H4D Spring 2025: New Problem Statements Added

Expanded list includes critical problems from across defense and intelligence communities, new challenges focusing on semiconductor supply chains, rapid reporting systems & enhanced military readiness

Following the initial announcement of the Stanford University Spring 2025 Hacking for Defense® (H4D) course problem statements, several new additions and updated problem statements have been to the list of national security challenges. The expanded list now includes critical problems from across the defense and intelligence communities, with new challenges focusing on semiconductor supply chains, rapid reporting systems and enhanced military readiness.

New Problem Statements

These additions have been made to our original problem set:

To Win the Tech War (In-Q-Tel)

This challenge addresses the critical issue of U.S. military acquisition in light of China's export controls on essential minerals. With restrictions on materials like antimony, gallium, germanium, and graphite affecting semiconductor production, this problem seeks solutions to ensure the continued delivery of advanced defense systems. The challenge highlights the urgent need to secure America's technological supply chain independence.

Rocket Surgery Required (U.S. Army)

This new problem statement focuses on streamlining the maintenance process for Air Missile Defense systems at the Letterkenny Army Depot (LEAD). Currently, equipment repairs can take over 200 days, significantly impacting combat readiness. The challenge seeks to develop a digital feedback system connecting field operators with maintenance teams to reduce system downtime and improve operational effectiveness.

Rapid and Relevant (U.S. Air Force)

The Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) Headquarters has introduced this challenge to address the significant delay in processing and analyzing mission outcomes. Currently, it takes up to two months to deliver critical insights to leadership, severely hampering their ability to make timely decisions. The goal is to reduce this feedback cycle to just 24 hours through AI and machine learning solutions.

Prediction to Prevention: National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)

NGA intelligence analysts struggle to predict and prevent crises due to unreliable human geography data collection methods and the difficulty of integrating datasets into actionable insights using AI and machine learning. Current data remains siloed, static, and labor-intensive to collect, limiting analysts' ability to identify early warning indicators of instability. Without accurate, integrated datasets, decision-makers lack the proactive intelligence needed to mitigate conflicts, humanitarian crises, and security threats before they escalate. A solution would enhance predictive capabilities, enabling earlier interventions and more effective crisis prevention.

Swift Routes, Swift Raids: National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)

NGA intelligence analysts struggle to rapidly assess infrastructure conditions for military operations, disaster relief, and humanitarian efforts due to slow, labor-intensive data verification processes. In crisis zones like Ukraine or during natural disasters, analysts must quickly determine road passability, port depths, and key travel routes, but current methods require significant manual effort. With limited analyst availability and growing global demands, improving data processing efficiency would enable faster, more accurate assessments. A solution would enhance operational planning, support troop deployments, and accelerate humanitarian aid, ultimately improving decision-making in high-pressure environments.

Impact

These new additions reflect the evolving nature of national security challenges, particularly in areas of supply chain resilience, maintenance efficiency, and rapid information processing. They join H4D’s existing roster of problems spanning electronic warfare, space manufacturing, intelligence analysis and tactical operations support.

The new challenges emphasize the growing importance of digital transformation in defense operations and the critical need for innovative solutions to maintain technological superiority. Students taking on these problems will have the opportunity to make significant contributions to national security while working directly with military sponsors and defense innovation leaders.

For more information about the H4D course and how to apply, visit h4d.stanford.edu.

You can view the complete list of problem statements at https://h4d.stanford.edu/problems/.

Stanford students interested in learning more about the H4D course can attend one of the team formation mixers on Tuesday, February 18, and Wednesday, February 19, at 6:30 p.m., where prospective government sponsors will pitch their problems to students. Applications are due Saturday, March 8, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. (PT). Teams are made up of four to five Stanford University students from any school or department within the university. The program seeks diverse perspectives, combining engineers, scientists, MBAs and policy experts.

The class, which is officially entitled MS&E 297: Hacking for Defense: Solving National Security Issues with the Lean Launchpad, will meet Tuesdays from 5:30 to 8:20 p.m., during spring quarter at Stanford University. If you’d like to visit a class, please email Jeff at jmdecker@stanford.edu. For other schools offering the program, please visit h4d.us.

For more information about the H4D course at Stanford University, visit the program's website h4d.stanford.edu.

To learn more about the H4D course at Stanford University, visit h4d.stanford.edu; to learn more about H4D around the world, visit h4d.us. To purchase “The Hacking for Defense® Manual” by Jeff Decker, PhD, visit Amazon. To stay informed on the H4D program, subscribe to the H4D Stanford Substack at stanfordh4d.substack.com.