A Vicksburg defense contractor has chosen technology industry executive Dr. Henry L. Jones II to lead its battlefield concepts division.

Jones, 38, will head up the Center for Battlefield Innovation, also known as Battle Forge, a collaborative effort of Mav6 LLC and Mississippi State University. Jones also will become chief technology officer for the tech firm.

Jones will work with retired Maj. Gen. Buford Blount, who co-founded Mav6 and chairs its board, to leverage Battle Forge as an economic engine for the state, a release Thursday said.

“Mississippians have shown their longstanding commitment to national defense, and resourcefulness in identifying new ways to secure the success and safety of our edgefighters,” Blount said in a statement.

“Dr. Jones will lead our efforts to tap into this pool of expertise,” said Blount, former commander of the U.S. Army 3rd Infantry Division.

MSU and Mav6 said the CBI, based in the firm’s Vicksburg offices, represents “a unique capability for rapid-response product concept prototyping for the U.S. Armed Forces.”

“We are excited about the opportunity to connect the leading researchers at Mississippi State University to the critical needs of the people protecting our nation’s security,” said Dr. David Shaw, MSU’s vice president for Research and Economic Development.

Jones has worked in the defense, disaster response, finance and energy industries in his native Mississippi and with Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., where he earned his master’s in aeronautics and astronautics. He earned a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from the University of Mississippi in 1995.

In fiscal 2010, MSU’s discipline-leading research centers and institutes secured $201 million in external research funding. Mav6, located on Main Street, was named by Inc. magazine last year as the second-fastest growing private company in the state.