URI_Research_Magazine_Momentum_Fall_2021_Melissa-McCarthy

Brine will work across the University community to build partnerships, create new business opportunities, and advance defense- related research efforts.

Clocking in at more than $700 billion annually, the United States Department of Defense (DoD) budget accounts for more than half of discretionary government spending. The University of Rhode Island (URI) hopes to secure a bigger chunk of that funding for researchers and businesses in the Ocean State. Spearheading the effort is Colonel Erik Brine, the first director of defense sector research and development initiatives and operations at URI. With a salary and reporting line that has been split between the URI Research Foundation (URIRF), the URI Business Engagement Center, the College of Engineering, the Vice President for Research and the Office of the President, Brine will work across the University

community to build partnerships, create new business opportunities, and advance defense- related research efforts. “Having a focus in this area creates an intentional and coordinated effort to work with the largest sector of the government that provides significant funding,” Brine says. “It’s incredibly important for our local economic development as well. The biggest pieces of the economy in Rhode Island, after tourism, are health care and defense, so it’s really important to us as a state.” An Air Force pilot veteran and reservist, Brine comes equipped with vast experience in defense, technology, veteran affairs and public policy. He served as an adviser to U.S. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, and in his most recent role in Washington, oversaw the $93 billion research and development portion of the Defense Budget as a White House Office of Management and Budget

FALL | 2021 Page 27