National Security Corridor
The Mark & Claudia Thompson National Security Corridor offers experiential learning environments to educate industry-leading professionals.
Located in the College of Engineering & Mines (CEM), this corridor showcases UND’s national security research and hands-on training to prospective students, research partners, and government agencies.
UND’s facilities strengthen campus and statewide expertise in:
- Space and satellite development, deployment and operations
- Space debris identification and assessment
- Component assembly and clean room access
- Advanced UAS and satellite applications
- Systems fabrication, assembly and environmental testing
- Digital engineering and big data
The Mark & Claudia Thompson National Security Corridor is housed in CEM, but is part of the campus-wide National Security Initiative. Top leaders from NASA and U.S. Space Force look to UND and CEM because we deliver advanced research and develop top engineers who will lead the industry forward.
Specialized Labs and Research Spaces
Digital Engineering and Big Data Lab
Located in Harrington 109, this space hosts many workstations and large displays serve individual and group projects. The control for the bistatic radar is housed here.>
Satellite Fabrication and Assembly Lab
Located in Harrington 120, this space is the hub for satellite and space-related instrument and equipment assembly. The lab contains several smaller labs including the clean room.
Satellite Component Lab
Room 120C houses state-of-the-art satellite design and engineering equipment. It supports integration at both the device and component level. Components produced here move to the fabrication and assembly space where they are integrated into subsystems and full satellites.
Environmental Testing Lab
This lab contains test equipment to simulate conditions of the satellite during launch and on orbit. Our vibration testing system ensures the satellite survives rocket launch. The high vacuum system simulates the vacuum of space, and the thermal cycling system analyzes temperature differences that the satellite will experience in space.
Clean Room
Our clean room is a secured and meticulously clean area maintaining a very low concentration of airborne particulates. Well isolated and controlled from contamination, the space is actively cleansed to ensure a safe environment for sensitive components and assembly.
RADAR Lab
The newest lab in the corridor focuses on developing advanced signal processing and machine learning systems for radar and communications. The RADAR Lab will work to optimize and enhance performance and efficiency in complex environments. This research could directly impact national security as well as commercial sectors.
Upcoming Laboratory Facilities
- Two additional labs are currently being renovated to house a machine vision lab and a cybersecurity lab.
- The machine vision lab will focus on optics and how computers interpret images captured by cameras, including infrared sensors like those used on high-end drones.
- The cybersecurity lab will create a real-world test bed for students. They will use the space for ethical hacking, learning to identify vulnerabilities and strengthen systems against attacks.