From left, U.S. Air Force Lt. Krystal Diaz, U.S. Air Force Airman First Class Olivia Newman, and Hannah Beene craft a rough prototype during a STRIKEWERX design sprint Dec. 3-5 at the Cyber Innovation Center, Bossier City, Louisiana. The sprint was held to develop a solution for inefficient aircraft fueling processes with a modern design that can easily adapt to handle fuel samples and fuel flushes all in one device, while protecting Airmen from exposure to fuel splashes. (U.S. Air Force Courtesy Photo by Victoria Price, Cyber Innovation Center)
By Sean Green | Communications Manager
BOSSIER CITY, La. – STRIKEWERX, Air Force Global Strike Command’s innovation hub at the Cyber Innovation Center (CIC), hosted a design sprint Dec. 3-5 to improve how Airmen can take aircraft fuel samples.
The design sprint sought to improve how Airmen can more safely and quickly take aircraft fuel samples from storage tanks and transport vehicles. A common challenge is that personal protective equipment (PPE) does not fit all Airmen equally and the current fuel sampling method is both labor intensive and inefficient.
Over the course of three days in the CIC’s innovation hub in Bossier City, Louisiana, a team of Air Force subject matter experts worked with product design company, 70E Solutions. The team developed a prototype that can easily adapt to handle samples and fuel flushes all in one device, while protecting Airmen from exposure to fuel splashes. This new design also provides visibility to the Airmen taking the sample by featuring a clear, collapsable funnel that can reach the different valves they are planning to sample.
“This problem was often overlooked and just needed a simple fix. This solution will bring a career impact to the command’s Petroleum Oil and Lubrications career field and will open the door to show fellow Airmen that innovation can be simple but impactful,” said Senior Airman Crayton Noe, aircraft fuel systems specialist from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas.
The design sprint process brings together a team of business, industry, and government to spend five days defining the challenge, understanding needs, creating a prototype solution, and testing.
“It was amazing to witness how the STRIKEWERX design sprint process brought people from different backgrounds together to understand the Airmen’s needs and come to a consensus to solve the problem,” said Senior Airman Tristan Bagley, fuels management specialist from Dyess AFB, Texas.
The CIC, via its partnership with AFGSC, will now produce a full-scale version for further testing and evaluation. Pending results, the end result could be refined and delivered to AFGSC for implementation.
This marks the eleventh design sprint undertaken by STRIKEWERX since late 2020. Of those, five sprint prototypes have been delivered to AFGSC for evaluation and scaling with another four under development for testing.
STRIKEWERX will continue to host design sprints to tackle various challenges from around the command. For more info on the design sprint process, watch this video or email info@strikewerx.com.