The Department of War (DOW) has announced the Overall Award winner and the People's Choice Award winner for the DOW Maintenance Innovation Challenge (MIC) at the annual DOW Maintenance Symposium running this week in Phoenix, AZ. The five finalists for the MIC presented their solutions and to a packed audience during a Symposium breakout session on January 21. 

The Overall Winner is Grey Gecko Real-Time Inspection Tool (GRIT), submitted by Grey Gecko, LLC. The People's Choice Award goes to Advanced Manufacturing Competitive Advantage Pathfinder, submitted by the US Marine Corps' Marine Depot Maintenance Command. 

The DOW Joint Technology Exchange Group (JTEG) principals served as judges, selecting the overall winner from a total of 59 outstanding entries. Audience members at the MIC session selected the People's Choice winner from the five finalists, based on their presentations. NCMS presented both groups of winners with a check for $50,000, which can be applied to in-kind support to enable them to conduct further demonstrations for DOW representatives. 

The Grey Gecko Real-Time Inspection Tool offers a rugged, handheld, battery-powered infrared imager that "sees through paint," detecting corrosion, cracks, voids, and moisture beneath coatings up to 25 mils thick without the need for chemicals, PPE, or external power. It delivers live, high-resolution images on a tablet along with customizable metadata.   

The Advanced Manufacturing Competitive Advantage Pathfinder delivers a Digital Manufacturing Exchange that offers an accredited digital backbone for transmitting technical data packages and IP-protected manufacturing data, enabling point-of-need production of repair parts via 3D printers and other manufacturing assets. 

For more information on the Maintenance Innovation Challenge, visit: https://ncms.org/maintenance-innovation-challenge. To see details on all 59 MIC entries, see the MIC book here: https://ncms.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/mic_publication_2025e.pdf.