NEWPORT, R.I. –
More than 60 current and former Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport employees were recognized for their science, technology, research and innovation accomplishments during a “Patents, Publications and Technology Transitions” awards ceremony held on Feb. 16.
The first of what will become quarterly ceremonies was held in front of Division Newport’s new “Wall of Innovation,” designed to reflect innovation and state-of-the-art accomplishments by the workforce.
“This is what the Wall of Innovation was designed for, to display our technical and scientific advancements and innovation on a rotating basis to the entire community,” Chief Technology Officer Dr. Jason Gomez said as he welcomed attendees to the ceremony.
Technical Director Ron Vien cited the Division Newport mission and its long history of growth, innovation and evolution into new technical areas.
“I’m a bit biased, but we’re pretty cool, what we do here at NUWC, and it’s work like this that really demonstrates our people and technical capabilities,” he said.
Commanding Officer Capt. Chad Hennings agreed.
“To be the first to think of an idea and to be able to share that idea, that’s really impressive,” Hennings said.
Patent awards
Eighteen current and former employees were awarded 12 patents, an important part of the innovation process as patents protect intellectual property, award inventors for innovative ideas and make novel technologies available to the broader scientific and engineering communities.
“We have a strong history and culture in patents here at Division Newport,” said Gomez.
Awardees and their patents include the following:
- Dr. Anthony Ruffa, Chief Technology Office: Patent No. 11,006,208, Compact Low Frequency Acoustic Source
- Thomas Frank, Undersea Warfare (USW) Weapons, Vehicles and Defensive Systems Department; Dr. Lynn Antonelli and Stephen Butler, Sensors and Sonar Systems Department; and Jackeline Diapis, Customer Advocate Office: Patent No. 10,788,575, Air-Based Sonar Projector Array
- Dr. David Daily and Andrew Guarendi, Sensors and Sonar Systems Department; Dr. David Beal, Dr. Aren Hellum, and Dr. Jesse Belden, USW Weapons, Vehicles and Defensive Systems Department: Patent No. 11,098,784, Shock Mitigation Utilizing Quiescent Cavitation
- Hailu Waka and Dr. David Rivera, USW Electromagnetic Systems Department: Patent No. 10,916,855, Contoured-Shape Antenna with Wide Bandwidth
- Dr. David Rivera: Patent No. 10,819,028, Tunable Parallel Plate Antenna; Patent No. 10,879,617, Wideband Slot Antenna with Interdigital Back Plane; and Patent No. 10,804,589, Parallel Plate Antenna with Vertical Polarization
- Christian Schumacher (currently on rotation within the Warfare Centers Headquarters chief technology office) and Dr. Thomas Howarth (former employee): Patent No. 10,799,089, Thermoacoustic Device with Acoustically Transparent Housing and Patent No. 10,805,738, Method for Making a Thermoacoustic Device
- Dr. Charles Patrissi, USW Platforms and Payload Integration Departent; Dr. Joseph Fontaine (former employee currently at Naval Surface Warfare Center Division Crane and located at Division Newport); and Jian Tan (former employee): Patent No. 10,895,606, Electrochemical Cell Test Method and Patent No. 11,043,705, Cell Having Implanted Electronic Circuit
- Paul Medeiros, USW Electromagnetic Systems Department: Patent No. 10,903,55