{"id":2430,"date":"2022-07-27T11:00:16","date_gmt":"2022-07-27T15:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ece.ncsu.edu\/?p=249278"},"modified":"2022-07-27T11:00:16","modified_gmt":"2022-07-27T15:00:16","slug":"alumni-frce-engineers-recognized-with-2022-etter-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/2022\/alumni-frce-engineers-recognized-with-2022-etter-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni FRCE Engineers Recognized with 2022 Etter Award"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A group of Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) engineers earned recognition for their skilled technical problem-solving during a June 16 ceremony honoring the 2022 Dr. Delores M. Etter Top Scientists and Engineers of the Year.<\/span><\/p>\n

North Carolina State University State Electrical and Computer Engineering alumnus, Josh Guthrie and teammates Neil Taylor, and Jordon Barnes (BS in ME 2018) \u2013 all members of the FRCE Test Equipment Engineering Branch\u2019s engine support team \u2013 won a team award in the highly competitive program for their work in sustaining the test cells vital to aircraft engine production at the depot. They received the award during an event held at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Carderock, Maryland.<\/span><\/p>\n

Presented annually by the Assistant Secretary of the Navy Research, Development and Acquisition (ASN RD&A), the prestigious Etter Awards recognize technical superiority, innovation, technical merit, operational impact and applicability to ASN RD&A priorities. The award is named for the Honorable Delores M. Etter, Ph.D., who served as U.S. deputy undersecretary of Defense for Science and Technology from 1998-2001 and ASN RD&A from 2005-2007.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so pleased to see our engineers recognized for the vital work they do in sustaining naval aviation readiness,\u201d said FRCE Commanding Officer Capt. James M. Belmont. \u201cIt\u2019s a testament to their skill and ingenuity in creative problem-solving, their dedication and determination, and to efforts made every day by engineers and artisans across our depot that help keep our warfighters prepared and flight lines equipped.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The team earned the award for its efforts to sustain the test cells that support legacy platforms serviced by FRCE, including the H-53 heavy-lift helicopter\u2019s T64 engine; the AV-8B Harrier\u2019s F402 engine; and the T58 engine, which powers the VH-3D Sea King, the helicopter that serves as the U.S. president\u2019s Marine One transport. These particular aircraft are nearing the end of their planned lifecycles \u2013 an event commonly referred to as \u201csundowning\u201d in military aviation \u2013 which can make it more challenging to find the materials needed to perform maintenance and repairs on the test cells. In many instances, the team has been required to reverse engineer software and hardware to get the job done, because the needed material isn\u2019t always available through traditional supply lines.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think this award helps show the importance of the technical work we do here at FRCE in the sustainment of warfighter programs,\u201d Hinson said. \u201cA lot of times, these types efforts don\u2019t really get recognized at this high level because they\u2019re not the shiny, new thing \u2013 we\u2019re maintaining the older platforms, and the work is still very, very needed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hinson said the engine test support team is so good at its job, even colleagues within the depot might not understand the complexity of their work.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people would never even know the type of challenges we can face with those test cells, because we keep producing engines,\u201d he said. \u201cThe folks in production definitely give me feedback on what a good job these guys are doing. They definitely sing their praises.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut to the team, it\u2019s just what they do day-in and day-out,\u201d Hinson continued. \u201cThey don\u2019t really think about what a big deal it is that they\u2019re working with a piece of equipment that\u2019s 20 years old, and the original equipment manufacturer doesn\u2019t make it anymore, and they\u2019re trying to figure out ways to reverse engineer it, fix it and get it back up and running again, and the implications that has for the warfighter. It\u2019s definitely a very unique and very specific skill set, and it\u2019s easy to rely on these guys because they are so talented and know exactly what to do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The three engineers said they were honored by the recognition of their efforts, but also felt the award was representative of the multidisciplinary work done daily by various teams across FRCE. The teamwork spans several of the depot\u2019s departments, including their own Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) Engineering, Facility and Infrastructure Management, and MRO Production.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of institutional knowledge wrapped up in the workforce here \u2013 it could be an artisan running the test stand, it could be a maintenance guy who\u2019s been maintaining it for decades. Nobody works in a vacuum, especially not in test equipment,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cEverybody kind of pulls together; we interface with the component engineers, the aircraft guys, the calibration and metrology folks, the artisans, production people and the maintenance people. We might bring everybody together to come to some of these solutions. We work with all these different groups, and people pull off miracles around here nearly every single day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In the end, NC State alumnus Guthrie said, the recognition means the engine test support team is doing its job as part of the larger FRCE mission.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we got the notification, I could immediately think of 12 other people who deserve this award more than I do. It\u2019s humbling,\u201d he said. \u201cBut everything we do is in support of the engine shop, and the guys and gals down there. They\u2019re incredibly easy to support, and when you work with them and get to know them well, it\u2019s easy to want them to succeed. We\u2019re just one small cog in a big machine.”<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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North Carolina State University State Electrical and Computer Engineering alumnus, Josh Guthrie and teammates won the 2022 Etter Award.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1867,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","ncst_content_audit_display":false,"ncst_backToTopFlag":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"displayCategory":null,"acf":{"ncst_posts_meta_modified_date":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1867"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2430"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2430\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2431,"href":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2430\/revisions\/2431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.ece.ncsu.edu\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}