Capt. Nathanael Kohl and Scott McClure from the 611th Civil Engineer Squadron, Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson, Alaska, and Master Sgt. Luke Rogan from the 775th CES, Hill AFB, Utah, could not understand why the Air Force did not have access to the same 3D interior scanning capabilities that realtors use to show homes and Rogan’s 5-year-old son used to look up the layout of a local amusement park. Why not use this widely available commercial technology instead of relying on old, often inaccurate, costly processes to update data on the interior layouts of buildings? It would be cheaper and better than existing manual processes and could even save lives in an emergency.
So they pitched their idea at the 2021 AFIMSC Innovation Rodeo. They came in third place and were awarded over $465,000 to bring their idea from concept to reality. Contracts to conduct initial 3D facility/infrastructure scans, 3D twinning or modeling, and 360-degree photographs at JBER and Hill AFB, as well as their associated geographically separated unit sites were awarded in 2021.