ATHENA at Sea

By CDR Michele Day

On April 14th, while transiting the South China Sea, USS RONALD REAGAN hosted the first ATHENA project event on an aircraft carrier. The audience, not knowing what to expect, was full of questions and brimming with excitement!

Flight Deck Roomba
LT David Levy

LT Levy’s idea leverages commercial technology to lessen the burden on the flight deck crew by programming a modified Roomba to clean the flight deck during non-flight operations maintenance periods. Many night after flight operations have concluded the aviation maintainers conduct maintenance on the flight deck, where the darkness can make it difficult to find small nuts and bolts when dropped. The Flight deck Roomba would drive a pre-programmed route to assist with clean-up after nighttime maintenance. As Foreign Object Debris (FOD) walk down impacts a large portion of the crew, there was a lot of interest, however LT Levy was adamant that the Flight Deck Roomba would not replace FOD walk down as nothing is as good as the mark-one-mod-zero eyeball for finding FOD. Much of the audience questioned the necessity and value of the flight deck Roomba if it would not replace FOD walk down.

LT Greg Hahn answers questions during the Q&A portion of his pitch.

Custom Boot Insoles
LT Greg Hahn

“How many of you stand on a steel deck for more than 10 hours a day?” posed LT Hahn. Hands across the room shot up from tired and sweaty sailors. He then went on to describe a custom insole made from recycled materials that will not only provide cushion, but will increase cooling and circulation in work boots. LT Hahn stated he did not think the boot manufacturers contracted by the Navy would include custom insoles, but these could easily be purchased after market. During the Q&A session many questions were raised regarding how these insoles are different than insoles already on the market and if the Navy would provide money for purchase of such insoles.

LT Aaron Kakiel
Laser Pointer Alternative

Over the past 10 years we’ve seen the presentation standard move from a stick pointer to the laser pointer and the slide projector five way to the overhead projector and the LCD monitor. LT Kakiel’s idea is to replace the laser pointer with technology that exists in most family homes today by re-purposing the motion capture technology from gaming consoles. He explained two primary benefits; 1) The beam from laser pointers is often refracted when it hits the LCD screen, resulting in the laser beam shining into the audience members’ eyes. 2) The laser pointer presentation does not lend itself to collaboration. By utilizing motion capture technology, more team members can participate in the meetings. During the Q&A session the discussion centered on the need to modify the technology such that random movements (stretching, drinking water, etc) are not captured and displayed on screen.

PRT Spotcheck Program
AOAN Walter Johnson

AOAN Jackson’s pitch was simple and passionate. Far too many sailors prepare for the Physical Fitness Assessment a few weeks before the PFA and then neglect their fitness and diet until the next PFA cycle. By instituting random spot checks, all sailors would be forced to maintain a steady strain approach to working out and eating healthy. During the Q&A session an audience member stated the new PFA instruction had an allowance for commands to conduct spot PFA’s if a member appeared to be in danger of future failures. AOAN Jackson stated he had not read the new PFA instruction, but his idea was for an outside entity, such as ATG, to conduct the spot checks in order to avoid the potential for commands to refrain from spot checking their high performing sailors who were not in the best shape. This led to a lively back and forth exchange across the audience about the need for certain technical skill sets that were very sedentary in nature (e.g. Cyber defense/hacking) and the possibilities of having a portion of the workforce subject to a different set of physical requirements as sea-going sailors need a certain functional strength that sailors in potential land-locked ratings will not require.

Fixing CANES
IT2 Mason Lybrand

CANES onboard USS RONALD REAGAN is the bane of most sailors quality of life at sea. As our young sailors are digital natives, their reliance on the NIPRnet for social networking a top priority. Additionally, most UNCLAS technical manuals are not maintained onboard and many sailors rely on schoolhouse reach back and online distance support for technical trouble shooting. All of our travel and logistics websites reside on the NIPRnet as well. The design of CANES is flawed in that one server supports all inbound and outbound traffic, for the entire carrier. As a result the server is easily overloaded. The additional of an additional server rack would alleviate the load and greatly improve network performance.

Admiral Sims Award Winner, GM2 Payge Shelton, gets the crowd excited about her pitch for the Hippocampus Stimulator!

Hippocampus Stimulator
GM2 Payge Shelton

***Admiral Sims Award Winner***

GM2 Paige’s pitch was inspired by her experience dealing with two subsets of sailors; 1) Sailors who are smart, but lack a work ethic and only joined the Navy long enough to get the GI Bill and get out, and 2) Sailors who really care about the Navy and work hard, but struggle to pass promotion tests. Her idea is by year 3 or 4, the hardworking, dedicated sailors, would be successfully weeded from the chaff. They could then voluntarily sign-up for Hippocampus Stimulation treatment – either via electrical shock or injection. GM2 Paige expertly explained the science behind Hippocampus stimulation and how the use of stimulation during the learning phase suggests that sailors would not require continuous stimulation to boost their memory, but only when they are trying to learn important information. She also noted that in the future this technology may lead the way to neuro-prosthetic devices that can be turned on and off during specific stages of information processing or daily tasks. This additional cognitive function will give hard working sailors the ability to achieve higher scores on advancement exams and promote ahead of the less motivated sailors. The excitement for this idea was palpable as many sailors in the room expressed frustration with pockets of sailors whose negativity brought everyone down, but was tolerated by leadership because of the individual sailors knowledge and skill. GM2 received the most votes for her idea was well researched and she explained in detail how this technology could be implemented in the Navy in the not too distant future. Her enthusiasm was contagious and by the end of the presentation we had sailors willing to line-up for Hippocampus stimulation now!

