‘Like Shark Tank for the Air Force’: Innovation and inventors’ club opens at Yokota

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan– Visitors to a makeshift lab at the home of U.S. Forces Japan in western Tokyo tested a 3D printer, augmented truth safety glasses and design software at the current soft opening for the YokoWerx Dojo.

An innovators’ and innovators’ clubhouse of sorts, the laboratory is on target for an official opening in January at Yokota, the group’s founder, Air Force Staff Sgt. Gerard Arceneaux, said in an interview Sept. 16.

YokoWerx Dojo will be readily available to service members and Defense Department civilians to play and brainstorm ideas that enhance the militaries and turn “what ifs” into truth, Arceneaux said.

“The Dojo is for people with good ideas who don’t quite understand how to perform them,” he stated. “We desire to welcome people with terrific concepts that might still be half-baked to decide how we can pool our resources to help them.”

As a way of marketing YokoWerx Dojo and presenting the neighborhood to the kind of problem-solving products it can stimulate, the volunteers created and produced “COVID-Keys,” small plastic tools that can be used to push buttons, pull open doors and cabinets, or hook onto locks to mitigate the spread of infections by restricting the need to physically touch things. COVID-19 is the breathing disease triggered by the coronavirus.

YokoWerx members sent 150 of the keys to service members and families on base at random, together with 30 golden keys giving gain access to the Dojo laboratory’s Sept. 25 soft opening to sneak peek the equipment and resources that will be readily available to those thinking about joining.

While the space, called the Dojo Laboratory, in Building 400 currently does not have much devices beyond a 3D printer, white board and a couple of computers, Arceneaux said its heart depends on the dialogue and potential for brand-new projects.

“It’s not simply about using a 3D printer,” he stated. “It’s entire mission is to motivate individuals to connect to find services.” Lt. Col. Toby Evans, the 374th Airlift Wing development officer and a mentor for the YokoWerx Dojo, stated the club, likewise called a “spark cell,” is a branch of Air Force Functions, stylized as AFWERX, a servicewide effort developed in 2017 to motivate airmen to practice creative issue fixing.

Arceneaux and Evans started preparing for the YokoWerx Dojo launch in February. It is run by 10 volunteers, consisting of service members, DOD civilian staff members and Japan Air Self-Defense Force personnel.

While the Dojo Lab undergoes restorations prior to its main opening in January, the club is offering an online inventor and innovator competitors called YokoShowdown from Monday through Nov. 20.

YokoShowdown will be hosted on the website IdeaScale. The items, models or concepts with the most votes will be fine-tuned at the Dojo Lab and pitched to senior leaders at the 374th Airlift Wing, Evans stated.

“It’s like Shark Tank for the Flying Force,” he stated.

Any service member, relative or DOD civilian is welcomed to submit an entry, as long as the idea is tailored toward enhancing life at Yokota, or in the Air Force as a whole.

Cash for the YokoWerx Dojo and the YokoShowdown comes from Flying force Squadron Innovation Funds, reserved in 2018 to encourage systems to participate in believe tanks and vocalize how they wish to improve the work environment, according to the AFWERX website.

Evans said that while lots of people think about innovation when the term “development” is brought up, the online contest and lab will be a hub to prototype and test ideas of all kinds.

While the lab won’t be entirely finished until January, Arceneaux said he can reveal the in-progress area to interested individuals prior to the official opening. The only stipulation, he stated, is that they should utilize the space for a specific concept that benefits that Yokota community, not a personal interest project or a private service venture.