CRANE, Ind. –
Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC Crane) was recognized with two awards from the Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) at the 2025 FLC Awards Ceremony on May 15, 2025 during the FLC National Meeting. Dr. Angela Lewis, SES, the Technical Director at NSWC Crane, was awarded Lab Director of the Year and NSWC Crane received the Midwest Region Technology Transfer Award.
The Laboratory Director of the Year Award honors those who have “provided exemplary leadership in promoting, supporting, and executing the technology transfer mission of their organization” and recognizes the significance of top-down leadership for technology transfer mission success.
Maria Duran, the Technology Transfer Director at NSWC Crane, said Dr. Lewis was instrumental in advocating for NSWC Crane’s T2 program throughout the region and with innovation ecosystem partners. Duran said her spreading awareness strengthens these partnerships and is key to the success of NSWC Crane’s T2 program.
“It is an honor to receive this award on behalf of the hardworking NSWC Crane workforce and all they do to support the warfighter,” said Dr. Lewis, SES. “Leveraging Technology Transfer and partnerships with ecosystem partners allows us to deliver solutions to warfighters more efficiently and ultimately maximizes the impact of the NSWC Crane-developed tools and capabilities.”
Duran said significant growth has taken place from Dr. Lewis and her leadership as Technical Director.
“Under the strong leadership of Dr. Lewis, NSWC Crane has grown an expanding intellectual property (IP) portfolio with significant commercial potential—parallel to the growth of NSWC Crane’s T2 program,” said Duran. “Dr. Lewis has helped foster relationships with hundreds of organizations across industry, academia, non-profits, and state and local government.”
The FLC, which is a nationwide network of more than 300 federal laboratories and research centers, recognizes efforts, labs, and people who are dedicated to accelerating federal technologies into the marketplace. FLC was created by Congress and support federal laboratories to maximize the impact of technology transfer for the U.S.
FLC has six regions in the U.S., and the Regional Technology Transfer Awards recognizes FLC labs that have performed “outstanding regional technology transfer activities in a specific region.” NSWC Crane will receive the award for its Technology Transfer for Beginners course created in conjunction with Ivy Tech Community College in Bloomington. The Midwest Region includes 30 labs from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
NSWC Crane has had significant investments from longstanding and regional academic partners, including Indiana University, Purdue University, and Ivy Tech Community College. These investments impact development of priority technologies for the Department of Defense, including hypersonics and microelectronics. NSWC Crane has also hosted experimentation events such as Silent Swarm, which engages industry and startups in electromagnetic spectrum technology challenges.
“We have the privilege of working with partners in our ecosystem who see the value in collaborating with us on the warfighter’s toughest technical challenges,” said Duran. “Through the modules we developed with Ivy Tech, we are hoping even more partners will join our team in leveraging the assets or our federal laboratory, while developing cutting edge technology.”
About NSWC Crane | 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 Electromagnetic 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.