Courtesy Photo | Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Keyport Computer Engineer Daniel Gentile was...... read more read more
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Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Keyport employee Daniel Gentile was honored at the 2024 Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition Dr. Delores M. Etter Top Scientists and Engineers of the Year Awards ceremony at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, June 12.
Gentile, a computer engineer in NUWC Division, Keyport's Unmanned and Theater Undersea Warfare Systems Department, was recognized in the Emergent Engineer category for leading the development of an undersea data acquisition system with the potential to greatly enhance the Navy's research and testing capabilities.
Work on the Office of Naval Research-funded project began two years ago, with NUWC Division, Keyport as the primary inventor and Georgia Technical Research Institute and Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, as collaborators. The invention’s patent application is currently under review.
Gentile led the research team and took an active role in the work, putting in long hours and many late nights to meet the project’s aggressive production schedule.
Two initial prototype units were designed, assembled and delivered in eight months, a turnaround time NUWC Division, Keyport Mechanical Engineer Ryan Liem-Salim, who served as the project’s mechanical design lead, called “unheard of” at the command. Indeed, according to the award nomination, one of the customers commended the team for delivering the product “in Silicon Valley time.”
Liem-Salim said he “couldn't think of anybody better” than Gentile to receive the award.
“He really led by example and pushed us to be the best that we could be,” said Liem-Salim. "Working with Daniel, you can be sure he puts not 110 percent, but about 150 percent, toward the project he’s working on. He's committed to delivering the best possible product to the customer and ensuring their needs are met.”
Dustin Kliner, a NUWC Division, Keyport electronics technician who was involved in the device’s physical construction, praised Gentile’s leadership, openness to new ideas and willingness to take advantage of his team’s collective expertise.
Mark Paulus, Ph.D., who serves as technology officer for the Unmanned and Theater Undersea Warfare Systems Department at NUWC Division, Keyport, provided high-level design guidance and developed a graphical user interface for the device’s control system. Paulus said Gentile’s work on the project demonstrated his ability to learn and apply new technical skills and his commitment to delivering high-quality results.
“Technically, he's very high-level, very astute,” said Paulus. “He's very willing to go find resources and learn new things in order to accomplish tasks. He does lots of research, lots of looking around, to figure out how best to solve a problem."
Paulus said the entire team put in extra time and effort to ensure the project was completed on time and to a high standard.
Gentile’s then-supervisor, Medium and Small Unmanned Vehicles Branch Head Ross Witherell, noted that he worked nearly the entire night before the prototype's first sea trials to ensure the device was ready to perform successfully.
This triumph underscores Gentile's exceptional ability to turn design concepts into reality and deliver on commitments, said Witherell.
"What sets Daniel apart is his practical application of his ideas,” said Witherell. “He’s able to quickly move them into a delivered prototype and then into production."
Gentile said he’s “honored and ecstatic” to receive his Etter award, but that he wouldn't have been able to achieve the feat that earned him the award without the support of his colleagues at NUWC Division, Keyport.
“I wouldn't even be in the running for something like this without all the help I get from my peers and especially my mentors here at Keyport," said Gentile.
This award is one more in a series of accolades for Gentile. Last year he received a Department of the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award for his contribution to another groundbreaking technology called the Hybrid Mobile Vehicle, which partially laid the foundation for this latest invention.
-KPT-
NUWC Division, Keyport provides advanced technical capabilities for test and evaluation, in-service engineering, maintenance and industrial base support, fleet material readiness, and obsolescence management for undersea warfare to expand America’s undersea dominance.
| Date Taken: | 06.24.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 06.24.2024 16:32 |
| Story ID: | 474713 |
| Location: | KEYPORT, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 292 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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