NSWCPD Summer Hire Showcase Highlights Emerging Talent, Fleet-Focused Innovation

NSWCPD Summer Hire Showcase Highlights Emerging Talent, Fleet-Focused Innovation

By Steven Infanti

Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division (NSWCPD) summer interns and temporary hires presented the results of weeks of research, engineering, testing, and technical development during the command's Summer Hire Showcase.

Twenty presentations delivered by 23 summer hires covered work supporting shipboard machinery systems, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, maintenance, electrical power, automation, materials, and personnel safety. The event concluded with an awards ceremony recognizing the presentations that earned the highest scores from a panel of NSWCPD judges.

Unlike the poster sessions of the past, the 2026 showcase placed presenters in front of a live auditorium audience and required them to explain their projects through slide presentations. The revised format gave each presenter approximately 15 minutes to introduce a technical challenge, explain the methods used to address it, share results, and respond to questions from the judges and audience.

"The slide presentation format asked the summer hires to do more than display the results of a project," said NSWCPD Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Outreach Program Manager Tristan Wolfe, who coordinated the showcase. "They had to decide what information mattered most, build a clear technical narrative, and explain why their contribution could matter to NSWCPD and the fleet."

The participants represented summer employment and scholarship programs that included the Naval Research Enterprise Internship Program (NREIP); the Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship-for-Service Program; the Virtual Institutes for Cyber and Electromagnetic Spectrum Research and Employ (VICEROY) Program; and other NSWCPD summer hiring opportunities.

Throughout the summer, participants worked alongside NSWCPD engineers, scientists, technicians, cybersecurity professionals, and program personnel. Their mentors helped them understand technical requirements, navigate Navy engineering processes, and connect their assignments to broader fleet needs.

"The mentors give the students access to years of technical knowledge, but they also give them room to solve problems and develop their own ideas," Wolfe said. "The showcase allowed the summer hires to demonstrate how much they learned and how they applied that knowledge during their time at NSWCPD."

The presentations reflected the range of engineering and fleet support conducted across the command.

Topics included applying artificial intelligence, using machine learning to estimate electrical current from magnetic fields, precision maintenance, superconducting magnetic energy storage, oil substitution compatibility, epoxy pipe patching, machinery control, cybersecurity for hull, mechanical, and electrical operational technology control systems, and the automation of recurring technical processes.

Other presenters discussed an enclosure flooding alert system, personnel safety barriers, emergency switchboard requirements, consolidated wire connection lists, test facility upgrades, shaft speed indication, and automated scanning for multi-program test stands.

Judges evaluated the presentations based on factors that included organization, presentation skills, the stated project objective, technical background, methodology, execution, conclusions, future applications, and the presenters' responses during the question-and-answer portion. Similar criteria have been used during previous NSWCPD summer internship presentation events.

Justin Quinn and Kirsten Nelson earned first place for their presentation, "Personnel Safety Barriers (PSB)."

This NSWCPD Hull Outfitting and Shipboard Habitability branch team developed a redesign for the DDG 1000-class personnel safety barrier. The manual, mechanical design is intended to improve the barriers' functionality, safety, and reliability while eliminating dependence on electrical components.

"Winning first place was exciting, but what meant the most was representing the branch and highlighting the combined effort and support behind our project," said Quinn, an NREIP intern and mechanical engineering student at Penn State University. "During two summers and one fall at NSWCPD, I gained experience in in-service engineering, project management, and other areas that prepared me to accept a full-time position here."

"Receiving this recognition was a testament to how much I learned from my mentors and projects during my internship," said Nelson, a SMART Scholar studying mechanical engineering at York College of Pennsylvania. "It was rewarding to share the achievement with my code, my school, and the SMART Scholarship program. I also learned how important standardization is across the fleet, and I'm excited to return to NSWCPD full time after I graduate."

Elizabeth McCaskey received second place for her "Answer File Automation." McCaskey, a VICEROY scholar assigned to NSWCPD's Steam and Ventilation Controls branch, developed an automated solution to streamline the Risk Management Framework. The files fill gaps in scan results by documenting mitigations for open vulnerabilities and adding comments for vulnerabilities that have been closed or determined not applicable.

"Receiving second place showed me that the judges saw value in both the work and the way I presented it," said McCaskey, who earned a bachelor's degree in cybersecurity from West Virginia University and is beginning a master's degree in the same field. "The internship gave me hands-on experience with material I could continue working with for years, and it helped me build connections with people inside and outside my code."

Third place went to Ryan Dott for "Cybersecurity for Hull, Mechanical & Electrical (HM&E) Operational Technology Control Systems."

Dott, an NREIP intern assigned to NSWCPD's Aircraft Vehicle Ship Material Handling branch, examined the implementation of cybersecurity methods for HM&E operational technology control systems. His work allowed him to apply his cybersecurity knowledge to experimental technology while addressing technical challenges involving systems that support Navy operations.

"Placing in the top three was incredibly rewarding because I spent the last 10 weeks researching new cybersecurity methods, learning unfamiliar systems, and working through roadblocks," said Dott, an electrical engineering student at Clemson University. "The Navy gave me the resources to succeed, and my mentors were always there to guide me through complex technical challenges. The award capped off a summer in which I gained hands-on experience and contributed tangible results to the Navy mission."

While the awards recognized the highest-scoring presentations, Wolfe emphasized that the showcase represented the culmination of a summer of learning for every participant.

"An award is a meaningful recognition, but the larger success is seeing every presenter stand before an audience and explain how they contributed to a Navy engineering organization," Wolfe said. "They gained technical experience, learned from NSWCPD mentors, and strengthened the communication skills they will need throughout their careers."

The showcase also gave NSWCPD employees an opportunity to learn about projects taking place across departments and to meet students who could become part of the Navy's future science and engineering workforce.

NSWCPD internships pair students with mentors and technical assignments involving areas such as testing and evaluation, modeling and simulation, research and development, cybersecurity, and in-service engineering. Participants complete projects connected to shipboard machinery and supporting systems and present the results at the end of the summer.

For the summer hires, the showcase marked both the conclusion of their assignments and an opportunity to demonstrate how their classroom knowledge could be applied to challenges affecting Navy ships and Sailors.

"These summer programs introduce talented students to the Navy mission, but they also allow us to learn from the energy and new ideas those students bring into the command," Wolfe said. "The showcase demonstrated what can happen when strong mentoring, technical curiosity, and a real fleet need come together."

NSWCPD employs about 2,700 civilian engineers, scientists, technicians, and support staff. The team focuses on research and development, testing and evaluation, acquisition support, and in-service and logistics engineering for non-nuclear machinery, ship machinery systems, and related equipment and materials for Navy surface ships and submarines. NSWCPD also serves as the main organization responsible for providing cybersecurity for all ship systems.