Jason Knudson is a senior defense and industry advisor for “Hacking for Defense”, a defense innovation academic curriculum piloted at Stanford University and taught at over 50 universities globally in the US, UK, Australia, and Norway. He is currently the Vice President of Product Development at Second Front Systems. He is the founder of Vyzva Lab, a Human Centered Design focused consultancy focused on the interface between government and early stage businesses. He sits on the boards of the Catalyst Campus Technology Incubator, and the Center for Technology, Research and Commercialization (C-TRAC) in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he works to bridge the gap between government and industry. Jason served in both enlisted and officer roles in the U.S. Navy in submarines, cryptology, and as a Naval Special Warfare Combatant Crewman. His focus in the military was bringing innovation into the Department of Defense. In the military, he served as the deputy director of the SOCOM Cryptologic Office, the chief of staff of the Chief of Naval Operations Rapid Innovation Cell and co-founded the Naval Innovation Advisory Council and Naval Innovation Network. He was a program manager at the Defense Innovation Unit, and while at DIU he founded and led the Human Centered Design practice.
