Scientists and engineers who make WMDs..?

Yes. They are government employed scientist and engineers who work for the national laboratories like Oak Ridge, Sandia, Idaho and the like... We no longer make or design chemical or bio weapons FYI...just updates on the nukes we currently have.. A lot of those scientist and engineers work on stuff like better nuclear reactors and alternative energy programs nowadays.. Edit: Brett has no clue what he is talking about , at least concerning the US.

Depends on the project really. usually what happens, is there is collaboration between the private sector and the military. Both will put together a grant of matching funds and grant them to research schools to fund research that will lead to the design of something they want. They will let everyone know that they have a grant available and have the researchers apply for the grant. Sometimes the grant is put together after the application is made. Bt the grant is awarded based on the type of research and how useful it is for the DOD and the private industry. It may be part of a contrat between a weapon manufacturer and the government realizing they need some data for their own project and sometimes they might just find a use for the research that will be conducted if the grant is awarded.