July 20, 2017
WASHINGTON -- Three Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC Crane) employees were honored for individual excellence and 17 others were commended for their participation in successful teams during a ceremony for Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Excellence Awards and Commander’s Awards for Innovation at the Washington Navy Yard on Wednesday.
“These awards highlight the exceptional technical leadership our employees are providing in a multitude of areas,” said Dr. Brett Seidle, NSWC Crane’s Technical Director. “I am very proud of each and every one of these Crane employees, and I am thrilled that they are getting recognized at a national level for the excellent, innovative work they’re doing in support of the Warfighter.”
NSWC Crane’s Frederick Schipp earned one of 10 individual NAVSEA Excellence Awards for his work with Counterfeit/Fraudulent (CF) parts. Schipp developed the Missile Defense Agency’s Counterfeit Part Audit Scoring Tool, the Pre-Flight Risk Assessment for Counterfeit Parts Tool, and the required test methods for buying electronic parts from Unauthorized sources. He also assisted the entire Department of Defense in isolating a source of waste-counterfeit parts, which have the potential to cause extensive damage when used in high-dollar weapons systems.
Crane Division University (CDU) was one of 18 teams to earn a NAVSEA Excellence Award because of the work of Barbara Strahley, Scott Karcher, Brian Blackwell and Scott Johnson.
“I am extremely proud to be working with a great group of CDU supporters who are making a difference at Crane every single day,” said Strahley, the Director of CDU. “It is amazing what you can do as individuals and as an organization when you focus on your strengths. We are changing our culture, one class at a time.”
The CDU team spent a lot of time looking at examples of leadership development programs in both the public and private sectors, and then modeled its approach based on what it observed. The CDU team strives to develop the Crane workforce and to be a true teaching organization.
“Our leadership classes are immersive experiences,” said Blackwell, a CDU Senior Instructor. “We don’t put an instructor up in front of the class to lecture for a week. We are very thoughtful about how we introduce the information, and I think it is paying dividends.”
NSWC Crane’s Andrew Le, Kimberly Miller and Paul Hager were recognized for a NAVSEA Excellence Award as part of the Soft Kill Coordination System Team (PEO IWS (30)).
In addition, NSWC Crane employees Aaron Cole and Dr. Andrew Christianson were two of the five recipients of an individual Commander’s Award for Innovation.
Cole helped invent a Wide Field Of View Night Vision Goggle (NVG), which addressed the limited field of view and situational awareness provided by traditional, 40-degree field of view NVGs. Cole invented a novel, biologically-inspired optical design, resulting in a system wide size, weight, and power improvement of nearly 40 percent. The new design increases warfighter combat efficiency with NVGs by approximately 30 percent.
Dr. Christianson earned an award due, in part, to his work as Chief Technologist for the Electronic Warfare (EW) Advanced Concepts Group, which is currently focused on application of machine learning to EW, as well as Electromagnetic Maneuver Warfare technologies.
NSWC Crane’s Silent All-Terrain Vehicle Team consisting of Braden Yake, Jason Miller, Joseph Bailey, Pete Avenatti and Ryan Wynne was one of five teams to earn a Commander’s Award for Innovation.
Christopher Hacker, Dr. Steve Seghi and Zachary Steffes were also recognized as members of the Disruptive Technology Lab BAAM Optimally manned Demonstrator Team.
NSWC Crane’s Jamie Divine and Mark Schaefer were part of the NAVSEA Logistician Team of the Year for their work on the Air and Missile Defense Radar Product Support and Sustainment Team.
NSWC Crane is a naval laboratory and a field activity of NAVSEA. The warfare center is responsible for multi-domain, multi-spectral, full life cycle support of technologies and systems enhancing capability of today’s warfighter.