1 00:00:02,750 --> 00:00:04,694 In the labs and Air Force research 2 00:00:04,694 --> 00:00:07,699 laboratory . We as young officers 3 00:00:08,300 --> 00:00:10,560 typically get the opportunity to run 4 00:00:10,569 --> 00:00:13,430 with any ideas we have . If we want to 5 00:00:13,439 --> 00:00:15,272 experiment on something , design 6 00:00:15,272 --> 00:00:17,383 something , research , something . Um 7 00:00:17,383 --> 00:00:19,495 Our leadership lets us explore that . 8 00:00:19,495 --> 00:00:21,661 My name is Kyle , I'm a captain in the 9 00:00:21,661 --> 00:00:23,717 United States Air Force stationed at 10 00:00:23,717 --> 00:00:25,883 Wright Patterson Air Force Base , Ohio 11 00:00:25,883 --> 00:00:28,170 and I'm a developmental engineer , I 12 00:00:28,180 --> 00:00:30,500 was awarded an Edison grant . And so as 13 00:00:30,510 --> 00:00:32,540 part of that , it was a call for 14 00:00:32,549 --> 00:00:35,029 proposals to the entire Department of 15 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:37,389 the Air Force um for airmen and 16 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:39,511 guardians , enlisted and officers who 17 00:00:39,511 --> 00:00:41,733 are in a science or engineering related 18 00:00:41,733 --> 00:00:44,799 field . And the call for proposals is , 19 00:00:44,810 --> 00:00:46,977 hey , do you have an idea or something 20 00:00:46,977 --> 00:00:49,143 that you can experiment upon ? We want 21 00:00:49,143 --> 00:00:51,639 to try and get uniformed personnel more 22 00:00:51,650 --> 00:00:53,817 involved in the science and technology 23 00:00:53,817 --> 00:00:55,928 that the Air Force is looking to do . 24 00:00:56,299 --> 00:00:58,720 My proposal was to do what we call an 25 00:00:58,729 --> 00:01:01,180 irregularly shaped rotating detonation 26 00:01:01,189 --> 00:01:04,230 engine , detonation engines provide a 27 00:01:04,239 --> 00:01:06,639 few capabilities . And so we can look 28 00:01:06,650 --> 00:01:09,089 at power , we can look at going faster 29 00:01:09,099 --> 00:01:11,529 so we can field it on potentially 30 00:01:11,540 --> 00:01:15,089 similar sized weapons , but instead of 31 00:01:15,099 --> 00:01:18,050 a normal rocket engine or a gas turbine 32 00:01:18,059 --> 00:01:19,790 engine . If we field it with a 33 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:22,730 detonation engine , we can look to go 34 00:01:22,739 --> 00:01:26,360 faster with less fuel . We can also 35 00:01:26,370 --> 00:01:28,481 look at the form factor that donation 36 00:01:28,481 --> 00:01:30,648 engines can provide with the amount of 37 00:01:30,648 --> 00:01:32,370 power that they can generate . 38 00:01:32,370 --> 00:01:34,426 Hypothetically , you can field it in 39 00:01:34,426 --> 00:01:36,980 smaller systems and get similar effects 40 00:01:36,989 --> 00:01:38,878 at larger systems . And now we're 41 00:01:38,878 --> 00:01:40,933 looking at packing more weapons into 42 00:01:40,933 --> 00:01:43,100 the weapons bay . We can look at going 43 00:01:43,100 --> 00:01:45,322 farther with multiple engines . There's 44 00:01:45,322 --> 00:01:47,211 a lot of possibilities that we're 45 00:01:47,211 --> 00:01:49,211 looking to explore with this . So I 46 00:01:49,211 --> 00:01:51,433 think the beauty of the Edison Grant is 47 00:01:51,433 --> 00:01:53,489 you're trying to take um the highest 48 00:01:53,489 --> 00:01:55,959 risk that's acceptable . Um So from a 49 00:01:55,970 --> 00:01:57,900 experimentation and research and 50 00:01:57,910 --> 00:02:00,077 development standpoint , a lot of this 51 00:02:00,077 --> 00:02:02,879 stuff won't work maybe the first time 52 00:02:03,669 --> 00:02:05,836 or maybe it requires a little bit more 53 00:02:05,836 --> 00:02:08,419 tinkering . But with these high risk 54 00:02:08,429 --> 00:02:10,699 programs , we learn what doesn't work 55 00:02:10,710 --> 00:02:12,710 and we can go a different path . We 56 00:02:12,710 --> 00:02:14,932 learn what's feasible or not . It is in 57 00:02:14,932 --> 00:02:16,988 the spirit of the Edison Grant where 58 00:02:16,988 --> 00:02:19,309 things may be to fail . You learn a lot 59 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:21,376 through failure and we shouldn't shy 60 00:02:21,376 --> 00:02:23,320 away from that as we're gearing up 61 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:25,487 towards improving our technologies and 62 00:02:25,487 --> 00:02:27,750 just making awesome weapon systems , we 63 00:02:27,759 --> 00:02:29,815 need to fail . We need to figure out 64 00:02:29,815 --> 00:02:32,092 what works and we need to do this fast . 65 00:02:32,092 --> 00:02:34,315 And that's what the Edison Grant does . 66 00:02:37,539 --> 00:02:39,839 My favorite part is every day is 67 00:02:39,850 --> 00:02:41,683 something new because technology 68 00:02:41,683 --> 00:02:43,850 changes so fast . We're part of that , 69 00:02:43,850 --> 00:02:45,794 we're part of all that fast moving 70 00:02:45,794 --> 00:02:47,906 technology . Um So that's what I love 71 00:02:47,906 --> 00:02:50,300 and you're surrounded by . I think some 72 00:02:50,309 --> 00:02:52,142 of the smartest people um ever , 73 00:02:52,142 --> 00:02:54,142 they're all experts in what they're 74 00:02:54,142 --> 00:02:56,309 doing . Um So that I really appreciate 75 00:02:56,309 --> 00:02:58,476 just the awesome climate that it is to 76 00:02:58,476 --> 00:02:58,449 come into work every day .