ATHENA Far East 4.0 will be later this fall. In the meantime, check out the C7F Innovation Pitchfest on Friday, August 18th, 1300-1600 in room 216 of the MWR building!

Athena Far East 3.0 Roundup

By CDR Michele Day

On April 21st, a motivated group of FDNF sailors met at the world renowned Submarine Sanctuary to collaborate and make positive change in the Navy. Due to time constraints, we were limited to 3 inspired pitches, so keep your calendars open in August for ATHENA 4.0, as it stands to be a blowout event!

Our emcee gave a quick history of ATHENA and reviewed the pitch rules before pulling the first presenter’s name from the Innovation Lantern. This Lantern has presided over ATHENA events back to San Diego’s Waterfront ATHENA 2.0!

The afternoon was electrified with innovative ideas and the desire to make the Navy better! So, without further ado, here is the roundup of the concepts presented.

LT Jason Highley – Li-Fi, the key to shipboard secure, wireless, computing

**Athena FE 3.0 Admiral Sims Award for Intellectual Courage**

The Navy is in a fight for talent – young sailors joint the Navy expecting the latest and greatest in technology as they are all Digital Natives. They exist in the digital world, and unfortunately the Navy is behind the times when it comes to mobile computing onboard ships – for both work and quality of life. LT Highly immediately capturing our attention by setting up a small metal box next to a Wi-Fi speaker. The room filled with the sounds of music as he demonstrated how a cell phone can connect via Wi-Fi. He then put the speaker in the metal box to demonstrate the OPSEC concerns associated with shipboard Wi-Fi. Our curiosity piqued, he explained the answer to this problem is “Li-Fi”. By transmitting over light, everyone in the box can hear can hear, but not outside the box. Li-Fi is a bidirectional, high-speed and fully networked wireless communication technology similar to Wi-Fi that debuted at the 2011 Consumer Electronic Show. Li-Fi would enable sailors to access complete libraries of technical manuals and drawings from anywhere on the ship, both SIPR and NIPR Li-Fi systems could be securely set-up in the shipboard environment. This innovative application of a technology that is readily accessible is why Jason won the Admiral Sims Award for Intellectual Courage.

LT Greg Hahn – LED Rack Lights with USB charging ports

Navy LT Greg Hahn, an ATHENA Far East veteran, started the event off by invigorating the crowd with his concept to save the Navy money while improving Sailor Quality of Life. His concept is simple, yet has numerous advantages. Greg deftly explained how Light Emitting Diodes work, the amount of energy it takes to operate an LED, and the relative cost of installing and maintaining LED lighting. Retrofitting a standard Navy rack light with an LED strip, 3 way switch controller, and USB charger would have an initial cost upfront, but the time saved in bulb replacement and the associated shipboard storage and HAZMAT disposal costs would quickly be recovered. Greg took his pitch to the next level as he described how our current fluorescent lights flick on and off at a 60 Hz cycle, which actually fatigues the human eye. LED lights on the other hand do not “flicker” and therefore are easier on the human eye. Another advantage of LEDs as a light source is the pump wavelength is such that it does not contain UVA, UVB or UVC wavelengths that are harmful. Lastly, the LED rack lamp upgrade would contribute to the Navy’s work towards Circadian Rhythm watchstanding as it would provide the ability to employ red lights during sleeping hours.

Petty Officer Jacob Brimhall – Peer to Peer Education

Petty Officer Brimhall stirred the crowed by asking the question – How many times have you heard your command say money for getting Sailors to school is waning every year? As all of the heads in the room emphatically nodded up and down, he went on to ask if anyone was familiar with the Principle of Dynamic Discovery and how it can apply to Education. Silence ensued. He described that Dynamic Discovery, or Dynamic Learning is focused on relevant topics and it is active and agile to keep up with the speed of information. The ability to save money on expensive schools, with historically low pass rates, while training more sailors than the school has throughput is a Win-Win! The crowd, unable to contain their curiosity cried out “HOW?” Peer to Peer Education takes the team mentality to information sharing, by training a handful of smart, motivated sailors and having them train the fleet through face-to-face interactions and online forums.

While the Far East team spins up Athena FE 4.0, they’re going ahead and hosting the first ever Athena onboard a deployed Air Craft Carrier on June 14th!

Plans for ATHENA Far East 4.0 coming soon… so stay tuned!

 

 

Athena DC 2.0 Roundup

By AT1 Mike Pecota

Following last year’s inaugural Athena DC 1.0, the second event had much to live up to. In contrast to the previous year’s grand setting inside the Gaylord National Convention Center this year’s event took place in a much more traditional Athena setting: The Irish Whisper Pub right in the heart of National Harbor and it didn’t take long for the audience of Athenians to take over the entire space!

Both years’ events immediately followed the Sea Air Space convention held annually at the Gaylord, taking advantage of the senior Naval leadership the convention brings with it each year.

After winning last year’s event, I had the distinct honor of hosting this year’s event (and being the first Enlisted host of any Athena event). We kicked off with a brief introduction and welcome, we began to foster in a new generation of innovative thinkers!

