The Board on Army RDT&E, Systems Acquisition, and Logistics (BARSL), managed by Bowhead Mission Solutions, LLC (BMS) team members Dr. Ken Zimcosky, Ron Pruitt, Lauren Shorter, and Benjamin Nguyen, recently provided a panel of experts in the fields of medicine, engineering, and logistics to assess and evaluate low-cost emergency ventilators for quick manufacturing and distribution for the U.S. Army.

The U.S. Army launched the Army Expeditionary Technology Search (X-TechSearch) COVID-19 Ventilator Challenge to seek such ventilators to augment ventilator capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic. The technology solution had to provide a rapid response breathing apparatus capable of short-term, rugged field operation. Over 150 proposals were submitted, of which the panel assessed the factors of submissions and ranked these according to the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics and Technology)’s guidance.

The BARSL and the BMS team are proud of these efforts supporting the Army X-TechSearch COVID-19 Ventilator Challenge, reflecting on the sense of patriotism and commitment to the readiness of our Army.