Naval Surface Warfare Center Philadelphia Division –
Chelsea Kpodi, a Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division (NSWCPD) engineer, was recently honored by the Philadelphia Business Journal as its “Women of Distinction - Rising Star” award for 2021.
Spotlighting the Philadelphia region’s most influential business women from both private and non-profit sectors, the award honors women who have “made a difference in their communities, blazed a trail for the rest of us, and are leaving a mark on Philadelphia business.” The “Rising Star” category is for Women of Distinction nominees under 35 years old.
Kpodi, a Dallas, Texas native, has worked at NSWCPD for four years and was nominated for the award by her branch manager, Greg Mann.
“Chelsea is a proven leader and always takes new challenges head on and never looks for excuses,” said Mann. “She continues to go above and beyond her normal responsibilities and is always looking for ways to continuously improve processes and practices in order to meet the mission and quickly adapt to changes and new challenges. [I’m] thrilled that she is getting the recognition she deserves for her contributions. It means a lot, especially from an external source that recognizes her as a Rising Star among the outstanding group of women that are leaders in the Philadelphia region.”
According to Mann, Kpodi has made an impact from the start, quickly becoming a subject matter expert on the complicated Machinery Control System (MCS) on board the Littoral Combat Ships (LCS). As the LCS MCS Lead Systems Engineer (LSE), she ensures the Sailors and stakeholders have all of the latest information to assess and maintain the ship capabilities. She also plans and tracks the risks, cost, and schedule of the program and modernization projects throughout its lifecycle. She has designed, implemented and managed several tools to track shipboard troubleshooting efforts, impacts, and root cause analyses as well as a database to track software and hardware defects to provide accurate and real-time data to the fleet in order to make informed decisions to reliably maintain the MCS.
“It is wonderful to know that my accomplishments are recognized at NSWCPD,” said Kpodi. “I truly believe in our mission to deliver on-time technically-sound engineering solutions to the warfighter and now all of Philadelphia can take pride in knowing that NSWCPD has many women represented in their leadership to support this mission.”