NMSU students design 5-size seal to replace 200 part numbers for Holloman Air Force Base
The 49th Wing, which runs Holloman Air Force Base, is turning a single parts-consolidation project into a recurring pipeline with New Mexico State University’s student-run Aggie Innovation Shop.
The proof of concept was OMNI seals, internally called the ShinkaSeal project. Maintainers had identified more than 200 legacy cap-and-seal part numbers in service, a count that drove up inventory requirements, created supply gaps and raised foreign object debris risk on the flightline. NMSU students used CAD and iterative prototyping to collapse that list into a five-size seal concept.
During a base leadership visit to the shop, Master Sgt. Davion Dale watched students design a mechanical mount in CAD, 3D print it, then wire it with sensors and microcontrollers at an adjacent electronics bench, the kind of design-to-hardware loop he said Holloman cannot run in-house on its own timeline.
The two sides now plan a structured pipeline: Airmen flag a maintenance or logistics problem, NMSU teams handle research, design and testing, and Airmen evaluate the resulting concepts before fielding. The wing wants this run through recurring student capstone projects tied directly to 49th Wing mission needs, with an eventual link to industry partners as well.
Colonel Michael Mullin, the wing’s commander, was blunt about the motive, telling the visit there is no extra funding, staffing or parts supply coming: “So now we have to figure out creative ways to get there.” Mullin’s comment frames this as a cost workaround: NMSU students are doing early-stage design work the base says it can’t staff or fund in-house, and no qualification path for the five-size seal into fielded aircraft has been published yet.