In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Defense Health Agency (DHA) and the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense (OUSD) launched an effort to close the gaps that exist in ventilator availability and production. The Vulcan platform and team were engaged to launch the Hack-a-Vent Challenge to solicit a Crowd Source response to low-cost, emergency use ventilators.

Seven days later, the Vulcan call resulted in 172 responses, which underwent both engineering and clinical assessments. The assessment process yielded the recommendation of five (5) specific prototypes for further development by the OUSD Joint Acquisition Task Force (JATF) and U.S. Air Force.

The project involved several concurrent phases and was conducted at record pace in a crisis environment (COVID-19 pandemic). It is a case study in accelerated innovation.

• Design Assessment & Selection: Initial collection, downselects, and clinical assessments.
• Prototype Maturation:  Design sprints and development spirals in concert with clinical assessments
• Testing & Usability Assessments: Rigorous testing including animal testing and user-centered analysis at major military hospital.
• Regulatory Compliance: FDA Emergency Use Authorization submissions learning process
• Manufacturability & Manufacturing: Manufacturing and supply chain assessments