Innovare Advancement Center to announce kickoff of annual Aspire Series at Ask Me Anything event

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  • By Air Force Research Laboratory Public Affairs
ROME, N.Y. – Innovare Advancement Center, in partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate and AFWERX, and supported by the Griffiss Institute, announced it will host the Innovare Aspire Ask Me Anything event 1-4 p.m., May 13, during which the Innovare Aspire Series, as well as five research challenges, will be revealed virtually via Airmeet.
 
Public and private organizations that share a passion for solving common challenges are invited to attend the Innovare Aspire Series Ask Me Anything (AMA). The AFRL Information Directorate will announce the kickoff of the annual Innovare Aspire Series and a call for science and technology partnerships with five research challenges in transfer learning, autonomous agents, data assurance, real-time simulation and video scene captioning.
 
The Innovare Aspire Series AMA will feature presentations and discussions from scientists and engineers at AFRL who authored the challenges, as well as keynotes from current collaborators who will showcase their motivation to partner with AFRL to find solutions on diverse capabilities in U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force strategic priority areas. There will also be networking opportunities as well as facilitated question-and-answer sessions for all participants.
 
“AFRL is excited to host the inaugural Aspire Challenge Series and invite both domestic and international collaborators to seek transformational research and development partnerships with industry, academia and other organizations,” said Karen Roth, Chief Engineer of the AFRL Information Directorate. “We want events like the Aspire Challenge Series to be the model for future collaborations and a force multiplier to accelerate innovation and the future of the United States Air Force.”
 
The Innovare Aspire Series is an annual campaign to converge diverse capabilities in U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force strategic priority areas such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, cyber, nanoelectronics, neuromorphic computing, quantum and unmanned aircraft systems, to organize and motivate diverse teams to tackle specific technical challenges and to deliver high-impact, performance-ready capabilities that enhance American competitiveness through diversified commercialization pathways.
 
The Innovare Aspire Series Research Challenges are
 
  • Planning and Autonomous Control: Transfer Learning of Control Policies
  • Planning and Autonomous Control: Hierarchical Heterogeneous Planning
  • Software Assurance: Untrusted Data – Validation of Data Transmission Algorithms
  • Planning and Autonomous Control: Artificial Intelligence for Theater Multi-Domain Operations
  • Image Content Exploitation: Video Scene Captioning – The Pursuit of a Rapidly Advancing Captioner
“We want the inaugural Innovare (pronounced "Inn-oh-VAR-ay") Aspire Challenge Series to become an annual flagship event, using the Innovare Advancement Center as a catalyst to engage potential research partners and create foundational advancements in artificial intelligence, machine learning, software assurance and image captioning,” said Anthony Newton, Open Innovation Operations Lead in AFRL’s Information Directorate. “It’s a team effort to defend our nation and keep our economy strong.”
 
Applicants with research concepts and collaboration proposals that have the best alignment with the future research needs of AFRL will be invited to the Innovare Aspire Summit, a virtual event facilitated by AFRL’s Information Directorate and AFWERX. At this event, prospective partners will convene on novel ways to tackle the Innovare Aspire Series challenges through collaborative agreements.
 
The Innovare Aspire Summit will take place August 17-19, 2021.
 
To register for the Innovare Aspire Ask Me anything, please visit: https://www.airmeet.com/e/9ab65330-8ced-11eb-945e-e369205b2fd2
 
For more information about Innovare Aspire Series and to view the research challenges, please visit: https://www.innovare.org/aspire
 
About AFRL
 
The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is the primary scientific research and development center for the Department of the Air Force. AFRL plays an integral role in leading the discovery, development and integration of affordable warfighting technologies for our air, space and cyberspace force. With a workforce of more than 11,000 across nine technology areas and 40 other operations across the globe, AFRL provides a diverse portfolio of science and technology ranging from fundamental to advanced research and technology development. For more information, visit: www.afresearchlab.com.
 
About Innovare Advancement Center

The Innovare Advancement Center aims to be a global catalyst to converge world-class talent with cutting-edge facilities and focused technology challenges to accelerate the development of game-changing capabilities that protect and empower our country. An open innovation environment immediately adjacent to Air Force Research Laboratory’s Information Directorate in Rome, N.Y., Innovare Advancement Center offers a globally connected innovation ecosystem in which world-class scientific, engineering and entrepreneurial talent from universities, government and industry can leverage highly specialized resources in critical research areas, including artificial intelligence/machine learning, cybersecurity, quantum and unmanned aircraft systems to tackle the country’s greatest challenges to national security and economic competitiveness. To learn more, visit innovare.org