research and Innovation, explained to guests. “These technologies are more than just concepts, they are grounded in operational needs. They’ve been tested and in some cases designed by the end users themselves,” Penry said. She called each of the inventions “potential gamechangers,” not just for the military but for commercial markets. Although the inventions are highly technical, it’s not difficult to imagine both military and civilian uses. In Eldred’s case, his robot could be used for retrieving sensitive data from a sunken enemy submarine, but also exploring underwater environments. Another graduate, U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Christian Theissen, invented what he called a detachable drone hijacker and jammer. He opened his presentation by taking the audience back to a year ago when Ukrainian forces successfully mounted a covert drone attack on Russia codenamed Spiderweb, that took out over 30 percent of Russia’s fleet of air missile carriers. “For less than $250,000 the Ukrainians were able to inflict over $7 billion worth of damage,” Theissen said. “This operation wasn’t just about firepower, it was about matching a perceived weakness with low-cost, emerging technology against a perceived strength.” He shared that U.S. bases are also at risk of such attacks—his invention is meant to fill that capability gap, using “friendly” drones to ward off attacks by an enemy through jamming their communication signals. Penry, who formerly worked at the Pentagon, created the reverse pitch event after coming to NPS and seeing the innovations of staff and students. “I knew there was so much potential here to grow NPS’ presence in the defense innovation world,” she says. First Pitch For the first time, NPS opens its doors to civilian businesses to showcase patented inventions. By Pam Marino Ross Eldred presents his robot, made by a 3-D printer and called a WIEVLE, or Wreck Interior Exploration Vehicle. Beyond potential military uses, he notes boating, diving and fishing. NEWS “The goal is to take ideas from lab to launch.” SPECIALIST 2ND CLASS JANIEL ADAMES
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