MSBAI chosen for $1 million contract to enable USAF to ‘ECreate Before You Aviate’
MSBAI, an Air Force Techstars 2020 company, has been selected for an AFWERX Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 2 contract in the 20.3 cycle, in which they will adapt their GURU cognitive AI assistant to support the Air Force’s digital transformation.
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Late last year the Air Force announced a goal to reduce time to design new aerial platforms from a decade+ down to a single year, by scaling up the utilization of simulation in design and testing to an unprecedented level. They coined the phrase ‘ECreate Before You Aviate’ to describe the opportunity to design, build, and test countless designs before building the physical system. Rather than “fly before you buy,” digital engineering and management allows the AF to reduce the real-world learning curve, the need for physical prototyping, and modifications between production blocks.
Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett said “Digital engineering isn’t an option … it’s essential. It’s faster, it’s cheaper, it’s better.”
The problem is that numerous simulation packages used for aerodynamics, structures, combustion, and more — and the High Performance Computing (HPC) systems that run them — are each considered PhD-level specialties.
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Last year, Air Force Acquisition Chief, Dr. Will Roper said “Every new program will begin as an Esystem… wars will be won and lost based on how well we digitally design.”
But there aren’t enough experts with this kind of training! Enter MSBAI, and their autonomous system for engineering simulation. MSBAI have demonstrated GURU setting up simulations in minutes that used to take humans hours. The Air Force selected their winning proposal to AF Digital Engineering Pitch Day, entitled GURU Owns the Modeling and Simulation Tech Stack, and the excitement doesn’t stop there! It’s not just the Air Force in need of a transformation in digital engineering. The White House’s May 2021 American Jobs Plan proclaimed:
“Despite pioneering the technology, the United States is behind in the race to manufacture electric vehicles…it is time for …the U.S. to lead in EV manufacturing, infrastructure, deployment, and innovation.”
MSBAI’s CEO, Allan Grosvenor, responded to the call, saying
“Simulation is regularly used by only about 1% of engineers, and the Air Force chose us to make it 100%. We think we can do the same for the EV race!” The electric vehicle market is projected to reach $5 trillion in the next decade.
AFWERX is expanding technology, talent, and transition partnerships for rapid and affordable commercial and military capability. afwerx.com
MSBAI is a privately held small business located in Los Angeles, CA, developing the cognitive AI assistant for engineering: GURU.
