Photo By Travis Troller | Charlie Giglio, a rising senior and student trainee at Naval Surface Warfare Center,...... read more read more
By Alisha Tyer, NSWC Carderock Division Public Affairs
BETHESDA, Md. – Three Virginia Tech students are transforming hands-on experience into long-term opportunities through their participation in the 2025 International Submarine Races (ISR18). Hosted by Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division, the ISR serves as a unique naval engineering competition that develops critical domestic scientific engineering talent.
Using Naval Sea Systems Command STEM initiatives as a springboard, these students have each found ways to contribute, grow, and prepare for civilian careers supporting Carderock, NAVSEA, the Navy and the broader technical community within America’s Maritime Industrial Base.
Charlie Giglio, Maggie Campbell, and Bryan Tomer have taken on various roles—pilot, diver, engineer, and event coordinator—across multiple ISR events. Their journeys have been shaped by programs like the Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship-for-Service, Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program (SEAP), the Naval Research Enterprise Internship Program (NREIP), and Carderock’s student trainee hiring pipeline.
Their experiences underscore the Navy’s continued investment in cultivating technical talent and building clear pathways into the defense workforce well before graduation. Together, they reflect how early engagement through internships and scholarships help shape the Navy’s next generation of technical leaders.
Building submersibles and a career through ISR
For rising senior and support diver Charlie Giglio, the ISR journey began in high school, long before his first day as a college student or intern at Carderock. He first attended ISR15 in 2019, competing with a team affiliated with his local career and technical education program.
“I was racing with a high school team, and we had a mentor from Carderock who helped us and encouraged us to participate in ISR,” Giglio said. “To be working with an engineer of that caliber as a student was incredible.”
That early exposure to hands-on submarine design and Carderock mentorship sparked his interest in naval research.
Through SEAP and NREIP, Giglio took on increasingly technical roles, including a COVID-era remote research project on non-nuclear sub design and later in-person work in Carderock’s Acoustics and Anechoic Laboratory. Now, entering his final year at Virginia Tech, he is spending his second summer as a student trainee in the Signatures Department.
“The Navy has so much to offer,” he said. “I was blown away by the scale and scope of the facilities, especially at Carderock. Once I got involved, I didn’t want to leave.”
Having participated in three ISR events, Giglio served as lead structures engineer for the Virginia Tech human-powered submarine team. He also supported race operations as a support diver, balancing technical oversight with in-water duties, including trim and ballast adjustments throughout the competition.
With extra divers and equipment on hand, Giglio and other Virginia Tech teammates stepped in to assist Javelin 2, the only independent family team competing at ISR18. He helped with diving support, gear setup and submarine stabilization during their runs.
“We showed up ready to race and to help,” he said. “There’s a real spirit of collaboration here, and it was cool to get hands-on with another team’s design.”
After six years of Navy STEM involvement, Giglio says the experience has solidified his interest in acoustics research and future service at Carderock.
“I’ve learned how to build, how to lead, and how to adapt under pressure,” he said. “That’s what I want in a career, and I’ve found that here.”
From pilot to SMART scholar
Another rising senior, Maggie Campbell, serves as the team’s hydrodynamics lead, support diver, and primary pilot. She’s also a recipient of the Department of Defense (DoD) SMART Scholarship, which provides full academic funding in exchange for a civilian service commitment. Her placement is at Carderock’s Combatant Craft Division (CCD) in Little Creek, where she plans to work as a naval architect specializing in small-craft—an interest shaped by her love of boats and early exposure to life on the water.
“I’ve always known I wanted to be a naval architect, and the SMART scholarship gives me the opportunity to start that career,” Campbell said.
She joined the Virginia Tech team as a freshman and piloted her first ISR race that summer. Campbell described the ISR17 race as a rebuilding year, with students still recovering from COVID-related knowledge gaps. The team arrived late, spent the week troubleshooting, and completed only a limited number of runs.
“We weren’t as prepared as we would have liked to have been,” she said. “As a team, we recognized that. One of our main goals this year was to show up to the races prepared.”