In keeping up with the high standards set in DC 1.0, this years panel members were hand-chosen for their contribution to innovation leadership in the local area. Unlike any event before it, this year’s presenters and board members alike represented the best of innovation from both the Navy and Marine Corps. Board members included Joshua Smith, the director of TANG at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab; Monica Hutchins, a leader within the Strategy and Innovation office at the Deputy Under Secretary of the Navy (Management); and Captain James Lamontie of the Marine Corps’ Installation and Logistics (I&L) office and the NexLog Innovation Cell.

 The years of experience in grassroots innovation these panelists brought to the table made for some impactful insights into our presenters’ pitches!

And without further ado, let’s get to the ideas!

Sims Winner Jerin Raby, and the host (and his 3D Printed bowtie).

AM2 Jerin Raby – Fleet Readiness Center Mid Atlantic, Detachment Patuxent River

*** Athena DC 2.0 Admiral Sims Award for Intellectual Courage ***

Jerin presented her idea, which comes right from the “why aren’t we already doing this” file, with the clarity and expertise of an experienced Sailor well versed in the difficulties facing all aviation maintenance. Her proposal – to replace the oversized metallic toolboxes, used throughout Naval flight line maintenance, with lighter custom made backpacks – clearly struck the heartstrings of the crowd. As she reflected on her past experiences with the cumbersome toolboxes, you could see the expressions of many in the room as they recanted their own trials and difficulties using the outdated boxes.

The main focus of Jerin’s proposal was to help eliminate back problems and related injuries associated with lugging the tool boxes across flightiness and up and down ships’ ladderways. She explained the safety concerns and dangers the boxes pose to others as one makes their way through dark hallways. A secondary focus of her proposal was the benefits sailors having the use of both hands on the flight line and while traversing ships. Any maintainer could now have the use of both hands to keep them on their feet while traveling around the ship.

HM2 Joshua Cranford – Naval Hospital Annapolis

Joshua returned to the ATHENA DC, making him the only presenter to pitch ideas at both settings. As a reflection of his idea last year to increase mission readiness and cost savings by switching duty vehicles over to hydrogen power, this year he proposed taking the eco friendly hydrogen power and introducing it to the world of submariners. The extreme dedication to his mission, of a Navy powered by hydrogen power, shone as he walked the crowd through the pro’s and cons of having this alternative fuel powering the vessels of tomorrow.

One of the crowd voters, and his soon-to-be-scored presentation grading sheet.

AE3 Jordan Brady – Fleet Readiness Center Mid Atlantic, Detachment Washington

Jordan knew after witnessing ATHENA DC 1.0 first hand, that he was going to bring an idea in 2017. His concept was  to use high powered lasers to aid sailors in the tedious task of corrosion removal. With corrosion being the number one enemy of any metal floating in the middle of the ocean, his idea spoke to both the surface and aviation members of the audience. Many of whom have undoubtedly spent many painstaking hours with needle guns and wire brushes keeping their vessels in the fight whether on the sea or in the air.

SSgt Alex Long – Ammunition Logistics Focus Team

Alex was the first Marine ever to bring an idea to an Athena event! His time working with munitions and weapons lead him to the startling discovery that humans are flawed. One individual manning a armory can hold up the operations of an entire unit. Alex’s solution was to automate the system through the use of robotics and digital accountability. His idea is not new to the logistics, but hasn’t found it’s rightful place in the world of weaponry in the Marine Corps, according to Alex.

AOAN Marissa Cross – Fleet Readiness Center Mid Atlantic, Detachment Patuxent River

Marissa finished the evening with a lifesaving bit of innovation. Her take on shipboard safety assisted any personal facing catastrophic conditions while potentially trapped within a ship. The problem: during true crisis at sea, vision is usually impaired making the glow-in-the-dark stickers (telling one their location in the ship) virtually unusable. Her solution: place 3D printed arrows throughout the ship directing sailors to the nearest point of exit. This allowed anyone who may find themselves visually impaired to tactually find their way to safety regardless of visibility.

In reflection, the authenticity of the evening’s setting combined with the passion of the presenters made for a night of true innovation. The ideas exchanged and connections made instilled an exhilarating air of electricity much needed in todays ever evolving military. The integration of two branches with the common goal of mission readiness will help set the pace for all future endeavors both here in the great United State of America, and abroad to wherever the mission may take us next.

AT1 Mike Pecota is an Aviation Electronics Technician /Assistant Innovation Team Lead for Fleet Readiness Center Mid Atlantic, Detachment Patuxent River. He’s also a driving force on the Additive Manufacturing Team and Innovation Cell at NAVAIR and the Admiral Sims Award winner from Athena DC 1.0.

Athena DC 2.0 Is Coming!

Are you going to Sea Air Space 2017 and looking for a way to connect with deckplate innovators across the Navy and Marine Corps? Are you in the DC area and want to check out what an Athena Project event is all about? Do you have a big idea that you want to pitch to connect with hard-charging folks who can make it happen?

If the answer to any of those questions is yes, then have we got a deal for you!

The Athena Project is hosting it’s second DC Chapter event during the Sea Air Space Expo at the Irish Whisper on Monday, April 3rd at 7PM!

Since early 2013, Athena pitch events have been a great way to connect to the Defense Innovation Network and hear (or pitch) some groundbreaking ideas to make things better! These events have come to be described as Shark Tank meets TED Talks and give grassroots innovators a voice by giving them the stage for five minutes to pitch their big ideas. After five minutes of Q&A from the audience and our esteemed panel, the crowd will vote on ideas based on Idea Quality, Actionability, and Presentation to crown the Admiral Sims Award for Intellectual Courage to the top concept.

