07.05.2023 –
Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division (NSWCPD) hosted its first installment of this year’s Leadership and Innovation Speaker Series for a hybrid audience on May 10, 2023.
The Leadership and Innovation Speaker Series is meant to give a diverse group of industry and government leaders a forum to discuss leadership, innovations, management, cooperation, and effective workplace practices.
NSWCPD Chief Engineer Adam “Scott” Freedner connected the event’s theme back to the Philadelphia Division’s core principles that were instilled from the organization’s founding during his opening remarks.
“Leadership and Innovation are certainly two of the founding principles here at NSWCPD. When we did National Engineers Week our Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Dr. Eugene ‘Michael’ Golda delved into our command’s history, pointing out how and why these principles are such an important part of our DNA,” Freedner said.
“During that event, we heard how our founder George Wallace Melville … was promoted to Admiral by President Grover Cleveland in 1887, and subsequently be called upon to lead and innovate which he did greatly … I’m proud to say we will continue spotlighting people like Adm. Melville in this Leadership and Innovation Series,” he continued.
Freedner introduced the Director for Surface Ship Design and Systems Engineering (SEA 05D) J. Carey Filling to applause from the NSWCPD community. In his position, Filling is the head of the group within the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Naval Systems Engineering Directorate that provides technical support to U.S. Navy surface ships.
Filling showed his appreciation for his reception and his strong working relationship with NSWCPD through his NAVSEA leadership role.
“NSWC Philadelphia is certainly part of our team and I tell people all the time that Philadelphia is one of our closest working warfare centers and you all are heavily engaged in our design efforts. You all are integral to helping us build future fleets,” he said.
Filling’s keynote focused on the many innovations going on in the NAVSEA community, highlighting the Navy’s work with directed energy as a way to continue the United States’ strategic advantage over its adversaries.
“Why do we want to use directed energy? Well, we talked about the cost of rounds for our guided missile destroyer. If we have weapons that are only using energy, then our fuel tanks become the magazine, and that has a lot to do with the Philadelphia team for power and cooling. These weapons are very power and cooling hungry,” Filling said.
He continued, “It lowers the cost per shot and increases the magazine. We want to be able to increase power, increase range, and increase lethality.”
After a Q&A session with the hybrid audience, it was time for NSWCPD Commanding Officer Capt. Joseph Darcy to give his closing remarks.
“We appreciate this time to step away and pick our heads up. We get to see what is going on in Washington D.C. and what’s going on in the Pentagon to see what leadership is talking about,” Darcy said.
“As a personal story, I built ships and then I worked in the program office, but it wasn’t until I went to work for SEA05D that I understood the intricacies of how we do what we do,” Darcy continued. “We [at Philadelphia] are essential and few people get to see what we do here. We thank people like Mr. Filling for coming to talk to us and bringing an external perspective to give us some extra professional time to grow and see what is out there.”
NSWCPD employs approximately 2,800 civilian engineers, scientists, technicians, and support personnel. The NSWCPD team does the research and development, test and evaluation, acquisition support, and in-service and logistics engineering for the non-nuclear machinery, ship machinery systems, and related equipment and material for Navy surface ships and submarines. NSWCPD is also the lead organization providing cybersecurity for all ship systems.