Dake and his team design communications equipment for the U.S. Army. Whereas many companies don’t offer the chance to build prototypes because of the cost, Booz Allen relies on the practice as a way to develop not just any solution, but the right solution.
Once he builds the prototype, Dake and the team test it in a field near the lab. But when lives are at stake, that’s not enough: The team needs to witness firsthand how soldiers use their technology. So they head to Texas.
In Texas, under the hot desert sun, Dake watches Army soldiers perform field exercises using his prototypes, noting improvements he’ll make back at the lab.
“Watching actual soldiers use my equipment is very different from a bunch of engineers running around a field with it,” Dake says. “Soldiers use the gear differently: they’re focused on their mission, not the equipment. We have to make the equipment rugged enough to withstand how soldiers need to use it.”
