NSWC Crane Employee Recognized for National Technical Excellence

NSWC Crane Employee Recognized for National Technical Excellence

By NSWC Crane Corporate Communications

An NSWC Crane technology transfer expert was recognized nationally for her efforts to advance commercialization. Amanda McCullough, Technological Transfer (T2) Agreements Program Manager at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC Crane), earned an honorable mention for the 2026 Technology Transfer Rookie of the Year Award, recognizing her work in commercializing military innovations.

McCullough joined the T2 Office in December 2022 as an Intellectual Property Portfolio Manager before assuming her current role in late 2023. Leveraging her background in business, marketing, and intellectual property law, she began working to forge a link between military and commercial technology.

"It is an incredible honor to receive this recognition. My goal has always been to bridge the gap between the groundbreaking innovations developed by our scientists at NSWC Crane and the commercial sector. Seeing NSWC Crane-developed technology evolve and ultimately return to the warfighter with even greater mission-ready capabilities is what truly drives our mission," said McCullough.

One of McCullough's achievements was streamlining the process of collecting NSWC Crane developed inventions to patent licensable intellectual property. Recognizing the administrative barriers inventors faced, she collaborated with legal counsel to develop a concise pre-disclosure form. The new documentation reduced the initial filing time from four hours to 30 minutes.

This administrative overhaul catalyzed a 169% surge in invention disclosures between FY23 and FY25, leading the Department of the Navy to evaluate the process for enterprise-wide adoption.

To overcome conventional government communication hurdles, McCullough spearheaded the launch of the "Tech Talk Tuesday" podcast in 2022. Serving as host and creator she uses the platform to explain complex intellectual property and advertise technologies available for licensing by interviewing the NSWC Crane scientists and engineers.

A technology overview video generated directly for external business interest created by McCullough and her team resulted in five government purpose licenses and a commercial patent license agreement for a NSWC Crane-developed drone detector in 2024.

Working alongside University of Maryland business students and Texas A&M University software engineers, she explored adapting the technology for use in animal husbandry. Her mentorship kept the project moving forward, ultimately yielding a commercial evaluation license from a student founder group in 2025.

"While I am deeply honored by this recognition, these achievements are truly a reflection of the incredible team we have here at NSWC Crane. Technology transfer requires both internal and external collaboration, and I am fortunate to work alongside such dedicated professionals who are committed to the same mission," said McCullough.

By translating technical white papers into accessible business opportunities, McCullough maximizes the time Crane's scientists can spend on technical discovery. Her focused outreach has led to an 80% increase in new license agreements and a 36% increase in new partnership agreements over the past three fiscal years, ensuring that technologies designed for the Warfighter also deliver measurable economic impact in the commercial marketplace.

For McCullough, the combination of an outlook and passion for the Warfighter are at the heart of T2 success.

"My hope is that this recognition challenges others to look closely at their own daily work with a visionary mindset and a deep desire for continuous improvement. By constantly asking how we can do things better, we can elevate and strengthen the broader T2 community," said McCullough.

About NSWC Crane | NSWC Crane is a naval laboratory and a field activity of Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) with mission areas in Strategic Missions, Electromagnetic Warfare, and Expeditionary Warfare. The warfare center is responsible for multi-domain, multi-spectral, full life cycle support of technologies and systems enhancing capability to today's Warfighter.