Dear Members, Friends, and Collaborators,

As we welcome you to the Q2 edition of the AFRL Regional Network – Mid-Atlantic newsletter, we are excited to share significant milestones and new beginnings that mark this quarter.

Last week we completed the successful closure of this year’s spring/summer funding cycle, during which we awarded five teams a total $700,000 in project funding. These new projects will drive innovation and advancement across the region and AFRL furthering our mission to bridge groundbreaking ideas with practical, dual-use applications.

We are also delighted to announce and invite you to our 2024 annual meeting which will take place on November 6-7 at the SUNY Global Conference Center in New York City. This year, we are honored to welcome Doug Philippone as our keynote speaker.

Doug’s extensive experience as a serial entrepreneur who currently is the Global Defense Lead for Palantir and the co-founder of Snowpoint Ventures promises to offer valuable insights into the future of innovation and collaboration for dual-use technologies.

Additionally, we are pleased to introduce David Jung as the new Network and Programs Director for the Network. David brings a wealth of experience and a fresh perspective to our team, and we are confident that his leadership will drive our network to new heights of success and collaboration.

Thank you for your relentless dedication and creativity, which continue to make the AFRL Regional Network – Mid-Atlantic a beacon of innovation. We look forward to another quarter of groundbreaking progress and collaboration.

Warmest regards,

Patrick Govang & Emmanuel Giannelis

Co-Directors, AFRL Regional Network – Mid-Atlantic

We are excited to announce that the annual meeting for the AFRL Regional Network – Mid-Atlantic will take place on November 6-7, at the SUNY Global Conference Center in mid-town Manhattan, New York City. We’re proud to partner with the SUNY Research Foundation and the Defense Entrepreneur’s Forum for this year’s meeting and we are honored to share Doug Philippone is joining as our keynote speaker.

Doug Philippone is the co-founder of Snowpoint Ventures, a venture capital firm that specializes in harnessing top technological talent for our nation's defense and government sectors. With an extensive background in both military and technology leadership roles, Doug currently serves as the head of Global Defense at Palantir Technologies, where he has significantly advanced the defense business, supporting over 19 allied countries.

We look forward to co-hosting an informative startup and investor networking session on Thursday November 6 with our friends at the Defense Entrepreneur’s Forum.

Keep an eye on our events page (linked below) for the (forthcoming) registration link and the addition of speakers.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Learn how you can collab with the Air Force Research Lab!

Through its partnership funding program the Regional Network Mid-Atlantic provides up to $500,000 to de-risk and advance innovations from our regional universities, national labs, small, medium and large companies that are both of interest to the Air and Space Forces and have commercial market applications. We have helped launch successful startups, assisted large companies integrating revolutionary technologies and built essential tools to develop new materials – all while seeding and growing meaningful collaboration and supply relationships with the Air and Space Forces.

All members and prospective members are welcome to join us at Princeton University from  4:00-6:00, Monday July 15. Learn about the Network’s mission and funding programs; hear from the AFRL on their interest in the areas of performance in extreme environments, complex system modeling and edge computing; network and mingle with like-minded researchers and entrepreneurs from both the region and the AFRL.

Registration is free via the link below!

On June 26, the AFRL Regional Network – Mid-Atlantic awarded a total of $700,000 to five project teams for the Spring/Summer 2024 funding cycle. The projects, competitively selected from a strong pool of applicants. The Spring/Summer awardees best align with the goals of the Regional Network and are poised to deliver substantial impact.

Stage 1 Awards ($100K)

• “Novel Edge Computing Technology Integration [NECTI]” – a partnership between SRC Inc. and the AFRL Information Directorate
• “Label-free measurement of burn injuries via short wave infrared spatial frequency domain imaging of tissue water content in support of directed energy biosafety” – a joint effort led by Boston University with the AFRL Human Performance Directorate
• “Space-Based Edge Computing for Enhanced Operational Capabilities” – a collaboration led by Voyager Space with participation from AFRL Materials and Manufacturing Directorate

Stage 3 Awards ($200K)

• “Navigation with Computer Vision in GPS-Denied Environments” – a partnership between Skyline Nav AI and the AFRL Information Directorate
• “Scaling up bacteria-based rare earth element (REE) purification” – a collaboration between REEgen, Inc. and the AFRL Materials and Manufacturing Directorate

For those members seeking to propose this Fall, please plan for following dates:

Monday, September 9, 2024

• Submission Period Opens

Friday, October 11, 2024

• Submission Period Closes

Wednesday, November 6

• Project Selection Committee Meeting

We are thrilled to announce Dr. David Jung has joined the AFRL Regional Network – Mid-Atlantic's as our Network and Programs Director, a role that promises to propel our network into its next phase of innovation and collaboration.

Dr. Jung brings a wealth of experience and a deep understanding of the intersection between academia, industry, and defense. His primary objective will be to oversee the Network’s membership and funding programs, focusing on translational dual-use technologies that benefit both the defense community and commercial markets. These efforts are crucial for bolstering national defense and enhancing market value through technological advancements.

“I am thrilled to join the AFRL Regional Network – Mid-Atlantic and contribute to its mission of driving innovation and collaboration between academia, industry, and the defense sector,” Dr. Jung expressed in a recent press release. “I look forward to working with our diverse community to advance technologies that will have a significant impact on both defense and commercial applications.”

Please join us in welcoming Dr. David Jung to his new role and supporting him as he leads our efforts to foster meaningful collaborations that will significantly contribute to our nation's defense capabilities and technological forefront.

Each quarter, we highlight an exciting project supported by the Network. This quarter, we’re pleased to share an update on Soctera.

Soctera is a startup commercializing the World’s first aluminum nitride-based power amplifiers. These amplifiers allow higher operating power over their galium nitride- or silicon-based counterparts offering up to 50% cooler operating temperatures.

AFRL co-PI Dr. Joshua Kennedy, the team lead for Agile Electronic Materials and Processes Research Team at AFRL, has seen how heat has limited many systems within the Air Force. “For Air Force applications, high power RF amplifiers are important for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems, radar arrays, seekers, and directed energy weapons. In many of these cases the state-of-the-art is GaN HEMTs, and we are fundamentally limited by the heat build up,” said Josh in a recent company announcement.

Through its Regional Network project, Soctera, demonstrated the viability of its technology using commercial production methods. With this project and their progress, Soctera has gone on to raise $1.75M in additional funding from the NSF and DoD. As it explores scaling options, they look to leverage the DOD Micro Electronics Commons regional organization, NORDTECH for further support and access.