Presenters and Panelists from last year’s Athena DC 1.0 at Sea Air Space.

Last year’s winner was a game-changing sonar transducer cover, designed by our Sims Winner and 3D printable, that’s saving money and maintenance hours today. We’ll even get an update on its progress at the event!

The Athena Project has 12 Active Chapters from Yokosuka to Mayport, and many concepts from our events have gone on to prototyping and development. As an example, check out this concept that emerged from the Athena West Chapter that went on to win last year’s Innovation Jam on its way to improve surface ships’ gunnery!

There’s still time to slide into a presentation slot for Monday’s event if you’ve got a big idea that you want to see happen! Just send us a note at athenanavy@gmail.com if you want to present!

If you just want to come hear the pitches and network with like-minded catalysts, that’s cool too! Just swing by the Irish Whisper and join us! Registration always helps (you can do that here) or just come as you are and be part of the movement.

Let’s go fast.

 

2048… The Magic Number

By LCDR Kristen Wheeler

Being a mobile gaming app addict, I came across one particular addictive game a couple months ago. “2048”, published by Ketchapp in app stores in 2014, is ridiculously easy to grasp while still providing a difficult challenge. The rules are simple… move the blocks horizontally or vertically to combine adjacent, like numbers until you reach 2048. For example, a block with the number “2” can only be combined with another block with the number “2” that is beside, above, or below it. When you combine two “2” blocks… you make a “4” block. Then you can push two “4” blocks together to make an “8” block, and then two “8” blocks together to make a “16” block… and so on and so forth… until you finally have created an opportunity to push two “1024” blocks together for the win. It’s not as easy as you think.

So take a second a download it. It’s free. The rest of the article might make a little more sense after you’ve played the game. If you become addicted, it’s not my fault.

After playing an embarrassing number of hours on this game (mostly never at work), it occurred to me that this game illustrates a fantastic strategy when it comes to scale and collaboration with respect to the multitude of emergent innovation efforts happening throughout the Navy and Marine Corps.

Over the last year I’ve been keeping a list of all the different innovation related ideas, projects, efforts, cells, and groups (of various maturity, sizes, scope, focus, audience, legitimacy, credibility, support, and funding) that have sprouted up throughout the Department of the Navy (and beyond). We have Secretary of the Navy’s Strategy and Innovation Department, Task Force Innovation (TFI), Naval Innovation Advisory Council (NIAC), The Hatch, CNO’s Rapid Innovation Cell (CRIC), The Athena Project, Defense Entrepreneurs Forum (DEF), DEFx, Tactical Advancement for Next Generation (TANG), Junior Enlisted Innovation Think Tank (JITT), Naval Innovation Network (NIN), MD5, MilSuite, Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx), High Velocity Learning (HVL), TOOLKit, Cognitive Warrior Continuum, Illuminate, MMOWGLI, Junior Officer Symposium, Hacking 4 Defense, Hack the Sky, Hack the Machine, Innovation Certificate at NPS, USMC Wearable Challenge, PEO-EIS Innovation Cell, FabLabs, RoboDojo, Future Strategy Forum, Naval STEM, RDT&E Strategic Cell, and so much more.

In addition, there are a wide array of official and unofficial places that are publishing various innovation efforts which include (but certainly not limited to); SECNAV’s Strategy & Innovation, Athena Project, DEF, Atlantic Council, Naval Institute (website and Proceedings), Naval Science and Technology Future Force Magazine, War on the Rocks, Connecting the Dots, Military Writers Guild, CIMSEC, The Navalist, Defense One, and good ole Navy Times… just to name a few.

So what does this all of this have to do with “2048”? Over the last 14 months of watching super smart Sailors and DoN Civilians roll up their sleeves to implement their great idea, there is almost always that moment of defeat. The innovator stands at the edge of the cliff, overlooking a massive chasm, and wondering how on Earth they will ever be able to cross it and scale their idea into their biggest vision. “2048” could offer a solution to the ever growing multitude of emergent innovation efforts… we need to start combining.

“If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.” – Henry Ford

What if groups that harvested Sailor’s ideas (2) were combined with research and development units (2) in an effort to build a true partnership (2+2) where Sailors ideas were systematically researched and funded each and every quarter (4)? Then what if one of the new innovation culture-based workshops (2) mated with an organizational metrics and collection team (2), thereby solidifying (2+2) as a quantifiable and adaptable learning program (4)? And then what if this new adaptable learning program (4), which exposed more Sailors to creative, cognitive, systems thinking mechanisms combined systematically researched Sailor’s ideas (4) to reinforce (4 +4) an inclusive systems approach to learning through real impact (8). There are a million other variables that we can continue to merge together.   The point is that when we combine our efforts, we become stronger. Dollars to ideas to education to collaboration opportunities to networks to organizational culture… what if we ask ourselves, how can I collaborate in such a way that both parties end up twice as strong in the end? And lest we forget the power of the media! By the time we are breaking barriers, we must share what we are doing so that others may gain insight and inspiration! A fusion of entertaining media (1024) and amazing advances brought about by radical collaboration (1024), only leads us to the ever coveted 2048.

Reflecting back on my time as a NIAC Fellow in FY16, one of the most valuable lessons I learned is that power and accomplishment comes from sustainable partnerships. No one can get their idea off the ground alone. It literally takes a village, or in our case, a Fleet. The only way we can scale and grow and instill the systemic culture changing behaviors (agility and adaptability being at the top of that list) in order to take ideas into meaningful realities is to combine efforts… and then perhaps 4096 will then be the new magic number.

