Navy's Top Engineers and Scientists Honored

By Lt. Cmdr. John T. Schofield, Research, Development and Acquisition Public Affairs
The Acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition, John S. Thackrah, today honored 46 of the Department of the Navy's top scientists and engineers at the second annual Top Navy Scientists and Engineers of the Year award ceremony at the Pentagon, May 29.
The Department of the Navy has over 35,000 scientists and engineers pursuing research, development, acquisition and sustainment. The award was established to honor those who reached superior technical achievements and to promote continued scientific and engineering excellence.
"This award ceremony recognizes the top scientists and engineers in the Department of the Navy," Thackrah said. "It is obvious to me that we have extremely talented people out there in the Department of the Navy, and their efforts are making a difference in the war on terrorism. I am humbled by the opportunity to honor them today."
The ceremony recognized 35 Department of the Navy scientists and engineers and 11 "emerging investigators," individuals who have less than 10 years of government service and show unique promise for future excellence. The honorees represented various commands across the Department of the Navy, including the Naval Research Laboratory, Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Air Systems Command, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command and Marine Corps Systems Command.
Among the honorees were individuals working on applying technology to port security, electromagnetic rail guns, marine mammal protection, defeat of improvised explosive devices, and anti-submarine warfare. In addition the winners are expanding the envelope of scientific discovery in areas that include nanotechnology, smart materials, biocentric technology, photonics and information technology.
In addition to recognizing the awardees, the award was officially named to honor Dr. Delores M. Etter. Dr. Etter previously served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy for RDA, and she initiated the award during her tenure in the position.

2008 Winners of the Dr. Delores M. Etter Top Scientists and Engineers Award are:

Peter Manternach, MARCORSYSCOM, Is recognized for his significant engineering contributions as the lead engineer for the Marine Corps Joint Assault Bridge Emerging Investigator.

Laurence G. Nixon and William N. Seeling, NAVFAC, Are recognized for developing and demonstrating low-cost lightweight Port Security Barriers that will increase safety of ships in port.

Walter Maurer, Gabriel Soto, Calvin Clayson, Hung Doan, Kurt Wittendorfer, Michael Aramanda, Danny Wooldridge, Anti-Swimmer Grenade Team, NAWC-WD, are recognized for significant progress in the development of the Anti-Swimmer Grenade that will greatly increase the capability to counter underwater terrorist swimmers.

Dr. Daniel C. Harris, NAWC-WD, is recognized for his successful transition of optically transparent ceramic ogive shaped domes for electro optical systems.

Craig Matzdorf, NAWC-AD, is recognized for development of an entirely new surface chemistry for metal pre-treatment that reduces cost and protects the environment.

Heidi R. Moore, NAWC-AD, is recognized for providing the basis for an innovative methodology for design of helicopter seats that will improve crash protection of Marines.

Jerry L. Terrell, NAWC AD, is recognized for the development of night vision device compatible lighting for the LPD-17 class of ships that will increase operational capability.

Michael M. Wirtz, NAWC-WD, is recognized for his role in the development of the digital precision strike suite that is in use in both and .

Dr. Gregory Ames, NUWC-NPT, is recognized for his contributions to the TB-33 Towed Array and other systems that are revolutionizing acoustic arrays for the fleet.

Dr. Promode Bandypadhyay, NUWC, is recognized for his pioneering research in Biocentric Technology that will increase capability for anti-submarine warfare.

Dr. Tem R. Clem, NSWC-PC, is recognized for direction of a team that executed the first ever demonstration of a UUV-based array of magnetic, acoustic, and electro-optic sensors for mine identification.

Richard M. Ernst, NSWC- PC, is recognized for his key contributions in interoperability standards for Unmanned Systems that will increase capability while reducing cost. * Emerging Investigator

Charles Garnett and Jack Bernardes, NSWC-DD, are recognized for leadership of a team of engineers that demonstrated electromagnetic gun technology that may revolutionize Naval Strike Warfare.

Maria Posada, NSWC-CD, is recognized for her efforts in planning, executing, and oversight of a friction stir welding effort that provided a timely solution to a major ship construction problem * Emerging Investigator

Douglas Ray, NSWC-NPT, is recognized for development of the concepts for integration of Acoustic Modem for Range Safety that greatly increases safety for submarines in confined waterways.

Dr. Donald Steinbrecher, NSWC-NPT, is recognized for his innovative work in the field of high performance digital signals acquisition.

Marilyn Wun-Fogle, NSWC-CD, is recognized for her outstanding technical expertise and leadership that successfully transitioned Magnetically Activated Smart Materials technology.

Dr. James D. Doyle, NRL, is recognized for his excellence in the field of Mountain Range Meteorology that has expanded the envelope of understanding of a critically important phenomenon.

Christopher R. Englert, NRL, is recognized for guiding all aspects of the Spatial Heterodyne Imager for Mesospheric Radicals which has an important role in validating high altitude weather forecasts.

William W. Everett and William W. Chambers, NRL, are recognized for their theoretical and experimental research that has improved effectiveness of EA-6B Jumpstart/Stoplight missions that (group) have saved lives in and .

Igor L. Medintz, NRL, is recognized for his leadership in biological and explosive sensing applications of quantum dots.

Dr. Will Rabinovitch, NRL, is recognized for technical accomplishments that have expanded the envelope of understanding of Free Space Optical Communications.

Kenneth Sarkady, NRL, is recognized for development and integration of an operational prototype of systems capable of protecting aircraft against IR guided missiles.

Cmdr. Dylan Schmorrow, ONR, Is recognized for direction of the project team that developed the infantry Immersion Trainer which will greatly impact the way we train our warfighters.

Kevin Shaw and Dr. John Sample-Frank McCreedy, NRL, are recognized for development of the Geospatial Information database that can access massive amounts of geospatial data from hundreds of servers distributed across the nation.

Dr. Eric S. Snow and Dr. F. Keith Perkins, NRL, are recognized for development of a carbon nanotube-based sensor platform capable of highly sensitive molecular detection capable of detecting explosives, toxic-chemical and biological molecules.

Dr. Vincent Urick, NRL, is recognized for pioneering the theoretical and experimental analysis of numerous unique fiber-optic systems for electromagnetic-warfare and intelligence-gathering applications.

Ken A. Crawley, SSC-CH, is recognized for his experience in antenna and communication systems design that been critical in the design and optimization of the Expanded Maritime Interdiction Operations program.

James Finneran, , is recognized for his development of techniques and equipment to quickly evaluate hearing thresholds in marine animals by measuring auditory evoked potentials.

Dr. John Meloling, SSC-SD, is recognized for successfully leading a multi-disciplinary team to design and demonstrate High Frequency antenna technology for the DDG-1000 class of ships.

Paul A. Miller, SSC-SD, is recognized for his fundamental advances in the science of autonomous Unmanned Underwater Vehicle control systems.

Hoa G. Nguyen, SSC-SD, is recognized for an outstanding effort to develop solutions to extend operational range for explosive ordnance disposal robots in theater.

Dr. J. Scott Rodgers, SSC-SD, is recognized for his development of a postage stamp sized RF spectrum analyzer that can simultaneously analyze large portions of the RF spectrum with 100 percent duty cycles on all brands.

Mihajlo Tomic, SSC-SD, is recognized for successfully providing engineering and leadership in the development and transition of deployable autonomous distributed systems to the fleet.