Vice Adm. Thomas Moore, commander of Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), and James Smerchansky, NAVSEA Executive Director, presented Scientific and Professional Executive Awards to NSWCDD engineers Dr. Frank Peterkin and Dr. George Foster at a NAVSEA headquarters ceremony, June 18.
As the Navy's Distinguished Engineer for Directed Energy, Peterkin is responsible for assessing directed energy efforts across the Navy, technology development, and warfighting applications and for providing strategic direction in the development of directed energy capabilities. Peterkin is the driving technical force behind the Navy Laser Family of Systems which will result in the fielding of lasers onto surface ships.
As the Distinguished Engineer for Combat Control, Foster is the Navy's expert in the technical area of combat systems and leads research in the basic scientific principles and technology trends in the combat control domain. Foster led efforts to integrate electronic warfare into the combat system through the re-architecture of the Electronic Warfare System, leveraging the efforts of multiple Future Naval Capability research programs to develop an open system that allows for easier integration of new decoys and effectors. He advanced this effort further in 2016 when he took leadership of the Surface Navy's effort in force-level engagement coordination.