A rocket scientist discovered that mining explosions often are caused by a reaction involving compressed air and loose rocks.

Dr. Jeffrey Riggs, president and CEO of a startup company called CAUSwave, plans to mimic nature and use compressed air to launch rockets and generate electricity.

The company, based in Pittsboro, recently linked up with the Partnership for Defense Innovation - commonly known as PDI - in Fayetteville.

PDI set up Riggs with a program at Western Carolina University that will help CAUSwave quickly develop prototypes. PDI also helped connect the company to established defense contractor Lockheed Martin in an attempt to win contracts to sell the technology to the military.

Headed by R. Scott Perry, a former defense contractor and retired special operations soldier, PDI is known around the state for helping companies mature and compete for contracts.

"What we were hoping they would do and what they have done is provide us with an extraordinary network above and beyond what we already have," Riggs said. "It would take us six months to do what they could do in about a week and a half."

The partnership, founded in 2004, is a nonprofit group aimed at creating defense-related jobs and revenue for North Carolina.

One part of PDI - the Defense & Security Technology Accelerator - helps young companies develop and test their products to bring them to market faster. A company enrolled in the accelerator program receives coaching from the staff at PDI and can also be set up with one of the university programs that works with the partnership.

The typical company has two to three employees to start and a prototype of its product. The accelerator aims to help the company develop its prototype into a commercial product within two to three years.

The state has put $6.3 million into PDI, and the federal government has awarded $5.8 million in grants in the past three years.

So far, 22 companies have enrolled in the accelerator, also called DSTA.

Perry estimates that the accelerator has created almost 160 jobs. He said the companies it has helped have put $32 million into the state's economy.

Many of the companies recently turning to the accelerator have been high-tech.

There's a surgeon who is modifying medical instruments for better use in blacked-out conditions. Another company is developing a cheaper, better way to purify water. A former Marine has developed a wearable antenna that slips down into a soldier's vest, preventing the enemy from targeting whoever is carrying the radio.

The other side of PDI, which includes its SOF Wireless Lab and Testbed, operates like a defense contracting company. It does research and development for products that the government may want to buy.

A $4.7 million federal contract will allow PDI to build a more extensive testing laboratory at the All American Defense Center, a military business park taking shape near Fort Bragg.

Perry said the lab's capabilities will be in an elite class with about six other research centers in the country.

One of the lab's main customers, Perry said, will be the U.S. Special Operations Command.

Perry said the arrival of Forces Command is exciting because it means more decision-makers here.

He said that across the state, there is a growing awareness of North Carolina's $23 billion defense industry.

"We really understand now," he said. "There's been a lot of money in the defense industry recently, and everybody wants a piece of that money."