Core4ce Managing Partner and Chief Technology Officer Todd Harbour kicks off the 2025 Innovation Challenge Pitch Event
9 Teams. 10 Days. 1 Challenge.
Core4ce’s first-ever Innovation Challenge brought together team members from across the company to rapidly develop a functional software prototype and demo video. Over a span of 10 days, participants tested low-code and no-code tools to address emerging government procurement trends, which increasingly require multimedia content to demonstrate technical maturity.
Teams included individuals from every Core4ce business unit, as well as members of the corporate team. Six computer science students from East Tennessee State University (ETSU) joined the effort, gaining hands-on experience while providing valuable support.
“Good companies invest in equipment and technologies. Great companies invest in equipment, technologies, and their people. The Innovation Challenge was a stellar example of why Core4ce is a great company, investing the time and resources to create a collaborative, high-energy environment and connect team members from around the country who would not normally interact,” said Core4ce Chief Scientist Rick Hubbard, a challenge judge. “It was amazing to see what hidden skills and talents were on display by all the participants during the challenge.”
Core4ce Data Engineer Reid Bandy, a 2025 Innovation Challenge Participant
The Challenge Scenario
Teams were tasked with designing a Bio-Event Tracking System prototype to address the global threat posed by H5N1 bird flu. The solution had to combine disparate data sources into a unified platform to better manage and mitigate the spread of bird flu, protecting both animal and human populations.
The prototype was required to leverage data analysis and visualization to:
- Enhance situational awareness through real-time surveillance of H5N1 cases,
- Support strategic decision-making related to resource allocation, and
- Empower public health agencies to communicate accurate, timely, and critical health alerts to the public.
“We asked folks to step into a simulated government procurement that represented a fictitious Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO), with real-world pain points and chaos, and to respond the way a serious vendor team would: under a compressed timeline, after hours, with dense requirements and plenty of ambiguity. And boy did they show up,” said Chief Scientist Mark Poe.
“In that short window, the teams didn’t just build cool demos. They designed low-code and no-code prototypes that spoke to real-world problems. They created AI-enabled video proposals that told a compelling story. They interpreted requirements, made trade-offs, figured out what to include and what to leave out—exactly the kind of muscle memory we are establishing at Core4ce to successfully compete in this dynamic new acquisition landscape.”
Program Manager Doel Durieux served as the Pitch Event spokesperson for Team Sierra
The Final Pitch
The Challenge concluded on November 21 in Johnson City, Tennessee, with a final pitch event. Each team elected a spokesperson to present a six-minute pitch answering the question: What is the most significant impact your solution could have on managing bird flu outbreaks and improving public health responses?
Following the pitches, scores were tallied, and Team Echo was crowned champion of the 2025 Innovation Challenge.
Pitch Event Judging Panel (from left to right): Chief Scientist Rick Hubbard, Chief Scientist Mark Poe, and Chief Growth Officer Amie Milan
The Champs: Team Echo
Team Members:
- Anita Voltz, Intelligence Community Account Executive
- Philip Peacock, ICAM Systems Engineer/Architect
- Jacob Boynewicz, Software Engineer
- Matthew Ferguson, Business Intelligence Engineer
- Ryan Assi, Junior Capture Manager
Team Echo built their prototype and demo video using tools including Replit, Perplexity, Kapwing, Claude, and ChatGPT. They used the brief window before the challenge officially began to familiarize themselves with each other’s skillsets and prepare for the fast-paced development process.
Team Echo Spokesperson Ryan Assi accepted the championship award on behalf of his team
The Value
Participants highlighted the chance to collaborate with colleagues, expand their skills, and tackle a real-world problem as the most rewarding aspects of the Challenge. Core4ce also gained valuable insights, including tool effectiveness and what worked—and didn’t—for each team. The event showcased the ingenuity of Core4ce team members while providing actionable takeaways for future initiatives.
“Judging this year’s Innovation Challenge was a genuinely energizing experience. Watching Core4ce teams and ETSU students deliver working demos and strong presentations in just ten days reminded me how much talent and creativity we have across the company,” said Chief Growth Officer Amie Milan. “My biggest takeaway was seeing hidden capabilities emerge when people are given space to innovate. This rapid-response effort reinforced how we prepare to compete and grow in the federal marketplace. I left impressed, grateful, and even more confident in Core4ce’s future.”
Core4ce’s 2025 Innovation Challenge culminated with a Pitch Event in Johnson City, TN on November 21