DAHLGREN, Va. - Melissa Lederer, Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) Systems Safety Engineering Division head, presents an award certificate to Greg Buchanan, an NSWCDD Aerospace & Mechanics Engineer, at a ceremony honoring the command's inventors here March 24. "I believe it's a game changer," said Buchanan about his "Rotary Piston Engine" patent. "It could spur the development of vehicles, weapons, and tools that we've never seen before. This rotary piston engine will allow systems of all types and sizes to do things they never had the power to do before, and will harness the power necessary to leap forward in the evolution of the human-robot experience."
Buchanan was one of six NSWCDD inventors recognized for their new patents at the event. Susan Bartyczak was honored for her patent, called "Gas Gun Fixture to Evaluate Blast Wave on Target Sample" and Dr. William Howard Thomas was recognized for his "Cooperative Communication Control Between Vehicles" invention. In addition, Shawn Schneider, Seth Williamson, Scott Smith, and Stephen Dix were recognized for their patent - "Inert and Pressure-Actuated Submunitions Dispensing Projectile".
The patents represent a culmination of effort by many individuals, including the inventors, the Invention Evaluation Board members, patent attorneys, and others who conceive - and reduced to practice - the technological innovations arising from the command's research and development activities.
NSWCDD innovations are patented to benefit the taxpayer, the Navy, and the command's inventors.
Patents ensure the Navy's ability to integrate complex systems and enables the Navy to work smarter in addition to saving time and money.
Moreover, the patents provide a technological return to the taxpayer by licensing the command's inventions to U.S. businesses so they may be commercially developed for public use. The patents provide defensive protection for the Navy so that others cannot obtain patents to Navy inventions, preventing the Navy from using its own inventions. The patents also increase international recognition and enable potential financial remuneration for the inventors of useful, novel, and non-obvious inventions.