Photo By Jill Pickett | From right, Adam Moon, Air Force project manager for the Arnold Engineering...... read more read more
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. – An idea submitted by an Arnold Engineering Development Complex team member has advanced to the next phase of the 2023 Air Force Spark Tank competition.
The submission, which offers supporting the innovative ideas of AEDC personnel through the Innovation Center at Arnold Air Force Base was made by Dr. Justin Garrard, Reliability Engineering manager with the AEDC Test Operations and Sustainment contractor.
According to Garrard, additional funding would help to greatly improve the facility housing the Innovation Center.
“In the 2017-2018 timeframe, some initial renovations were performed on the building,” he said. “In 2020, new project leadership developed a plan to finish building renovations and set up initial capabilities. Some of these capabilities have been added, but we still have much to do in getting the center where we want it to be.”
Garrard mentioned that the additive manufacturing lab at the center remains unfinished, though two 3D printers have been installed. Additionally, a high enthalpy test bed and a Mach 8 shock tube are other unfinished projects he’d like to see in the Innovation Center.
“The initial phase of completion has not yet reached initial operational capability, but as these initial capabilities have been stood up, there has been a ground swell of interest in utilizing them,” Garrard said. “We are, however, currently unable to complete all these initial capabilities and other building renovations at the Innovation Center, including quality of life upgrades such as adding HVAC. Meanwhile, we are also planning to add more additive manufacturing and maker space equipment, as well as a small turbine engine test stand.”
AEDC personnel, DOD, military, and contractors alike, can now vote and help this submission make it to the next round. Voting for this round started Aug. 22 and will continue until Sept. 16.
Those interested in voting will need to register on the Guardians and Airmen Innovation Network, known as GAIN, by following instructions at the following link: https://www.afmc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3048342/2023-spark-tank-open-for-submissions/.
Once registered, voters will head over to the GAIN homepage: https://gain.apps.dso.mil/. AEDC voters will then select AFMC as the MAJCOM to vote.
Below are the different phases of the competition:
Wild Card Voting Round 1 – Pairwise: All submissions enter a round of Pairwise voting from Aug. 22 – Sept. 16 where Airmen and Guardians will receive 15 votes per pre-heat, maximum 255 votes per person. The top four selections from each pre-heat campaign, 68 maximum, will move to Wild Card.
Wild Card Voting Round 2 – Token Voting: The top four concepts, as determined by Wild Card Voting Round 1 rankings, from each of the 17 command pre-heat campaigns will consolidate and compete for token "investments" during this round, Sept. 19 – Oct. 31. Each Airman and Guardian will receive 25 tokens and can distribute between one and five tokens per submission. At the end of Round 2, the concepts with the highest total token investment, if not designated by a Command for advancement, will be advanced to a spot in the Quarter Finals to further compete with Command-designated "auto-bid" concepts for a maximum of 40 quarterfinalists.
-AEDC-
| Date Taken: | 08.25.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 08.25.2022 14:43 |
| Story ID: | 428048 |
| Location: | ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, TENNESSEE, US |
| Web Views: | 13 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, AEDC team members encouraged to vote in Spark Tank competition, by Deidre R Moon, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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