The Navy has granted Old Dominion University, Virginia Tech and five other colleges a contract worth up to $30 million for work on behalf of Space and Naval Warfare Systems Atlantic.

The universities will assist in research and development projects and other analysis. They will complete for various task orders that span 22 science and technology areas.

The Navy anticipates that 40 percent of the work will be performed in Charleston, S.C., 30 percent in Norfolk and 30 percent in New Orleans. The work will take place over several years.

The other schools working on the contract are Clemson University, Penn State University, the University of New Orleans, the University of Southern Alabama and the University of South Carolina.

From ODU's perspective, the award is the result of a two-year effort to establish a relationship between naval warfare systems and the school's engineering expertise.