Core4ce’s 2025 Innovation Summit explored how AI is accelerating scientific breakthroughs, providing mission advantage, and driving business efficiencies. Central to harnessing AI’s capabilities is the understanding that they are fundamentally data-driven, and the quest for reliable and timely data is never ending. Founded with data at the core, Core4ce fuses the transformational power of AI with human expertise to advance national security objectives.
Speaking at the summit, Chief Engineer Rick Hubbard – who heads up Core4ce’s Autonomy, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning (AAIM) Lab – stressed that AI is not the answer, but rather a powerful tool to help teams find answers and work more efficiently.
“We are researchers who are looking to move the needle forward on AI,” said Hubbard. “We fuse research, academia, and what is going on around us in the open-source community to really move forward what is possible with AI, what we want to achieve, and how best we can serve our customers with it.”
WashingtonExec named Hubbard a Top AI Executive to Watch in 2025.
Headquartered near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, the AAIM Lab is run by a cross-functional team of engineers and PhD-level scientists who share a common vision of advancing the art of the possible through high-technology research and development projects.
One of those scientists – Ighodalo Idehenre – spoke at the summit about his cutting-edge work to design and fabricate next-generation meta-lenses using an AI-enabled deep learning software package.
“Core4ce has always been about data,” said CIO and summit attendee Shane Breland. “And now to learn how we’re taking data and turning that into actual physical materials – and using those materials to support our customers – is really exciting.”
Core4ce’s newest business unit – Advanced Mission Solutions (AMS) – was well-represented at the 2025 summit. The AMS team, led by Valerie Teeters Rossi, provides superior technical, R&D, advisory, programmatic, and operational services to Core4ce’s federal customers, with a mission to support the warfighter in the air and on the field.
Drawing on his experience with Project Maven – a DoD initiative designed to harness AI/ML for military targeting – AMS team member Brian Ward discussed how AI/ML can be leveraged to support the warfighter.
“You are nothing, unless when you deliver something to a warfighter or an end user, they actually can use it,” emphasized Ward.
The 2025 summit featured both established subject matter experts, including Vice President of Strategic Development David Bock – who laid the foundation for the day by exploring the evolution of AI over the last several decades – as well as emerging leaders in software engineering like Andrew McDonald and Tiffany Behr.
Core4ce CEO Mike Morehouse and Vice President of Strategic Development David Bock
Behr presented alongside AAIM Lab team member Jose Bonilla about their work developing a custom LLM platform to help the Department of the Air Force’s acquisition specialists streamline AI acquisition.
Tiffany Behr and Michael Sass test a new edge device during a break at the Innovation Summit
McDonald’s journey with Core4ce began as an intern in 2022. Now a Senior Software Engineer and full-time member of Core4ce’s Research & Development team, McDonald spoke about the dataset he developed to tackle the growing challenge of distinguishing between real and AI-generated images. McDonald recently had the opportunity to present his AI research at the highly-regarded Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) Conference.
“We’re thrilled to have another successful summit in the books,” said Vice President of Communications and Marketing Alex Bender. “This event truly showcases the best of Core4ce – from the level of expertise and passion among our speakers to the dedication of our team members who are eager to learn more about emerging tech and how they can apply it to meet customer needs.
“We were also incredibly grateful this year to have the opportunity to hear from several of our Charleston-based NAVWAR and Defense Health Agency customers as well as members of our advisory board, including TJ White, Doug Small, Sheila Zuehlke, and neill tipton. Thanks to everyone who joined forces to support the summit this year. On to 2026!”
From left to right: Solutions Architect Eric Anderson moderates a panel with business unit leads Stevyn Buie (IT), Valerie Rossi (Mission), and Andrew Speir (Cyber).