AU team shines at DOD innovation awards

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman William Blankenship
  • 42nd Air Base Wing Public Affairs
MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala --  Air University represented well at the inaugural Defense, Diplomacy and Development Innovation Summit Pitch Challenge, March 3 in Washington, D.C.

The competition was organized jointly by the Defense Department, State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

The top 1% of ideas (six total) were selected from 500 total submissions across DoD, DoS, and USAID to present to the high level panel of judges that included the VCJCS Gen Paul Selva, Undersecretary of State Catherine Novelli and Associate Administrator of USAID Eric Postel. 

The Space Solar Power D3 team presented their idea titled "Carbon-Free Energy for Global Resilience and International Goodwill" as one of the six finalists out of 500 entries, bringing home three awards.

"This was really an exciting experiment for the DOD," said Lt. Col. Peter Garretson, an Air Command and Staff College professor. "They have never done an entire department-wide innovation challenge. The Air Force really showed strong during the event and that shows well on our innovativeness."

There were seven total awards (Feasibility, Metrics, Impact, Presentation, Collaboration, Innovation), which were awarded by the judges, and People's Choice, which was awarded by the audience.

Their team returned with more awards than any other team at the challenge, winning 4-categories: Top innovation, top presentation, top collaboration and people's choice.

The project pitched was to provide clean, constant power globally to the world by orbiting massive space solar power satellites that collect energy in space, where the sun always shines, and beam it wirelessly to Earth.

"Specifically to this, we talked about powering forward bases and be the supplier of green energy to the 3rd world, making good on our Paris agreements," said Garretson. "Unlike other renewable energy sources that are not constant and regular solar that you have to deal with night, space solar power is 24-hours. It can also scale with global demand."

The space solar power D3 team includes members of the Air University, the Naval Research Lab, Northrop Grumman, NASA, the Join Staff Logistics and Energy division, DARPA, the United States Army, and the Space Development Steering Committee.