De-Risking the Impossible: How Defense Research Fuels Commercial Energy Innovation

BY ERIC GOUMILLOUT, SENIOR ELECTRICAL ENGINEER

In the 1960s, the Department of War funded a project that private industry wouldn't touch: ARPANET. Investors saw no immediate "shareholder value" in a decentralized network for data. Today, we call that moonshot the Internet.

I’ve spent my career at CANA LLC operating in that same high-stakes space. We aren't just looking for incremental gains; we are pursuing the next Great Leap in energy logistics - the kind of innovation that only happens when federal research dollars de-risk the future.

The Next Frontier: Wireless Power Transmission (WPT)

Just as wireless networking transformed the internet from a desk-bound tool to a mobile utility, our work in WPT is redesigning energy infrastructure to be as mobile as the devices it powers, ensuring energy reaches the 'unreachable' without the constraints of a physical tether.

• The Military Case: We utilize Laser Power Beaming (LPB) to sustain surveillance drones in the air indefinitely and provide a 'set-it-and-forget-it' power solution for remote sensor stations, reducing the logistical burden and minimizing safety risks for operators. Simultaneously, we are leveraging 5G Wireless Energy to keep low-power sensors operational from a distance, creating a "perpetual" intelligence network.

• The Commercial/Residential Leap: This research is the "stress test" for a world where smart devices and home sensors never need a battery change. By perfecting these systems in the harshest military environments, we pave the way for a wire-free, battery-less "Internet of Things" in every home.

  
  

Standardizing Resilience: The Power of TMS

Connectivity is nothing without stability. My research into the Tactical Microgrid Standard (TMS) (MIL-STD-3071) focuses on how we integrate diverse power sources into a single, cohesive entity.

• The eTHOR Advantage: By applying TMS to the electric Tactical Humanitarian Operations Response (eTHOR) Mobile Power Station - an autonomous, electric, off-road vehicle with exportable power - we've learned how to connect mobile energy assets to a grid to make it run more efficiently while ensuring the entire network remains stable under stress.

• The Community Win: This isn't just for the battlefield. If neighborhoods and commercial hubs adopt the TMS standard, we create a "plug-and-play" ecosystem for energy. This allows local communities to integrate solar, wind, and mobile storage with unprecedented resilience—ensuring that when the main grid fails, the neighborhood stays on.

  
  

Why Public Funding Matters

Private industry is often tethered to the next quarterly report. A stronger commitment to shareholders than to the technology itself means they often cannot afford the inherent risk of research—where years of effort might yield no immediate product. Federal R&D is the only entity with the mandate to take those hits. By the time these innovations reach your smart home or your local utility, they have been refined in the crucible of defense research.

Bridging the Gap

At CANA, one of our roles is technology translation. We can take the raw data from DoW "moonshots" and model how they scale for a commercial warehouse or a residential smart-grid. The billions spent on defense research can pay dividends for every citizen across a spectrum of needs. This is the question: If the government hadn't taken the "unprofitable" risk on the internet 60 years ago, where would we be today? What "impossible" energy technology are you betting on for the next 60?

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About CANA. CANA is a veteran women-owned small business (VWOSB) that empowers federal and commercial organizations to thrive in a global digital world through precise and adaptable technology solutions. We fuse our rigorous analytics and top-tier talent with deep expertise in complex logistics to design customer-centric, powerful solutions. We strive to create an environment that allows our Team and Clients more time to focus on the things that matter most.