The objective of this effort is to form and manage a collaborative, precompetitive consortium of leading science, engineering, industry, and business professionals, together with regulatory and operational experts, capable of driving R&D of electronic technologies to advance human performance monitoring and digital medicine. The backbone of such a partnership will be robust, non-intrusive human-integrated technologies. Reliability, with respect to extreme environment and decision quality of performance, as well as customization, with respect to an individual or a mission, will separate commercial from military requirements. Components and system-level functionality of human- integrated technologies, such as airman performance monitoring and augmentation (APM/A), are to be demonstrated. Focus will be on critical technological areas not actively being addressed in the industry presently and the advancement of the technology readiness in the range of TRL3 to TRL6. Given the explosive commercial ecosystem, the strategy is to risk reduce key component technologies and supporting materials and manufacturing approaches that, when combined with commercial capabilities, will establish a technology platform to address future military requirements.
The scope of this effort includes collaboration with AFRL and industry partners to define the critical needs for AMP/A and adjacent commercial market applications such as first responder capabilities, emergency medicine, and tele-med. NBMC will continue to be managed in partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to establish a membership and governing structure, define high-impact project calls, monitor technical progress, and ensure delivery of DoD-relevant dual-use technologies. This will ensure both DoD S&Es as well as end-user communities are able to help define the technical and operational challenges addressed by the Consortium while continuing to ensure dual-use applications. The partnership is intended to combine federal investments with industry, state, and local investments to accelerate the integration of these technologies into the USAF mission alongside with other public utility.
A consortium will be formed comprised of DoD, companies representing each of the critical echelons of the supply chain, and leading universities in a structure that will be effective in defining high impact R&D, executing on the development, and managing technical progress to ensure return on investment. The Nano-Bio Materials Consortium is expected to grow the US-centric innovation ecosystem that will risk reduce material supply (including nanomaterials & biomaterials), processing techniques, and flexible/stretchable device concepts by demonstrating component-level and system-level functionality relevant to human-integrated technologies, such as airman-performance monitoring (APM) and airman-performance augmentation (APA) systems. This public private partnership should build upon the foundation of research & development excellence established within NBMC since its 2013 inception.
R&D project teams will be formed to execute on critical technologies that may include but not limited to flexible high-performance circuits and computational capability, interconnect and data bus development, multi-sensor development and integration, Al and machine learning, microfluidics, and advanced materials and nanostructures as they relate to flexible device concepts for AMP/A. Additionally, biomarker detection and assessments with a focus on implantable sensors and interstitial fluid-based sensors, assessment of key bioelectrical, biochemical, and biomagnetic signatures with a focus on brain machine interface and textile integrations, and interventional technologies to address performance augmentation challenges with a focus on chemical drug delivery and neuromodulation techniques. The embodiment of many of the technologies is expected to include aspects of lightweight and thin form factors, disposability, interoperability, innovative powering technologies, and ease-of-use.
R&D management will include a disciplined program management protocol. In order to meet the demands of DoD applications, as well as assess and then project dualuse considerations for general public utility (e.g. first responder capabilities, closed-loop health and medical capabilities, etc.), consortium management should create: (a) an environment that fosters technology teams capable of delivering field-relevant and/or lab-relevant technologies, and (b) effective concepts for NBMC projects to be justified with sound technological, application, and business analysis with respect to establishing transition opportunities and must represent research and development of critical areas not actively being addressed or accomplished by industry.
TRL 3 to TRL 6 development will be conducted in a disciplined fashion employing supply chain and manufacturing principles that will mitigate risk for follow-on commercialization. A balance between enabling component-level and systems-level prototype development is expected to be realized through end-technologies between TRL 3 and TRL 6.
Events, workshops, forums, project reviews, and technical community meetings will be held to provide ample opportunity for collaboration and communication between AFRL, the managing partner, consortium leadership, and the consortium members to be well informed about technical progress and strategic direction of the consortium. The recruitment of highly effective and collaborative teams from across the research, development, testing, and evaluation (RDT&E) ecosystem is necessary for the rapid development and delivery of technologies within the scope of this program. This growth should include the integration of new technologies, suppliers, manufacturers, and end users, beyond those currently engaged with existing and relevant trade organizations. Prospective members should understand the value that an NBMC membership brings to their organization and the specific benefits they can expect as collaborative partners in this ecosystem. Current and future NBMC members should be confident that their participation in this Consortium brings unique value to their organization. Additionally, the policy regarding new membership to NBMC should be explicitly articulated to ensure that all members are active, constructive, and cooperative members of this ecosystem and that a sense of community is maintained.
To ensure the RDT&E maintains a high value to the DoD, the managing partner will, together with AFRL, recruit DoD personnel that represent operational communities that will find value in NBMC technologies (e.g., Program Offices, AF Medical Communities, Special Operations, etc.) as active participants in the strategic and technical direction of the consortium.
