HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. – Four members of the Enterprise IT & Cyber Infrastructure Division were recognized earlier this month for their leadership in planning and executing the 2026 Lantern Innovation Symposium, an event held to connect government, industry and academia to accelerate the delivery of capabilities to the warfighter.
Eric Brimhall, Marc Patnaude, Mary Pongratz and Diane James-Poole received awards for organizing the event held June 2 at the University of Massachusetts Lowell Applied Research Corporation’s NorthStar Campus in Lincoln, Mass.
“The success of this symposium was the direct result of an exceptional team working behind the scenes,” said Christopher Lind, The Lantern executive director. “Each of these award recipients brought unique expertise, creativity and commitment that enabled us to connect stakeholders in meaningful ways.”
This year’s theme was “Accelerating the Warfighter Advantage: Speed, Scale and Synergy,” and brought together more than 200 participants to explore innovative acquisition approaches and strengthen collaboration across the defense ecosystem.
Officials recognized Brimhall, program manager for The Lantern, for serving as the team’s executive lead and developing the symposium roadmap, incorporating lessons learned from past events, synchronizing the agenda, and managing registration and facility layout.
Patnaude, The Lantern systems engineer, was recognized for coordinating with guest speakers and panelists, developing problem statements and crafting the opening and closing remarks to reinforce the event’s focus on delivering capability.
Organizers also recognized Pongratz, a unit training manager, for developing the agenda, managing audio and visual support, maintaining the event schedule, overseeing online streaming to maximize participation, and administering Continuous Learning Points for civilian attendees.
As the graphic web designer, James-Poole created visual branding and designed billboard-style graphics that anchored a coordinated marketing campaign across social media, the Hanscom AFB website and digital marquees, helping drive record attendance.
“The Lantern exists to connect people, ideas and resources that can solve operational challenges,” said Lind. “This team’s work didn’t just deliver a successful event, it strengthened partnerships, shared knowledge and laid the foundation for future collaboration that will help transition innovative ideas into operational capability.”
For more information on the Lantern or about upcoming demonstration opportunities, contact the Lantern team at lantern@us.af.mil.