Eighteen NAVAIR employees won Special Recognition and Modern Day Technology Leadership Awards at the 26th National Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA) Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Global Competitiveness Conference here Feb. 16-18.
“One of the most important assets we have is our corps of technical leaders,” said NAVAIR Commander Vice Adm. David Architzel. “They are the technical conscience of our organization, and our programs depend heavily on their expertise and experience to deliver new capabilities to fleet warfighters.”
This year’s conference recognized people of color and their STEM accomplishments in both industry and government nationwide.
A study released in 2010 showed the average percentage of graduates earning STEM degrees in China was 47 percent; in South Korea, 38 percent and in Germany, 28 percent. The same study showed only 16 percent of graduates in the United States earned a STEM degree. The Navy has put $54 million toward STEM initiatives in 2010 and will increase its investment to $100 million by 2015.
Kami Carter, a NAVAIR chemist, was one of two NAVAIR employees to receive a BEYA Special Recognition Award for most promising engineer.
Based out of Jacksonville, Fla., Carter oversees a program that maintains quality and integrity of electroplating, cleaning and surface finishing processes used in military specifications. As lead analyst, she has helped find a suitable cleaning alternative for aviator breathing oxygen and has also worked on a solvent substitution Navy environmental sustainability project for replacing Freon, a known ozone-depleting substance.
Growing up in a military family, Carter said she faced constant change and struggled in school in her early years.
“I may not have been the smartest student, but I always worked hard,” she said, later testing into advanced science and math classes. “Today, I’m making my mark in Navy aviation and in the Department of Defense [DoD].”
New Technology Insertion Engineer Ben Thompson also received a Special Recognition Award for outstanding technical contribution. Working at Fleet Readiness Center East in Cherry Point, N.C., he led the first installation of the only operating Automated Rotor Blade Stripping System, the DoD’s first robotic laser stripping system for a composite aircraft structure. Previously, he worked as a radioman, gunner, and electronics and communications technician while serving as a Navy reservist.
“Throughout my life, I’ve seen many technical advancements come to fruition,” Thompson said. “The next big breakthrough can come from historically black college and university graduates. This is your dawn.”
In addition, NAVAIR had 16 Modern Day Technology Leadership winners: Gabriel Ngounou, Brittany Spellers, Clifford Laguerre Jr., LaTonya Bowles, Lawrence Ames, Mike Cohn and Bryant Craig (from Patuxent River, Md.); Gernai Bledsoe and Petra Robinson from Orlando, Fla.; Wadson Felix from Jacksonville; Tommy Sadler, James Carter and NaShaune Simmons from Cherry Point; and Jackie Powell, Xavier Rose and Marla Singleton from Lakehurst, N.J. According to BEYA, these winners are men and women of color who demonstrate outstanding performance and who will shape the future of engineering, science and technology.
“Today’s winners have earned this recognition through hard work, determination, and a personal and professional commitment to excel,” Architzel said at the Modern Day Technology Leaders Luncheon Feb. 17, where the awards were presented. “They symbolize NAVAIR’s commitment to developing leaders at all levels of the organization.”
Powell, who was also recently named a Technology Al