 

Kristen Wheeler is the Executive Officer of the Navy Operational Support Center, San Jose. Before she was a NIAC Fellow, she founded The Athena Project’s Southeast chapter.

Athena East 3.0: One Week Away!

Greetings, Athenians! We hope you’re as excited as we are for the upcoming Athena East 3.0 pitch event that’s a week from today!

The event will be at the River Stone Chophouse in Suffolk, VA on October 19th at 1800. You can register to attend right here.

Our Athena pitch events provide a venue for Sailors and DoD employees to present their big ideas to make their organization or the Navy better. Selected presenters will have five minutes to present their idea and then five additional minutes to field questions from the crowd and the assembled panel of leaders. At the end of all pitches, the crowd will vote on the concepts based on impact, actionability and presentation to award the top concept the Admiral Sims Award for Intellectual Courage.

The Purpose of Athena East 3.0 is to connect Sailors with ideas to an audience of professionals from the military, academia, industry, and the community who are supportive of military problem solving and problem ownership.  We want to develop a cadre of forward-thinking, creatively confident Sailors for the Fleet of tomorrow and build a diverse, supportive network to help them move forward.  Build a sense of problem ownership, where a Sailor sees a problem and develops a solution, and presents to leadership to get specific support. Athena East 3.0 is an informal gathering to hear, support, and celebrate Service-members and/or DoD civilians acting on their passion to improve their unit or service.For more on how Athena works and some of our past events, check out our roundup articles while you’re here on the blog!

There’s still time if you’re interested in presenting! The window to submit concepts is open, and if you’re interested, e-mail our Athena East Chapter lead at vakahnke@gmail.com with a brief summary your idea. The selection of the 5-6 presenters will be made on Sunday!

As an added bonus for this Athena event, registered attendees will have special access to the Submarine Information Exchange Tactical Advancements for the Next Generation (TANG) technology expo at the Lockheed Martin Lighthouse  prior to the event. Come by and check out the fantastic technology companies that are inspiring the TANG workshop participants before heading over to the Chophouse!

We’re looking forward to seeing you there!

 

 

 

 

 

Athena DC 1.0 Roundup

By LT George Yacus

Hi everyone, Kilt here!  Long time listener, but first time contributor here on The Athena Project.

Athena DC 1.0 — what a success on so many fronts–including the beautiful Potomac waterfront!

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!

Yes, I have to talk about location and timing!  

Riding on the evening coattails of the local 2016 SEA  AIR SPACE expo Monday night gave Athenians several great benefits for this inaugural session, including:

• An absolutely marvelous conference center snuggled in Maryland’s growing National Harbor on the beautiful Potomac (with access to adult beverages during the session if desired)
• A great showing of inquisitive participants from the Navy League’s Global Maritime Exposition, and
• Closer access to the refreshing Navy leadership who live on the fringes of our nation’s capital.

VADM Phil Cullom, Dr. Larry Schuette, Dr. Ralph Semmel, and Sharon Beermann-Curtin each took time out of their busy schedules–and maybe even missed a meeting or two–just so they could support our five Athena idea warriors as panelists.  What a testament to their commitment in making innovation a priority for action and engagement!

INTRODUCTION

The session kicked off with Dave Nobles as our jovial Master of Ceremonies, sharing the history of Athena–which has held about 20 events so far and has become a beacon of success for Naval innovation.  He also shared with us the concept behind  Athena’s snazzy new logo.

Indeed, as Dave said, The Athena Project has become the “Bat Signal” for Naval innovation success.  

Only in this case, there is no “super hero” coming to the Navy’s rescue here in our nation’s capital city, which is normally known for legislative sausage-making, 15 year defense acquisition cycles, and risk-averse policy decisions from whom VADM Cullom likes to call “The Borg”.

Acquisitions? Make it slow.

Instead, our heroes are diverse individuals just like you, who are not satisfied with assimilation into a sub par status quo!  Instead, you are folks who exhibit our Navy’s core values with intellectual honor, courage, and commitment.  You are willing to get an idea, run with it, and make it into a reality.

INSPIRATION!

After Dave got us going, our five presenters and audience gained encouragement from the ideation powerhouse that is FRCMA (Fleet Readiness Center Mid-Atlantic).  

“Our command actually fosters innovation…from concept to culture.” said one of the guest speakers, ATC Williams from FRCMA, who was “blown away by communication between juniors and seniors” evident at his command, which has not one but two ideation think tanks that meet every other week, and also has systems in place where anyone can share their creative ideas.   

Chief Williams and the FRCMA team shared nearly a dozen ideas and processes they’ve developed and implemented in the realm of Navy innovation, which he describes as “taking what’s out there, and using it in a new and exciting way.”  

As a result, their work has spread from FRCs at Oceana and Norfolk to PAX River, New Orleans, and Washington.

But don’t let FRCMA’s success make you think that innovation comes easy, as we all know

FOD Prevention? Make it glow.

ideation success takes leadership, hard work, and commitment.  Take for example LT Jason Shaw, who has spent ten years developing and then navigating funding and contract waters for his (literally) bright idea, which helps aviation maintenance personnel avoid FOD hazards (back to that theme in a second).  Or consider AD2 Shepard’s ongoing work to develop a better cranial that fits comfortably, doesn’t save up sweat, and requires fewer parts.

