Academy Idol: 
The Department of English and Philosophy held its annual Academy Idol competition in which plebes currently enrolled in EN102 Literature perform monologues from Shakespeare’s plays. Featuring the top nine performers from the Class of 2017, this year’s competition included monologues from such diverse plays as 1 Henry IV, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Winter’s Tale, and Richard III. Prizes were awarded for first, second, and third place to Class of ’17 Cadets Micah Petersen (I-1), Danielle DiUlus (G-4), and James Grays (B-1), respectively.
Pre-release Film Screening of "The Burden": Cadet club Engineers and Scientists for a Sustainable World (ESSW) hosted an exclusive pre-release showing of "The Burden". The film tells the story of the serious national security challenges posed by our fossil fuel dependence, and why the U.S. military is uniquely suited to innovating our way to a clean energy economy. Cadets then discussed their reactions with Roger Sorkin, the film producer, and Jon Gensler, West Point Class of 2000, who plays a prominent role in the movie. The film allowed cadets to consider the roles junior and senior Army leaders will play in developing effective energy solutions and how these solutions will ultimately increase national security, improve the environment and stimulate the U.S. economy.
5th Annual Inter-Academy Chemistry Symposium (IACS): USMA, USNA, USAFA, and USGCA participated in the 5th Annual Inter-Academy Chemistry Symposium (IACS) at the U.S. Air Force Academy to enable an Inter-Academy level exchange of ideas and a broadening experience between chemistry, life science, and chemical engineering faculty, cadets, and midshipmen. This year the events included a research poster competition between Cadets and Midshipmen. Cadet Joon and Cadet Brown were 2 of the five finalists in the research poster session.
DARPA Service Academies Innovation Challenge: Cadets from the Department of Chemistry and Life Science placed second in the DARPA Service Academies Innovation Challenge with their Power Patch project. Cadets Samuel Lowell, Andrew Pribble, Katherine Gross, Alex Parra, and Dave Brown developed flexible nanowire-nanotube films that were used in a lithium rechargeable battery. The battery as assembled in the form factor of an IR flag patch for the ACU uniform and is intended as a chassis for an environmental sensor suite.