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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!

 

Air Force Innovation ARticles

  • AFRL engineer honored as AIAA Fellow

    WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio – Air Force Research Laboratory aerospace engineer Dr. Campbell Carter was recently named a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics for his distinguished career in the study of high-speed propulsion.An internationally recognized expert,

  • A pilot’s proposal that’s out of this world

    It is not every day someone receives a proposal from outer space, but on Aug. 31, 2019, Capt. Stuart Shippee, a B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber pilot from the 393rd Bomb Squadron, used his piloting knowledge to take his marriage proposal to the next atmospheric level by using a weather balloon.The idea

  • Team Whiteman has innovation on the brain

    U.S. Air Force Col. Seth Graham, the 509th Bomb Wing vice commander, leads an innovation forum, Feb. 7, 2020, at the Professional Development Center at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. The forum gave Airmen an opportunity to voice thier ideas for improving their respective units and the base.

  • Child care app wins AFIMSC Innovation Rodeo

    An idea to centralize and streamline the subletting of short-term slots at military child development centers won the 2020 Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center Innovation Rodeo Feb. 7 in San Antonio.

  • 557th WW integrating with 16th AF missions

    The 557th Weather Wing is working to integrate its strengths into the recently formed 16th Air Force, which brought intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, cyber, electronic warfare, information operations and weather all under one roof. Integration is a key theme for the Air Force’s first

  • 52nd MXG 'checks' into final round of Spark Tank

    The 52nd Maintenance Group’s “smart-weapons-loading checklist” design continued to advance in the third annual Spark Tank and recently landed in the final round where it will be pitched to top Air Force leadership and industry experts at the Air Force Association's Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando,

  • AFRL Aerospace Systems Directorate luncheon honors annual awardees

    WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio  – The Air Force Research Laboratory Aerospace Systems Directorate honored its top performers at the 8th Annual Awards Luncheon, Jan. 30, 2020, at the Schuster Performing Arts Center in Dayton, Ohio.Master of Ceremonies Miguel Maldonado kicked off the event,

  • AFPC Hosts Inaugural Innovation Symposium, Launches Idea Campaign

    The Air Force’s Personnel Center’s new Innovation Cell hosted an inaugural innovation symposium Jan. 15-16. The event featured guest speakers, presentations and an expo, and also served as the platform to launch an internal idea crowdsourcing campaign called “Wild Ideas.”

  • Connect to Lead: Innovation in the Air Force

    The Air Force encourages Airmen through education outlets and new technology companies to be catalysts for change by partnering with AFWERX. With this team, and the 136th Airlift Wing's new "Inno Room", Citizen Airmen can begin to implement change.

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 3D printing class!

 

Newsletter

Click HERE for Elevate's monthly newsletter

CONTACT US

Chief Innovation Officer
(vacant) 

Deputy Chief Innovation Officer
Mike Martinez

SEL/Lead Engineer
Master Sgt. Matthew Sabo

Innovation Specialist
Staff Sgt. Brad Vickers

Contact Us
Email: 375amw.safb.elevate@us.af.mil
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?

Please send any innovative ideas or service requests to us via our intake form found at the below QR Code & link.