Our Athena idea warriors thus gained inspiration from those who have gone before us, knowing that their–and your–ideas, can literally the save the Navy time, money, and more importantly, save the lives of our fellow warfighters.

So regardless of whether or not our idea presenters’ concepts are implemented now, or even a decade from now as they battle “The Borg” or as some of us like to say, the “Frozen

Innovation? Let it go.

 

Middle”, who just want to let good ideas go away, we’re thankful for all of our attendees’ presence, patience, and persistence, and we’re especially grateful to the Chains of Command that support ideators like them being able to attend!

 

 

DC 1.0 ATHENIANS

Our Athenians and our Panel from Athena DC 1.0!  (U.S. Navy Photo by John F. Williams)

AT1 MICHAEL PECOTA OF FRCMA DET PAX RIVER: SONAR TRANSDUCER COVER

At the end of AT1 Michael Pecota’s presentation, I think our esteemed panelist ONR Research Director Dr. Larry Schuette put it best:

“Does anyone else think it’s crazy that we don’t already have it capped!?”

AT1 Pecota’s winning idea is a $10 3D printed solution to a $2,000,000 problem.  And that problem is one near and dear to every aircrew and aviation maintenanceman’s heart: FOD…Foreign Object Damage.  The MH-60R (our favorite sub-hunting organic maritime helo) carries a very complex $2M sonar transducer to detect and track lurking submarines.  Unfortunately, when debris makes its way into the transducer, it takes our aviation electronics technicians and maintenance personnel a full hour just to take the cover off and clean house inside the transducer.  By reducing FOD through prevention, AT1 Pecota’s sonar transducer cover can save the Navy upwards of 1708 man hours a year, equivalent to $76,000 back in the Pentagon’s budget.  Sounds great!  Unless you are an enemy submariner, am I right?  His simple solution for a sonar transducer cap earned him the Admiral Sims Award for Intellectual Courage.  

AT1 Pecota receives the Admiral Sims Award from VADM Cullom. (U.S. Navy Photo by John F. Williams)

[Note, if you are an MH-60R bubba, looking to get one of these caps for your transducer, reach out and we’ll connect you with AT1 Pecota.  Let’s print these FOD-preventing bad-boys!]

LT JAMES LANDRETH OF NAVAL NUCLEAR POWER TRAINING UNIT, CHARLESTON SC: ADAPTIVE TESTING WITH MINERVA…THE ORACLE SUITE

Our second briefer carried the Athena torch with the mythology theme (woohoo!) LT James Landreth and his team pitched their innovative training/testing program “Minerva”, named after the Roman goddess of wisdom, art, Nuclear Power, school, etc.  

Their team sees wide possibilities with the Navy Computerized Adaptive Test system, enabling them to predict with 85% accuracy a student’s success, generate customized or individualized training regimes, provide command leadership data-supported feedback on training systems, and help students avoid test failure.  Nice!

LT DANIEL WALKER OF NAVAL SUPPLY SYSTEMS COMMAND: AUGMENTED REALITY BRIDGE

Collisions at sea.  They happen.  I wish they didn’t.  LT Walker wants to make them stop happening.  LT Dan wants every ship to keep their sea legs.

As a former CRIC-ster, he is the project lead for OCEAN AUGMENTED REALITY.  The idea is to take all the great sensors and information we have available on a bridge: map data, radar contact information, depth charts, etc., and synthesize it and present it to our watchstanders through augmented reality glasses to reduce collisions.  LT Walker’s project came in second place at Athena DC 1.0.  What an exciting challenge!

LT TAKERU TAJIRI OF  LCS CREW 104: E-SIGNALMAN

This is the idea that made it difficult for me to get to sleep last night!

It doesn’t take an engineer to realize that our electromagnetic spectrum is becoming more and more crowded and contested.  Just ask LT Takeru Tajiri, a Poli-Sci major from the Juggernauts of LCS Crew 104 who wants to breathe new life into an old concept like Morse code by addressing how we communicate when all the radios are jammed, or when EMCON (emissions control) conditions have been established.  The idea is to shift over to the shorter wavelengths on the EM spectrum, using visible light, infrared and/or laser, to send communication data from ship to ship or aircraft, and potentially relay data via unmanned vehicles/balloons to go over the horizon.

I really want to see all the tinkerers out there in the Navy come together and rally around this one, because I just KNOW that some sailors (including midshipmen) out there can design and build this one in a weekend or two!  Who is with me?  Let’s do it!

HM2 JOSHUA CRANFORD OF ANNAPOLIS NAVAL HOSPITAL: PROJECT WATER ENGINE

Our final presenter of the evening had me chuckling as he started with a great pun about sourcing energy and electrical current from water in the form of hydrogen.

HM2 Joshua Cranford is ready for the Navy to lead the way in green energy!  Taking inspiration from the SECNAV’s Great Green Fleet initiative, HM2 wants to transition to H2… using hydrogen gas as a safer, climate friendly, and some day cost effective alternative fuel source to fossil fuels.  Citing many recent trends, including successful projects from the University of West Virginia, HM2 Cranford encouraged us to take the long look for sustainability in how we power our Fleet.  His presentation, while cut a little short due to timing, was still a gas!

CONCLUSION

Wow, what a night!  In the end VADM Cullom tied it all together by spotlighting the strategic link between deckplate ideation, and Design for Maritime Superiority released by the Chief of Naval Operations. Specifically, he cited the line of effort regarding High Velocity Learning.  He also explained that he wants to see Athena spread to every fleet concentration area.

