Membership Benefits

The Northstar Campus’ proximity to Hanscom Air Force Base, the Army Soldier Systems Center and Boston, and its association with the University of Massachusetts makes it the ideal organization for both innovation and security. Choosing Northstar Campus for technical and business assistance provides you with access to subject matter experts, mission operators, technology leaders, business development professionals, and contracting guidance. 

The dedicated SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) Center of Excellence coaches teams through the best practices of proposal writing and execution. These coaches help teams win contracts with all major government agencies, including DOD, NSF, NIH, DOE, NASA and NIST. The SBIR CoE team has more than 10 years of hands-on SBIR experience, and over 25 years of industry and startup experience among them. 

Our Chief Technologist and strategic growth team have amassed more than 25 years of experience leading new business strategy and capture programs for innovations with dual-use applications in defense, government, and commercial markets. They’ve worked with both large and small aerospace and defense industry companies.

Why Should You Become a Northstar Campus Member? 

• Location: Work and meet with key personnel from Hanscom Air Force Base and its three Air Force Program Executive Offices, key personnel from the Army Soldier Systems Center, the National Guard Joint Force Headquarters, and Boston’s broader innovation ecosystem.  
• Office Space: Receive member-only, hot-desk access to the infrastructure. 
• Meeting space: Members can reserve a conference room for either classified and unclassified meetings.*
• Network access:  Perform DOD T&E (Test and evaluation) using critical infrastructure available to members. 

Expert Business Support

• Business development: Connect with strategic partners and investors using our proven process for business capture. 
• Business operations: Consult with experienced and vetted accountants and IP attorneys.
• Technology acceleration programs, services, and mentoring networks: Learn from and network with the best.
• Sales, marketing, and collaborative design workshops: Target your marketing efforts to get your products in front of the right people.

Access to UMass Lowell Research Institute

• Government contracting opportunities with UMLRI through our contracting entity, the UMass Lowell Applied Research Corporation, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
• Access to the full suite of UMass Lowell core labs and researchers.

Exposure to Advance Innovative Technology and Industry

• Pitch Day and Technology Innovation events.
• Access to showcases, demonstrations, competitions.
• Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) and guidance.