December 6, 2023

Team wins gold for iGEM research in Paris

U.S. Air Force Academy Cadet 1st Class Cosmo Cao conducts an experiment as part of his research. Cao was part of the Academy’s 17-cadet iGEM team that earned a gold medal for their Lyme disease research during the international Genetic Engineering Machine Grand Jamboree in Paris Nov. 2-5, 2023. (Photo courtesy of Dr. Jordan Steel) By Randy Roughton and Jeff Troth U.S. Air Force Academy Strategic Communications  U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo.- The U.S. Air Force Academy iGEM team’s Lyme disease research helped them win a gold medal at the international Genetically Engineered Machine Grand Jamboree Nov. 2-5. The gold...

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December 7, 2023

Cadets design planes to solve problems

Three cadet-designed and built sub-scale flying models of stealthy target drones appear outside the U.S. Air Force Academy Department of Aeronautics after flight testing Nov. 28, 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by Justin Pacheco) By Randy Roughton U.S. Air Force Academy Strategic Communications U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo.- For three decades, U.S. Air Force Academy Department of Aeronautics aircraft design cadets have tackled real-world problems by designing, building and testing airplanes and rockets. About 75 cadets in the fall aircraft design course completed flight testing and final modifications to their aircraft in November. Their mission was to apply aeronautical concepts...

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December 11, 2023

Academy Cadet selected for post-graduate Marshall Scholarship

U.S. Air Force Academy Cadet 1st Class Owen Graham was selected for a Marshall Scholarship, a fully-funded postgraduate program in the United Kingdom. (U.S. Air Force photo) U.S. Air Force Academy Strategic Communications U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - Cadet 1st Class Owen Graham has just been selected as the Academy’s 24th Marshall Scholar, earning a fully-funded, two-year postgraduate education in the United Kingdom. Graham will graduate in May with a degree in aeronautical engineering and applied mathematics and will commission as a second lieutenant into the U.S. Air Force. Following graduation, Graham hopes to attend the University of Cambridge...

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December 19, 2023

Cadet’s astronaut father to speak at NCLS

U.S. Air Force Academy Basic Cadet Kai Lindgren returns from Basic Cadet Training at Jacks Valley with his father, Dr. Kjell Lindgren, July 28, 2023. (Photo courtesy of Dr. Kjell Lindgren) By Randy Roughton U.S. Air Force Academy Strategic Communications U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo.– When U.S. Air Force Academy Cadet 4th Class Kai Lindgren was born in 2004, his father was training in emergency medicine in Minneapolis. Five years later, Dr. Kjell Lindgren was accepted into NASA’s astronaut program, completing an unusual path to space since his Academy graduation in 1995. A medical issue derailed Dr. Lindgren’s hopes for...

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January 25, 2024

CyberWorx cultivates cadet creativity

U.S. Air Force Academy Cadet 2nd Class Kelsey Monaghan-Bergson takes a break while discussing the value of the Air Force CyberWorx problem-solving process Jan. 18, 2024. (U.S. Air Force photo by Patrick Brush) By Randy Roughton U.S. Air Force Academy Strategic Communications U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - Cadet 2nd Class Kelsey Monaghan-Bergson says she feels empowered to challenge traditional thinking for more innovative solutions each time she visits Air Force CyberWorx. “In the CyberWorx space, I can just let my brain roam,” Monaghan-Bergson said. “I can doodle on a wall and throw sticky notes everywhere. I can visualize abstract...

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December 28, 2023

SEAC encourages cadets to listen, lead

Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman Troy E. Black speaks at the U.S. Air Force Academy Athletic Department during a visit to Colorado Dec. 20, 2023. Black visited the Academy on his tour of all Defense Department combatant commands after taking the role in November 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by Trevor Cokley) Katherine Spessa U.S. Air Force Academy Strategic Communications U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -  Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman Troy E. Black visited the U.S. Air Force Academy on Dec. 20 and took the opportunity to share a senior NCO’s leadership philosophy with enlisted members, cadets...

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January 26, 2024

27-year chemistry professor puts cadets first

Dr. Kimberly Gardner, U.S. Air Force Academy associate chemistry professor, poses for a photo in a conference room on the Academy campus in Colorado Springs Jan. 21, 2024. (U.S. Air Force photo by Rayna Schmidt) By Katherine Spessa U.S. Air Force Academy Strategic Communications U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - In a conference room nestled among the classrooms and academic laboratories of Gregory Hall, cadets bring their individual readings to the table. The unique class Dr. Kimberly Gardner is teaching is more of a discussion than a lecture. The cadets choose their topics and what they read. Today, the discussion...

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January 29, 2024

Therapy dogs bring smiles; reduce cadet stress

U.S. Air Force Academy Cadet 4th Class Eri McClain-Yu holds Go Team Therapy Crisis and Airport Dog Spiff in McDermott Library Dec. 11, 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by Rayna Grace) By Randy Roughton U.S. Air Force Academy Strategic Communications U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - Cadet 3rd Class Nicolina Brown said she loves Go Team Therapy Crisis and Airport Dogs so much that she has a perfect answer whenever she's late meeting friends. "I say, ‘you can't blame me; there was a dog,'" Brown said. For 12 years, therapy dogs from Go Team have regularly visited the Academy. They...

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February 6, 2024

Cadet mountaineers grow as friends, leaders

U.S. Air Force Academy Cadet 2nd Class Alyssa Hargis, one of the cadet Mountaineering Club, leaders, ascends the climbing wall in the Cadet Fitness Center Jan. 18, 2024. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Trevor Cokley) By Randy Roughton U.S. Air Force Academy Strategic Communications U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - During Cadet 2nd Class Alyssa Hargis’s first trip with the U.S. Air Force Academy Mountaineering Club, she conquered her first 14,000-foot summit on Torreys Peak. The 14,267-foot peak in the Arapahoe National Forest is the highest point on the Continental Divide and considered a “welcome-to-the-team trip” for freshman cadet climbers....

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February 9, 2024

Cadets look to patent gaze-assisted wheelchair technology

U.S. Air Force Academy Cadet 1st Class Sam Smith prepares for another test of the gaze-assisted wheelchair, the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering capstone project, Feb. 1, 2024. (U.S. Air Force photo by Trevor Cokley) By Randy Roughton U.S. Air Force Academy Strategic Communications U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - When Col. Brian Neff arrived in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2018, he wanted his assistive technology laboratory filled with projects that would captivate cadets. The following year, Neff began the gaze-assisted wheelchair project for senior capstone students. “I wanted cadets to see themselves contributing to...

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