“I have been in awe of what Athena has done…”

-VADM Phil Cullom (OPNAV N4)

We’re so thankful for our presenters for having the courage to share their ideas.  How exciting it is that we can have sailors from all across the US come and meet together to make positive change in our Navy.  Even though this was the first Athena event in DC, I’d say the “Bat Signal” is shining brightly here.  Again, we must thank the leadership who have helped empower deckplate thinkers.

In conclusion, for some, it has been a 10 year journey to get here!  And for others, it was just a few minutes of traffic around the DC Beltway.  But regardless of whether you are an idea creator or an idea catalyst, newcomer or serial thinker, wherever you are in the realm of Naval innovation, remember, as VADM Cullom said this evening about The Athena Project…

“This is your forum!”

 

LT George Yacus is an MH-60S helo bubba, currently on shore duty to USNA at the Class of 1963 Center for Academic Excellence, where he provides communication and outreach for student academic support services, including training midshipmen in collaborative learning techniques, speed reading, time management, and more.  In his free time he connects with other creative thinkers around the Yard and Fleet, and he is always looking to find ways to introduce innovation communities to midshipmen, faculty, and staff, and especially the aviation community at USNA.

There are Athena events coming soon to fleet concentration areas around the globe, so if you’re in Mayport, San Diego, Yokosuka and Norfolk – get ready! If you’re interested in starting a movement of your own, find us on Facebook or Twitter (@athenanavy) or e-mail us at athenanavy@gmail.com!

Athena: A Plankowner’s Perspective

By: CDR Michele Day

“An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea.”

— Edward de Bono

This month, theATHENAproject is continuing its growth around the globe. On January 15th at the Yokosuka Naval Base Galley, Athena Far East is kicking off their inaugural event. I am especially excited to see the ideas presented at ATHENA Far East – I’ll tell you why in just a bit.

Athena Far East is this Friday!

We all know that innovation is fundamentally the process of inventing, introducing, and adopting a new product, practice, system, or behavior. The ability to innovate is impacted by a myriad of factors, some of which are controllable while others are non-controllable. Some people work in an environment that suppresses change or devalues employees who are young and inexperienced. Some people fear failure, think they are not creative enough, or are afraid of speaking publicly.

I’ve been a part of ATHENA since its inception and what an amazing journey it has been. When provided the opportunity to use their VOICE, Sailors are an unstoppable force. An interesting trend I saw in San Diego: The ideas pitched by Sailors were often tied to their parent command’s life cycle. For instance, Sailors who recently returned from deployment expressed ideas more tactical in nature, while those in the shipyard generally had ideas on improving maintenance, and those in the training cycle were focused on streamlining admin and qualifications.

A little throwback picture: The first ever pitch, when Athena was still unfortuntely named WikiWardroom.

As I read through the Roundups from ATHENA events I see the same spread of idea generation. This is why I am so excited about ATHENA Far East! Forward Deployed Naval Forces (FDNF) units are primarily operational. They find time for maintenance and training, but the lifecycle is more fluid than CONUS based forces. FDNF Sailors are always asking “what can we do to be better warfighters?” If you think about it, nearly all of the ideas pitched at ATHENA events can be tied to Warfighting First:

• Streamlining admin allows for more training time.
• Merging databases allows for better tracking of manning and material
• Modernizing training provides warfighters better suited for today’s technological environment

But as I look into my ATHENA Far East crystal ball, I see FDNF Sailors pitching ideas that leverage current technologies to find new ways to execute the mission and conceptualizing new weapons systems.

As ATHENA has continued to grow, we’ve made a constant effort to innovate our own process, trying out new things and gaining feedback to try and make ATHENA better. In our recent events, we’ve experimented with “Shark Tank-style” panels of leaders to provide concept feedback, awarding personal development experiences to our participants and winners, inviting Sailors who have made headway with their projects as keynote speakers and beyond. In that spirit, we’re prototyping a new experience for our first Far East event! Specifically unique to ATHENA Far East is our partnership with the Defense Entrepreneurship Forum (DEF) as an official Agora and our endorsement by and involvement with the Military Writer’s Guild, and SECNAV’s Naval Innovation Advisory Council.

Brett Vaughn, one of the “Sharks” at Athena East 2.0, getting down to business with a presenter as CAPT Carter and CAPT Bodvake look on.

Expanding to Japan is incredibly exciting for not only ATHENA, but the Naval “Innovation Insurgency” as a whole. But beyond that, I think that it’s important to provide a stage for the bright minds currently serving in this Theater to have their voices heard. We hope that you’re as excited about it as we are.

Come see what ATHENA is all about, and join us in making positive change in the Navy! We hope to see you there!

 

CDR Michele Day is the former Commanding Officer of USS BENFOLD. She’s currently assigned to CTF-70 as the Surface Operations Officer. She’s a proud graduate of Texas A&M and on a never ending journey to grow as a servant leader, positive change instigator, and figuring out how to get her Sailors to ‘give a poop.’

There are loads of Athena Events coming up! If you’re in the San Diego, Groton or Patuxent River areas, connect with us if you want to be a part of our upcoming events! Connect with us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/athenanavy or follow us on Twitter: @AthenaNavy. Interested in starting a movement of your own? Message us, or e-mail athenanavy@gmail.com!

