CRANE, Ind. – Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC Crane) has named Jenna Dix its new Office of Research and Technology Applications (ORTA) Technology Transfer (T2) Director. Dix previously served as NSWC Crane’s T2 Agreements Administrator.
As T2 Director, Dix will conduct strategic management of the lab’s intellectual capital and help to connect academia, industry and start-ups to the valuable resources available at NSWC Crane. Dix will continue to advance NSWC Crane’s T2 program through partnerships that support efforts to commercialize Crane developed technologies while at the same time helping to spur economic activity outside the fence line and support small businesses and startup ventures. Dix will also focus on strategic partnerships that enhance the research and development capabilities of NSWC Crane and enable the lab’s scientists and engineers to work collaboratively with their peers in industry and academia in order to expedite the delivery of technical solutions for the warfighter.
“I am honored at the opportunity to serve NSWC Crane as the T2 Director,” says Dix. “I look forward to the continuing to serve the Navy and the warfighter by ensuring the T2 program is strategically situated to help meet their needs.”
Dix has served within NSWC Crane’s T2 program as the Agreements Administrator since 2015. During this time, she was responsible for cultivating partnerships with private industry and academia and engaging the ecosystem using a variety of T2 mechanisms. The T2 program experienced substantial growth during her tenure in this position, doubling the number of T2 partnership over that four-year period. Prior to her time in Technology Transfer, Dix spent 10 years supporting the Navy’s Small Arms program.
In April of this year, Dix was the recipient of the National Rookie of the Year Award from the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC) and in 2018 was a part of the team who was awarded the DoD’s George Linsteadt Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer. Jenna also serves as the Regional Coordinator for the Mid-West Region of the FLC. In this role, Dix assists labs throughout the MW region in achieving their T2 goals, and works on a national level to enhance T2 throughout the network of federal laboratories.
Dix has a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration, a Graduate Certificate in Public Management, and a Master’s in Public Administration from Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA).
NSWC Crane’s Technology Transfer (T2) Program helps link federal research and development to academic institutions and businesses in the private sector. The NSWC Crane T2 program has partnerships with more than 100 businesses, individuals and universities, including 207 active agreements.
NSWC Crane is a naval laboratory and a field activity of Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) with mission areas in Expeditionary Warfare, Strategic Missions and Electronic Warfare. The warfare center is responsible for multi-domain, multi- spectral, full life cycle support of technologies and systems enhancing capability to today's Warfighter.