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    ONR, NRL Garner Four 2025 Dr. Dolores M. Etter Awards

    ONR, NRL Garner Four 2025 Dr. Dolores M. Etter Awards

    Photo By Michael Walls | ONR's Peter Squire (left), Ph.D, program officer in the Warfighter Performance...... read more read more

    ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES

    07.10.2025

    Story by Cherish Gilmore 

    Office of Naval Research

    ARLINGTON, Va.— The Office of Naval Research’s (ONR) Dr. Peter Squire received two 2025 Dr. Delores M. Etter Top Scientist and Engineer awards for his contributions to warfighter lethality and readiness during a virtual awards ceremony hosted by Dr. Brett A. Seidle, the Acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition on June 25.

    The Etter Awards, established in 2006 and named in honor of Dr. Delores M. Etter, former U.S. Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Science and Technology, are presented annually to recognize exceptional scientific and engineering achievements by civilian and military personnel of the Navy and Marine Corps.

    “We take great pride in Dr. Squire’s achievements,” said Chief of Naval Rear Adm. Kurt Rothenhaus. “Being selected for this distinguished recognition is a considerable honor, and these accolades exemplify how our workforce drives innovation, lethality and readiness for the Department of the Navy.”

    Squire commenced his career as a civilian employee at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division in 2002, subsequently joining ONR in 2012 as a program officer within the Expeditionary Maneuver Warfare and Combating Terrorism Department. He currently serves in the Warfighter Performance Department.

    This marks Squire’s inaugural receipt of the Etter Award, which recognizes his significant contributions to two collaborative team projects within the Department of the Navy.

    Squire spearheaded a project titled “Warfighter Dominance – Marksmanship Team,” collaborating with Lt. Cmdr. Adam Biggs from the Command and General Staff College, and Drs. Rachel Markwald and Timothy Dunn from the Naval Health Research Center.

    The citation for the awards emphasizes the team’s remarkable contributions to the development of tools for data collection, assessment and training in combat marksmanship, ultimately enhancing warfighter lethality capabilities. The tools produced resulted in an over 50 percent improvement in individual Marines’ raw marksmanship performance, leading to a squad-level lethality increase of 98.7 percent compared to legacy Marines, as determined through simulation. Additionally, the analysis time for data was reduced from weeks or months to mere hours or minutes through automated data collection and processing.

    For the second award, Squire collaborated with a different team to develop the first real-time sleep and fatigue monitoring system suitable for use in disconnected environments within the Navy.

    “The system developed by this team addresses known issues related to fatigue risk management by providing the Navy with a tool that enables operational risk management decisions based on objective crew sleep data for the first time in the service’s history,” he remarked.

    Upon receiving the Etter Award, Squire said, “It is a tremendous honor to be recognized alongside such esteemed colleagues who share a deep passion for science. However, I derive greater satisfaction from the contributions made to our Marines and Sailors.”

    The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) earned two awards in the Emergent Engineers category for work performed by Dr. David Raudales and Dr. Christopher R. So.

    Capt. Randy Cruz, commanding officer of NRL, presented the awards alongside Dr. Bruce Danly, NRL director of research.

    Raudales, a mechanical engineer with NRL, has garnered attention for his contributions to sonar technologies that enhance seabed warfare operations. Alongside his team, Raudales has developed an innovative volumetric synthetic aperture sonar, fueled by cutting-edge signal processing techniques.

    Their work has introduced a new approach to detecting and identifying naval targets and underwater structures that are deeply buried, which is a critical advancement to naval missions.

    Raudales and his team currently are busy adapting this advanced sonar technology for use on maritime platforms, aiming to bolster future naval operations that demand speed, agility and precision.

    So, a materials research engineer and leader of the Molecular Interfaces and Tribology Section at NRL, has been recognized for his research on underwater adhesives that enable swift repairs of hulls right at the pier. Inspired by nature and the bonding abilities of barnacles thriving in tough marine environments, So’s work has unveiled new chemical strategies for achieving wet-surface adhesion. This could potentially transform the way maritime maintenance and repairs are conducted.

    By harnessing simple agricultural byproducts, So has shown that water-based, protein-based adhesives can quickly cure in seawater, offering bond strength that rivals traditional hydrophobic adhesives. This development not only advances the science of wet adhesion but also significantly enhances readiness and the ability to perform repairs in challenging maritime settings.

    Cherish T. Gilmore is a contractor for ONR Corporate Strategic Communications.

    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 07.10.2025
    Date Posted: 07.10.2025 13:48
    Story ID: 542429
    Location: ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, US

    Web Views: 37
    Downloads: 0

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