National Engineers Week—founded in 1951 by the National Society of Professional Engineers—is dedicated to increasing the public dialogue around the engineering workforce, sharing how engineers make a difference globally, and uniting children, parents and educators with engineering activities and mentorship.
This year, to honor of National Engineers Week, Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center (NAVFAC EXWC), Naval Surface Warfare Center Port Hueneme Division (NSWC PHD), Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWC WD) in partnership with the Ventura County Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Network cohosted a virtual conversation, Inspiring Wonder: Conversations with STEM Leadership.
“I will admit I am a bit star stuck of the folks we have here today,” said Debby West of the Ventura County STEM Network. “I am really looking forward to hearing their stories. So before we get started [lets remind ourselves that] educational STEM outcomes in Ventura County, and raising the next generation of innovators ensures we have engineers for tomorrow. In the simplest of terms, engineers create human design solutions for everyday problems, even generational problems.”
Using a webinar format, the hour-long event featured senior-level leadership from Ventura County’s tri-warfare center community, who play an intangibly vital role in stewarding the U.S. to a safe tomorrow.
“We are going to bring you a conversation, rather than a presentation,” said Dr. Ramon Flores, NSWC PHD STEM Program Manager. “We want a dialogue here.”
Panelists included Mr. Richard Burr, NAWC WD Chief Engineer, Mr. Vance Brahosky, NSWC PHD Technical Director, and Mr. Kail Macias, NAVFAC EXWC Technical Director.
The dialogue proceeded with a series of questions asked by each panelist. Topics included how the work each warfare center performs ties into Department of Defense (DOD) strategies, the importance of the work scientists and engineers do to accomplish the mission, each panelists personal engineering journey, and the integral relationship between each warfare center and the Ventura County industry and academic community.
“These are great questions this evening,” said Brahosky. “[They] are so relevant to the work we are doing today… Countries around the world do not see the freedoms we enjoy [in the U.S.] as something we should have [and these] countries have some significant capabilities. [NSWC PHD, NAWC WD and NAVFAC EXWC] are most successful when we partner with each other, because no one warfare center can do what we do [by] ourselves.”
Ventura County’s tri-warfare center community is unique in that there is no other Navy base where three separate warfare center’s work in synergy within the same zip code.
“When we collaborate with the local community to solve really important problems, the better the solutions become,” said Macias. “The more diverse the people we bring into the conversation, the more innovative the solutions will be. This is why having the other warfare centers so close to NAVFAC EXWC is vital to our work—we learn so much from each other.”
“From the moment your alarm goes off in the morning to that moment your return to your bed and your head hits the pillow, everything that happened to your throughout your day involves STEM. Between electronics, computer programs, chemical engineering, robotics, automation, artificial intelligence—everything we do every day involves STEM,” said Brahosky.
As dialogue continues, each panelist addressed how the current generation of scientists and engineers continue to work thought the phases of their careers, and why recognizing the transition between the current workforce and the future workforce is fundamental for U.S. national security and the global power competition.
“We realize that local folks coming into the [Navy] programs tend to be the ones that stay,” said Burr. “We recruit STEM academics from around the country and world, however, we lose quite a few of them because they want to go home, so we aim to focus much of our efforts on folks who live here by partnering with industry and academic to recruit top local talent.”
Each warfare center plays an active role in STEM education for Ventura County public and private schools, and colleges. Many of the local programs and partnerships, such as FATHOMWERX—an industry partner who fuses academia, civilian companies and other non-traditional DOD partners who work on the DOD’s most challenging problems—has gained sizable interest by the Chief of Naval Operations.
The attention from the Navy community in Washington D.C. has helped each warfare center fund their respective STEM programs, like NAVFAC EXWC’s recent $250k funding for fiscal year 2021 STEM initiatives.
The event concluded with a simple, yet important question: What do you like about STEM?
“I always wanted to do something exciting and interesting [for my career]. I like STEM because there is always a challenge, always something to figure out, and something to find a solution for. It is never boring,” said Burr.
“I’ve always been intrigued with science and tech,” said Macias. “It is such an incredible time to see what technology has done across all sectors—both private and public.”
As the dialogue wraps up, each panelist shares a reoccurring theme about why they like STEM—and chose STEM as a profession. The answer is clear: it is because they are contributing to something bigger than a paycheck, and that being a Navy STEM leader surpasses a vocational experience, and rather, is metaphorically within the DNA of Ventura County’s top Navy civilian leaders.
Each panelist adds it is an honor to impart wisdom on the next generation of the STEM workforce, and it is their hope that the future STEM workforce finds contributing to the success of the warfighter as rewarding as they do.
About Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center (NAVFAC EXWC):
NAVFAC EXWC is a command of more than 1,300 dedicated federal employees, contractors, and military personnel who provide science, research, development, test, and evaluation, specialized engineering, and mobile logistics capabilities to deliver sustainable facility and expeditionary solutions to the warfighter.
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For more news from NAVFAC EXWC please visit https://www.navfac.navy.mil/ or on Facebook @NAVFACEXWC
| Date Taken: | 03.17.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 03.17.2021 15:58 |
| Story ID: | 391637 |
| Location: | PORT HUENEME, CA, US |
| Hometown: | PORT HUENEME, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 40 |
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