An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : Media : News : Article View
NEWS | June 6, 2022

NSWC Philadelphia Division Pride Month Spotlights Chemical Engineer Juniper Sweeney

By Gary Ell

Juniper Sweeney, a chemical engineer who uses both they/she pronouns, has been working at NSWCPD for approximately three years. She currently lives in South Philly, but grew up in Cranford (near Newark) in North Jersey, and studied chemical and systems engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, where she earned a Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering and a Master’s of Engineering in Systems Engineering in 2019.

“At this point, especially with the groups of queer folks that I surround myself within the city, Philadelphia feels like home,” she said.

In addition to working, Sweeney deeply enjoys singing and rock climbing, and she helps organize local Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender (LGBT) groups for both.

Her division at NSWCPD supports ventilation, collective protections systems (CPS), and submarine life support systems, with Sweeney split primarily between atmospheric monitoring and atmospheric control. As an in-service engineering agent (ISEA), she coordinates with the research and development (R&D) community for future systems and provides solutions for issues that arise for the technology already in the fleet. She loves having the opportunity to travel for installation, training, and troubleshooting, and has the unique experience of often being the first trans and openly queer person with whom many civilian and active duty colleagues have worked.

Sweeney has been very well-supported while working at NSWCPD by Lisa Fittipaldi and Mike Grady, co-chairs of the LGBT+A (Allies) Employee Resource Group (ERG), and her leaders in her division. Her supervisor Steve Ellner and mentor Josh Manney have been especially helpful navigating a new work environment. A college friend and former NSWCPD colleague assured her that NSWCPD would be a safe and supportive place to work and transition, and this has proven to be the case.

“For me, Pride Month was a great first opportunity for her to use a different gender presentation, and every year provides new people a chance to connect with a visible and centered LGBT community. My experience of Pride has been celebratory, but that is not to discount its history as a riot (referring to the riots held by members of the LGBT community against a police raid that took place at the Stonewall Inn in New York City on June 28, 1969,” Sweeney said.

She continued, “This June will be my first Pride month experience living in Philadelphia because of the pandemic canceling last year’s events, and I’m excited to take part in it.”