To learn more about Defense Entrepreneurs Agora: http://defenseentrepreneurs.org/about-def-agora/

 

 

Athena South East 1.0 Roundup

By: LT Kristen Wheeler

On October 29^th, six Sailors took the stage at CoLabJax, a maker’s space… “Where Ideas Take Flight” and partook in the first ever Athena Project South East event. Selected from over 34 idea submissions from The Hatch, the Secretary of the Navy’s idea crowdsourcing website, the six participants refined their ideas through questions from a 5-person panel including RADM Scott Hebner (ret.), CMDCM Gary Campbell (ret.), CDR James Harney (CO of ATG Mayport), Derek Distenfield (The Bunker, Jacksonville Chapter), and Jason Salvagni (CoLabJax Co-Founder)

Each Sailor had 5 minutes to pitch their idea to improve the Navy, and then answer questions from the panel and audience at large. After each round, the audience and panel voted on each idea based on actionability, presentation, and idea quality by secret ballot. The scores were averaged together and ranked.

ET2 Danielle Walters took the prize and earned the “Athena SE 1.0 Admiral Sims Award for Intellectual Courage” for her solution to the Navy’s administrative process to route special requests through the Chain-of-Command. By routing all special requests electronically, vice the current paper method, routing time is reduced, as well as reducing the ‘opportunities’ to reroute lost paper requests. Additionally, ET2 Walters’ proposed solution increases protection of sensitive documents, through a streamlined tracking system. As the 1^st place winner, ET2 Walters was awarded a one year membership to CoLabJax and The Bunker, a veteran entrepreneur incubator, who will help her refine and prototype her idea.

FC1 Chris Darby came in 2^nd place and was awarded a 3-month membership to CoLabJax and The Bunker to refine his idea to solve the conundrum of remembering 15-character passwords by using cognitive passwords attached to emojis. Cognitive passwords go beyond biometric and physical passwords to protect our data. Cognitive passwords are based on personal events and/or opinions that are not only extremely difficult to break, but also memorable to the user.

Other presenters included:

• IT2 Brendan Rodgers envisions a more robust catalogue of interesting and educational Professional Military Education (PME) topics on Navy Knowledge Online (NKO) that would award the student with certificates from the Navy War College. Topics would include history, honors and ceremonies, and traditions of the United States Navy.   These courses are designed to be interactive, engaging, and help Sailors develop a higher level of respect for their uniforms’ and the United States Navy. These courses will also help strength our Navy, by providing content for Sailors to dig deeper into our history, so they can properly influence the future.
• FC2 Dean Loverde would like to see a web-based bulletin board for IWO JIMA Sailors to be able to exchange information about items for sale, knowledge to share, lost and found items, and other such community-driven conversation.
• ET3 Patrick Fisher has a great idea regarding the Navy’s Enlisted Evaluation process. Currently, only supervisors evaluate subordinates, however, ET3 wants to add more data evaluation data points to the process by including the opinions from direct subordinates and supervisors for all members. By including the opinions of subordinates, a more accurate picture is painted, and allows feedback to the supervisor, which will overall improve our Navy’s over all selection of superior leadership.
• IC2 Robert Moore would like to see his plan to not only recycle the massive amounts of metal waste produced by the Navy, but to see a system that allows flexibility to be able to return the recycling profits returned to MWR. Copper, Aluminum, and brass prices continue to rise, why not just recycle these metals, but collect the cash associated. Understanding there are strict rules governing the military’s constraints on receiving money, IC2 would like these laws to be revisited in order to not only support a greener Navy, but also add to MWR’s coffers.

All in all, the first Athena South East event was an excellent collection of bold innovators focused on making the Navy better. With so much energy from the first event, we’re looking forward to keeping the chapter going strong at our next event! Stay tuned!

 

LT Kristen Wheeler is the former Combat Systems Officer onboard the USS IWO JIMA. She’s currently assigned to the Navy Innovation Advisory Council at Moffett Field in San Francisco.

There are loads of Athena Events coming up! If you’re in the San Diego, Groton or Yokosuka areas, connect with us if you want to be a part of our upcoming events! Connect with us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/athenanavy or follow us on Twitter: @AthenaNavy. Interested in starting a movement of your own? Message us, or e-mail athenanavy@gmail.com!

 

 

 

Introducing, ATHENA Far East!

By LTJG Tom Baker

USS BENFOLD (DDG 65), the Defense Entrepreneurs Forum, and a team of innovation veterans from fleet concentration areas across the United States have teamed up in Japan to establish ATHENA Far East, our first permanent ATHENA hub outside of the continental United States!

Rooting itself at Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka (CFAY), Japan, the opportunities to collaborate with Japanese and American sailors are tremendous.

The surface and submarine mariner of the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Forces across Yokosuka Bay, an entrepreneurship professor from a local university, the talented civilian maintenance community, an aviation mechanic in Aircraft Carrier RONALD REAGAN…we will reach at every corner of civilian and military entrepreneurship to bring the same diverse conversation under one roof that has made every ATHENA so successful before us!

If you are in Japan, make plans now to join us on January 15th from 1245 – 1430 at the Commodore Matthew Perry General Mess “Tatami Room” on the Yokosuka Navy Base.

Any Military members or DoD Civilians interested in pitching ideas at this event can reach out on facebook or connect with us on the gmail account listed below!

Connect with Athena on Facebook: www.facebook.com/athenanavy or follow us on Twitter: @AthenaNavy. Interested in starting a movement of your own? Message us, or e-mail athenanavy@gmail.com!