Airmen light up Spark Tank with bright ideas

Airmen participated in a Team Fairchild Energy Innovation Spark Tank event hosted by the 92nd Civil Engineer Squadron, Oct. 29, at the Red Morgan Center.

All Airmen were welcome to pitch their innovative energy ideas to a panel that consisted of 92nd CES leadership, energy management and environmental office representatives who play a critical role in implementing energy conservation actions.

“The importance of a forum like this is it allows people from the unit level to reach wing leadership with their ideas and present them,” said Master Sgt. David Fernandez, 92nd Logistic Readiness Squadron vehicle maintenance superintendent and Spark Tank participant. “It gives Airmen the chance to say ‘Hey, this is what we are doing right now, and this how we can do better,’ so having a forum like this is extremely valuable.”

Similar to Fairchild’s previous Inland Spark Tank competition that focused on innovation, this Spark Tank event focused on energy initiatives that propel Fairchild to continue being Green in 19. Some ideas presented included changing aircraft de-icing procedures to save fuel and using energy-harnessing treadmills in the fitness center to power the facility.

“The hope is to harvest ideas from outside of our office,” said Ryan Regrutto, 92nd CES energy utility manager and panel member. “We want people with different backgrounds to pitch us their ideas and see if it is something we can actually implement to save big on energy.”

Fairchild uses Spark Tank initiatives to help pursue innovative efforts to outpace adversaries and continue to mirror the Inland Northwest’s “green footprint.”

“It’s great to see there are others involved in being more energy efficient around base, and to also provide them an avenue to exchange their ideas,” Regrutto said. “Implementation of these great ideas is the overall goal, so if there is anything we can do to put these ideas into action, we’ll definitely look to pursue it.”

With the success of the Spark Tank forum, Fairchild is able to encourage innovation at every level and improve mobility capabilities by investing in Airmen’s innovative ideas, technologies and solutions.