The key to the success of the Navy STEM Program is the active participation by regional professionals in Navy-related agencies and industry. This, indeed, is one of the strengths of the program as the Southern New England region has a large and vibrant naval community. There are numerous ongoing activities between University of Connecticut (UConn) and University of Rhode Island (URI) and Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC), General Dynamics Electric Boat, Undersea Warfighting Development Center (UWDC) Raytheon and other naval agencies and industry in the region. The program formalizes regional workforce development activities to address the urgent current demand and projected future needs. This community is taking steps to formalize research and technology transfer activities in the region, thereby, creating a national resource for Navy science and technology.
Navy STEM partners participate in a variety of ways, including membership on the Advisory Board, participation in the seminar series, providing topics for and mentoring of undergraduate research and senior design projects, attending and making presentations at the annual Discovery Day event and campus recruiting events, arranging facility tours for Navy Crew members and recruiting volunteers to serve as mentors for Navy Crew activities.
We would like to thank our 2024 Fall Semester Distinguished Seminar Speakers
LtCmd Hain, U.S Navy
Mike Briscoe, Office of Naval Engineers
Aida Ghiaei, Grad School
CAPT Brian Heberley, Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Groton
Colin Murphy, UWDC Science Advisor
Lauren Garrret, SeaCorp
David Swenson, Sub Force Museum
Tan Deleon, Electric Boat
Andria Jones, Naval Academy
Louie Lopez, DoD STEM Director DoD STEM
Haendel Almeida, OASIS
We would like to thank our 2023 Fall Semester Distinguished Seminar Speakers
Jodi Ashmun, Technical Fellow & Ann Ganley, Whole Life Systems Engineer, RTX
Kimberly Sayre, Senior Engineer, Collins Aerospace
Lt. Izzy Schaffino, Officer Recruiter, Unites States Navy (USN)
Theo Menounos, Assistant Director, UConn Career Development
PO1 Kevin Willy, Director of Education & David Swenson, 3MC/CMC, Submarine Force Museum
Jen Kendrigan, University Relations Staffing Specialist & Adam White, Supervisor of Systems Engineering, General Dynamics Electric Boat
Ken Primo, Former Submariner
2022 Spring Semester Distinguished Seminar Speakers
Amy Cutting, Branch Chief, United States Coast Guard - C5I
Michael Mahoney, Vice President of Business Development, Orbis, Inc.
Dr. James McGee, Science Advisor, Undersea Warfighting Development Center (UWDC)
David Lussier, Executive Vice President, SEACORP
Frank Puglia, Director of Research and Development, EaglePicher
Yadira Gilchrest, Analyst, Naval Undersea Warfighting Center - Newport (NUWC)
Heather Lee, Coordinator for Workforce Development, General Dynamics Electric Boat
Elizabeth Garypie, Director of E&T Digital Transformation, General Dynamics Electric Boat
Ronald Ross, Technical Staff, MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Bill Matuszak, Vice President, In-Depth Engineering
John Evans, President, RDSI, Inc.
Karen Conti, Executive Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy, Epsilon Systems Solutions, Inc.
Capt. Jeff Cares, President and CEO, Alidade, Inc.
Adm. Michael Connor, CEO, ThayerMahan
The UConn/URI team has been working with the Navy to develop lasting regional programs with significant workforce and science and technology impact. Here, UConn and URI Visit the Undersea Warfighting Development Center (UWDC) in Groton, CT - (Left to Right) Kylene Perras, Professor Rich Christenson and Dean Kazem Kazerounian (UConn); RDML James Pitts- UWDC Commander; Dean Ray Wright and Professor Arun Shukla (URI); ADM Jonathan Greener