Nadajah Knight
Electromagnetic & Sensor Systems Department
What school did you attend?
I attended Virginia Commonwealth University from 2018 to 2022.
How long have you been employed at NSWCDD?
I have worked for NSWCDD since May 2020.
What do you like the most about your job?
I love being able to collaborate with other highly motivated radio frequency engineers. In my position, there are so many different areas of the job that involves analysis and testing. Solving a problem is not always straightforward, and while no one can be an expert at everything, I love how we can combine our knowledge together and work through these complex scenarios. The daily challenges and learning new topics make my job so fulfilling.
What advice do you have for those looking to pursue the engineering career path?
Accepting the challenge of the engineering career path and acknowledging your strengths will lead you to the engineering career that best suits you. It’s important to not let yourself hold you back. It’s not just up to you to solve a problem. Despite the complexity of the problems engineers solve, there is always more to learn.
Why did you choose to work for the Navy?
I started with NSWCDD as a student intern my sophomore year of college. The way I was welcomed into my groups and shown the advanced projects I would work with intrigued me. The work is challenging but the skills I have gained along the way are numerous. Going through this internship while I attended school simultaneously allowed me to apply the concepts I was learning in school to my work and vice versa. It was amazing to see the different concepts I was learning in action. A few months ago, I converted to a full-time employee, and it has been a great experience. Taking the lead on more projects and diving deeper into different RF areas has been even more exciting than my internship. My time as an intern showed me just how much impact and knowledge there was to gain from becoming a full-time employee.
What other information would you like to share to a future engineer?
The impact of those who pursue engineering reaches far. What I love about my job is that every product we present has a direct, real-life impact. From working on new technologically advanced systems to creating new standards and procedures, our work results in an improved environment for our fleet. The engineering career path is full of challenges but the results of our work is what we all look forward to as engineers. You have control over the path you pave for your future engineering career and the impact you want to have.