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Welcome!

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What can we do to help you?

  • In-House  
    Assist and collaborate with your Airmen to identify a problem set (generate problem statement) & develop solutions in-house.
     
  • Collaborative Research  
    Connect Airmen with AFWERX, DoD, or consultant to further develop/accelerate project to solutions. 
     
  • Knowledge Exchange   
    Furnish your Airmen with academic opportunities for individual or organizational learning. 
     
  • SIF Management 
    Provide guidance to squadrons to meet CSAF intent and assist with squadron innovation funds supporting projects. 
     
  • SBIR Collaboration  
    Partnering with AFWERX to pair up your pain points with startups who can provide the solutions. 

Elevate Office

Educate explore exploit


INTRO TO 3D PRINTING
Are you interested in 3D printing and looking for a practical and compact entry-level course, but don't feel like reading or searching for information? Then this course is well suited for you! In this workshop you will learn all the basics you need to know in order to operate a 3D printer and create your own 3D printed objects. Start now with this professional, descriptive and step-by-step 3D printing tutorial, made by Elevate’s Chief Maker!  Sign up now!

102 PAINSTORMING SESSION
Combining the best of Stanford University’s D-School, the Think Wrong system, and US Military doctrine, this session will lead a small group through topic selection, context mapping, problem identification, and operational approach planning in a classroom environment in order to empower mission space owners to innovate from within. Attendees should expect to propose topics to tackle and to actively work through a process to tackle it. Leaders should expect to get back “solutioneers” able to lead painstorming sessions at the unit level, both formally and informally, to drive innovation to the point of mission accomplishment. Sign up now!

HACKING FOR DEFENSE
We want to solve your toughest challenges during the fall 2021 semester of Hacking for Defense (H4D). This program is sponsored by the DoD's National Security Innovation Network. We will match your problem with the university best suited to work for you. Graduate student teams will spend 500 hours leveraging innovative techniques from the private sector to solve your complex and critical problems at no cost to you. Past solutions have addressed challenges ranging from a soldier family readiness app, to an F/A-18E Super Hornet (jet fighter) predictive maintenance model, and even a software/hardware test bed for nuclear detection systems. The deadline for challenge submissions is June 4, 2021.  Apply here: www.h4d.us/submit-a-problem  Background: www.h4d.us/

Air Force Innovation ARticles

  • 150SFS VR Innovation

    150th Security Forces Squadron partnered with Street Smarts VR to bring in VR headsets and equipment for training. This partnership was made possible by using Squadron Innovation funds as more squadrons look for innovative ways to improve training efficiency while reducing overall cost.James Wendle

  • CMSAF Leadership Library: January 2024

    Chief Bass presents 5 new additions to the CMSAF Leadership Library including Brief: Make a Bigger Impact by Saying Less; We Don't Want YOU, Uncle Sam: Examining the Military Recruiting Crisis with Generation Z; ColdFusion Presents: New Thinking; and more.

  • AFWERX Challenge serves as catalyst for future technology advancements

    WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFRL) - With the ever-evolving needs of the modern warfighter, AFWERX stands at the forefront of the relentless pursuit of innovation and collaboration. New and inspiring ways to capture those interests must be met through various strategies, and AFWERX's

  • INNOVATION TITANS: 728th AMS NCO Provides 3-D Printed Solutions

    Innovation has long been the cornerstone of the Air Force’s identity as a military service. Being at the forefront of technological advances has fostered an enduring culture of creativity and forward-thinking within the ranks. One Incirlik Airman has embraced the challenge of pushing the boundaries

  • 51st FW stands up innovation cell

    With prioritizing innovation at the forefront of its strategic objectives, the 51st Fighter Wing marked a significant milestone by standing up its new wing innovation cell, the MustangWERX office, at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea, Nov. 22, 2023.

  • AFWERX Challenge rapidly brings solutions to the warfighter

    WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFRL) – As the innovation arm of the Department of the Air Force, AFWERX finds creative ways to bring cutting-edge American ingenuity from small businesses and start-ups to the battlefield. One of those methods is the AFWERX Challenge, a fast and efficient way

  • AFWERX Year in Review 2023

    WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio - 2023 was a historic year for AFWERX, the innovation arm of the Department of the Air Force and a directorate within Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. AFWERX brings cutting edge American ingenuity from small businesses and

  • AFWERX Spark, DOD partners train Airmen to pitch ideas with confidence

    MORAINE, Ohio – AFWERX Spark and other Department of the Air Force innovators gathered Nov. 14-16 in Moraine, Ohio, to create a curriculum for teaching Airmen and Guardians who want to effectively pitch innovative ideas to high-ranking military officers and civilians. The three-day event took place

Motivation

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)

TED Radio Hour: Failure Is An Option

Difference Between Innovation and Invention

Why Innovation is Crucial to Your Organization

What Really Makes Something Innovative?

How Leaders Inspire Innovation

 

Leader's inspiration

"...We have to think about the technology and the innovation that we need 10 to 15 to 20 years from now. We have to start thinking about it and start building it right now." - CMSAF Kaleth O. Wright 

"Innovative Airmen find better ways of doing the mission... Their intrapreneurship makes us more lethal, more efficient — they must be supported by leaders who not only remove unnecessary barriers to success, but who also lift up and champion their ideas... And because we’ve shown them we believe in their ideas, I want them to keep swinging until we find the answer." - Gen David L. Goldfein 

"Innovation doesn’t happen by accident. It is fueled from a spirit of experimentation and driven by Airmen with the best training, the right tools, and a workplace environment that promotes innovation. The threat and environmental challenges presented by our adversaries require that we aggressively investigate mission-focused ideas involving machine learning, artificial intelligence, autonomy, big data analytics... AMC will make bold investments in innovation that increase readiness and posture AMC forces to remain effective in a fast-paced and challenging future." - Gen Maryanne  Miller 

“We are at the beginning of a big culture shift in the government. We woke up and said we are not the only funder or inventor of new technology anymore…we are a partner with those who do.” – Dr. Will Roper, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics 

Take a class!

Sign Up here 

CONTACT US

Chief Innovation Officer
Lt. Col. Ryan Szmajda

Deputy Innovation Officer
Capt. Mary Guzman-Muro

Lead Engineer
Master Sgt. Matthew Sabo

NCOIC
Tech Sgt. Kory Bellardino

Comm Innovation Specialist
Staff Sgt. William Hartzel

Contact Us
Email: Elev8scott@gmail.com 
Phone: 618-256-4802

Where are we located?
The lab is located on the second floor of the Warmer Fitness Center.


Elevate is an Airmen-led innovation office focused on connecting our Airmen's problems to those in industry, academia or government. 
We work closely with AFWERX, the Secretary of the Air Force's innovation arm, and the main conduit for executing Small Business Innovation
Research, or SBIR, funds for the Air Force.

Elevate is a grassroots innovation program whose mission is to bring tomorrow’s tools to the warfighter today while inspiring a bottom‐up culture of innovation. We create unique opportunities for external partners to work directly with military on interesting problems, which also allows for rapid fielding solutions. 

Have an idea?

Send us an email with the information below, and we'll take a look at your idea!"

  • Name 
  • Rank 
  • Mil email 
  • Phone number 
  • What is your idea?