Determined to improve, the team overhauled their process starting construction earlier, conducting more rigorous testing, and expanding membership. The new hull was completed by early in winter 2023, allowing for spring pool trials ahead of the 2025 race.
“It was exhausting, but it paid off,” Campbell said. “We came in with a plan, and we were ready.”
Virginia Tech’s 2025 vessel, Exlienni, takes its name from the phrase “Exit light, enter night” – a nod to the Metallica anthem that rallies Hokie athletes. This year, the team arrived with a fully operational vessel and cleared divers, enabling them to begin racing on day one.
Despite their preparation, they encountered challenges midweek after modifying the hull to use a more powerful propeller. The added power caused the vessel to roll early in each run, noticeably impacting the steering and speed.
Campbell led the team’s response, rebalancing the sub, adjusting ballast to pre-load the opposite angle, and reducing the effects of torque as the pilot accelerated.
“We couldn’t have known this would happen. We can’t replicate this issue in our pool tests at home,” she said. “It’s the kind of thing you only learn by coming to a place like Carderock and racing. The model basin is the only place to do that.”
Campbell plans to continue at Virginia Tech through a 4+1 master’s program before transitioning to full-time civilian service at Little Creek.
“This scholarship has allowed me to fully commit and focus, not just on school but on doing the work I love,” she said. “And I’m excited to work on platforms with rapid, cradle-to-grave lifecycles. That’s what drew me to combatant craft.”
She credits ISR with accelerating her growth.
“The fact that we get to race here in the David Taylor Model Basin is such an incredible opportunity,” Campbell said. “The race teaches us so much about what we’re capable of. Through this sub team, we’re able to see incredible facilities like this and think, ‘Hey, I could work at someplace like this.’”
Building on legacy and looking ahead
Bryan Tomer, a rising junior in aerospace engineering and 2025 SMART scholar, was introduced to ISR long before college. His father, Bryan Tomer Sr., a current Carderock employee, competed in the original version of the races when they were held in the Atlantic Ocean. Years later, Tomer Jr. attended ISR as a high school student—an experience that he says sparked his interest in the program and Navy STEM opportunities.
That same summer, he joined the Virginia Tech team and later contributed to ISR17 as a member of the hydrodynamics subgroup.
While not competing at ISR18, Tomer returned in a supporting role—helping with event coordination and outreach. His behind-the-scenes work helped highlight the team’s efforts and expand awareness of the program.
“A big part of the coordination job is spreading knowledge about what STEM is to students in the surrounding areas,” he said. “We go to high schools and show incoming college students how ISR gives them an opportunity to actually build a submarine and compete in it. It’s a great way to start building a professional network and see the Carderock facilities they might one day work at.”
Beyond ISR, Tomer has built experience across the Navy STEM enterprise. He began at Carderock as a SEAP intern in the Naval Architecture and Engineering Department.
“My time at Carderock is what really set me off on my journey of civil service,” he said.
He went on to complete additional internships through NREIP at NSWC Dahlgren, and the U.S. Naval Observatory. He is currently serving as a SMART scholar with the Missile Defense Agency.
His diverse experiences – including ISR- have helped him clarify his long-term goal: to become a program officer.
Though he is not actively racing alongside the team, Tomer credits early internships and the ISR experience with giving him a lasting sense of direction.
For Giglio, Campbell, and Tomer, ISR is more than a competition. It’s a chance to practice what they’ve learned, contribute to a team, and take the next step toward careers in naval engineering. Whether piloting, diving, designing, or supporting from the sidelines, each reflects what Carderock’s STEM programs and events are designed to do: engage students early, provide mentorship, and show them what’s possible.
They’ve each taken different routes through SMART, SEAP, and NREIP. But the outcome is the same: a stronger sense of direction, real-world experience, and a deeper connection to the Navy mission.
| Date Taken: | 07.01.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 07.01.2025 12:41 |
| Story ID: | 502008 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 25 |
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This work, Racing with Purpose: From STEM to Service with Virginia Tech at ISR18, by Alisha Tyer, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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