Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division Wins Tech Educators of the Year Award

May 7, 2015

MIRASouthern Indiana based Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division received the Tech Educators of the Year Award during TechPoint’s 16th annual Mira Awards honoring the best of tech in Indiana. NSWC Crane STEM program goals are to ignite interest in STEM in its surrounding community to build a stronger pipeline of world-class STEM talent. TCPT_Mira 2015 Badge-Winner The Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division (NSWC Crane) provides acquisition engineering, in-service engineering, and technical support for sensors, electronics, electronic warfare, and special-warfare weapons. As the largest multiservice facility within the DoD for electronic warfare and information operations, NSWC Crane’s EW/IO Center is critical to the success of many military operations, including those that use electromagnetic energy to control the electromagnetic spectrum. The Strategic Missions Center delivers technical solutions to detect threats; provide a layered, integrated missile defense; and offers global strike capability. NSWC Crane’s Special Missions Center provides rapid-response solutions focusing on agility, maneuverability, individual weapons, munitions, and technical training to equip the most elite warriors for the combat environment. The aforementioned list of impressive duties and charges is what we all know or hear about Indiana’s NSWC Crane, but there is another side to this story — a side that is critical to our future and that the Mira Awards judges chose to recognize. NSWC Crane has had a rich history of outreach to local communities by allowing employees time on the clock to participate in activities such as math and science tutoring and the Annual NSWC Crane Science Fair. However, in 2010 a formal STEM program was created and with that the outreach efforts were strategically aligned with how to facilitate, motivate, cultivate, and attract the next generation of STEM talent. NSWC Crane has implemented a number of programs to include: one-time public events, in-class activities, out of class activities, mentorship with students, and teacher training. In order to implement these goals NSWC Crane has utilized two full time STEM personnel. Additionally, NSWC makes time available to its employees to work in their communities to support STEM goals. Since the inception of this program, NSWC Crane and its personnel have served over 8,000 students, 100 teachers, and 100 schools. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STxNBXqFwgM[/embed] TechPoint, Indiana’s tech ecosystem accelerator, honored 15 companies, entrepreneurs and educators on May 2, at the Mira Awards gala presented by BKD CPAs & Advisors. Mira — Latin for miracle and a variable star thousands of times brighter than the Earth’s sun — represents the best of tech in Indiana each year. Forty-three independent, volunteer judges spent more than 700 collective hours reviewing and ranking the applications, interviewing the nominees and choosing the winners. Judges are primarily subject matter experts and experienced company founders and executives. Source: Joshua Hall, TechPoint