By Erika Norton, WPAOG Senior Multimedia Journalist

The U.S. Military Academy and the West Point Association of Graduates celebrated the official launch of the West Point Werx Innovation Hub, an initiative aimed at creating collaboration and strategic partnerships to better prepare cadets to lead on the evolving modern battlefield. 

WPAOG and Academy leaders joined distinguished guests and dedicated the Werx in Taylor Hall on September 20, 2024. COL (R) Mark Bieger ’91, President and CEO of the Association, and LTG Steven Gilland ‘90, 61st Superintendent of the United States Military Academy, both recognized Robb Turner ’84 and his wife Lydia, who were the first to answer the call and enable the Academy to give West Point Werx its new home—the physical setting where innovation will take root and thrive. At the ceremony, the Academy unveiled a plaque outside of the Innovation Hub’s new space recognizing the Turners. 

Situated within the Army’s innovation ecosystem, the Werx will serve as the connective tissue across the Academy’s growing portfolio of Army, DoD, industry, and higher education partners, including subject matter experts throughout USMA departments, according to Dr. Kraig Sheetz, Vice Dean for Engagement and Research, and Abdul Subhani, Distinguished Chair of Innovation. The Werx will focus intellectual capital toward the Army’s and nation’s most complex challenges through cross-disciplinary approaches to various research areas, including space, sustainability, cyber, data, human-machine integration, and the law and ethics of warfare. 

“It is the West Point Innovation Hub where we are planting the seeds that will grow into the arsenal of innovation,” said France Q. Hoang ’95, keynote speaker at the ribbon cutting event. “It is the West Point Innovation Hub where we are creating the human machine teams that will lead on the battlefield of tomorrow. And it is in the West Point Innovation Hub where we are training and inspiring the junior officers that are both leaders of character and innovators of courage.”

Through these various partnerships, the Werx will enhance leader development by bringing together cadets, faculty, and partners in an environment that deliberately fosters collaboration, integration, and synchronization of ideas necessary to address the challenges facing the Army and nation. 

“The West Point Werx Innovation Hub is a living example of multifunctional teams,” said Dean of the Academic Board BG Shane Reeves ’96, “comprised of individuals from all over the DOD, private sector, and the Army, all working toward a shared mission.” 

Learn more about some of the research going on at West Point Werx and how to become a partner.