COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Going on through Friday, June 16, Texas A&M engineering students and soldiers from the III Armored Corps from Fort Cavazos in Killeen are teaming up to integrate cutting edge technology into their operations.
Rodney Boehm is an Associate Professor of Practice for Engineering Entrepreneurship and the creator of Phantom Invents and is excited at what is going to come from the week-long event.
"We wanted soldiers and students together because the soldiers have the experience. They're the ones who are going to be using this solution," Boehm said. "The students have a completely different perspective. And that's where innovation truly happens."
28 students and 28 soldiers have been working on teams since Monday to design, build and sell their solutions that address some of the biggest problems facing the U.S. Military. Some of the inventions include detecting drones in the air and redesigned camouflage.
"There's not a lot of great solutions when it comes to countering these unmanned aerial systems," Senior Military Intelligence Officer Michael Christy said. "What we're trying to do is to develop a counter UAS system that does not emit an electromagnetic signal."
Each team will have 10 minutes tomorrow to explain and present what they've been working on all week, with the chance of taking home a podium prize.
"I am incredibly excited about seeing what the students and soldiers have come up with together," Boehm said. "It exceeded my expectations. I thought okay, wouldn't it be an interesting event to put the students and soldiers together? Let's see what comes out of it."
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