DAHLGREN, Va. –
What does the future look like for the Navy? For Elizabeth “Liz” Stewart, it’s her job to assist in envisioning potential naval defense needs and to ensure that the fleet and warfighter will be equipped with the advancing technology, innovations and capabilities to continually execute successful missions nationwide and around the globe.
As the Future Surface Combatant Force Team Lead for the Force Analysis and Strategic Studies Branch within the Warfare Analysis and Digital Modeling Department at Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD), Stewart leads, collaborates and supports a 30-person workforce with expertise in various areas, such as analysis, cost, mission, software and hardware development, and weapon systems operations and installation to name a few, serving across multiple groups.
The goal is to bring forth analytical data, technical fluency and systems capabilities to naval ships. “We’re looking into the future, decades into the future, of what the Navy should look like,” said Stewart. “When you start combining things that exist today and you can get a different effect or something is unexpected, that’s the part that’s interesting to me.”
Additionally, Stewart and her team assist with bringing forth new capabilities and identifying possibilities for existing capabilities.
“We take the ships and the systems they have onboard that exist today and consider it a starting point, but then take it a step further and understand that if two capabilities are combined that haven’t been before, you can get this multiplicative effect. The results give you something that reaches a lot further or that opens up many other ways to execute a mission.”
As part of the job, Stewart meets with senior officials at NSWCDD and the Department of the Navy as well as industry partners to discuss analytics and probable effects of technological concepts that are in varying stages of development.
According to Stewart, having the opportunity to endorse open communication with leadership and decision-makers is key to providing the most dependable information possible for the further development of future system capability. “We are taking capabilities that exist today and explaining all these different future outcomes to decision makers to say that investing capital into a set of concepts together may result in a specific effect,” stated Stewart.
Throughout her 15-year career at NSWCDD, Stewart excelled in her roles supporting the fleet and warfighting, upholding Dahlgren’s mission in providing next-level innovation and system capability. As an essential member of the workforce, she is highly regarded for her technical expertise and guidance.
During her downtime, Stewart is an avid painter and has participated in local art competitions. She also enjoys fostering dogs when she can, which keeps her dog and three cats company. You can also catch Stewart on a flight as she takes pleasure in traveling across the U.S. and around the world.