AFWERX SAGE Fellows serve as the primary point of contact for civilian businesses who have been awarded a Phase I SBIR contract. During this opportunity, fellows will assist businesses as they navigate the DAF and help facilitate their customer discovery.

Defense Ventures is an industry immersion program for U.S. Military personnel. As a Defense Ventures Fellow embedded with Hermeus I was able to learn about the engineering involved in developing cutting edge hypersonic aircraft. Furthermore, I learned about how research and development initiatives are identified and funded, how new capabilities are stood up and transitioned to established programs, and items to consider from both a government and start-up perspective when new technology is brought to the marketplace.

ESE 520 Commercialization Support Teams is a course offered by the UTK Bredesen Center which provides students with the opportunity to work in a team setting assisting a local startup company with many of their business needs. Students are presented with a scope of work created by the startup company that outlines a project of business needs. During this program I helped develop a business plan, worked on the company's website and marketing materials, conducted market research, performed outbound sales calls, and developed a quality assurance survey.