NSWCDD 2021 National Disability Employment Awareness Month Employee Profile: Sokha Pann

Photo By Julie Paterson | Sokha Pann is a mechanical engineer for the Sensor Characterization and Radar Cross Section Group at Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division.  

DAHLGREN, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES

10.08.2021

Courtesy Story

Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division

DAHLGREN, Va. – Sokha Pann is a mechanical engineer for the Sensor Characterization and Radar Cross Section Group at Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD). He graduated from the National Technical Institute for the Deaf with an associate degree in computer-aided drafting technology and the Rochester Institute of Technology with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering technology. Before coming to NSWCDD, he participated in co-ops with the U.S. Army in Fort Knox, Kentucky and SPAWAR in San Diego, California.

Pann and his team develop, fabricate, modify, refurbish and install ship antenna systems to provide technical data packages for customers. His primary focus is supporting the warfighter through the Real-Time Spectrum Operations program – a program that can adapt spectrum usage in real-time to respond to changes in the electromagnetic environment and operational requirements.

In 2012, Pann was awarded a patent for a grenade device that produces a delayed bang. The device rapidly expands a compressed gas to produce a delayed, high-amplitude acoustic signal after a controllable interval after activation.

Pann’s primary communication language is American Sign Language. He said that “at any workplace, some of you might work with Deaf colleagues presently or in the future. They use a sign language interpreter as their primary mode of communication with hearing people. The advice is that you should speak directly to the Deaf person, not to the interpreter and maintain eye contact with the Deaf person.”

• Date Taken: 10.08.2021
• Date Posted: 11.10.2021 14:37
• Story ID: 409044
• Location: DAHLGREN, VIRGINIA, US