Emily Johnson of Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division received  the 2022 G. Dennis White Early Career Human Systems Integration (HSI) Practitioner Award last week during a ceremony at Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division. Chairing the award's selection committee and providing opening remarks at the ceremony was NAWCTSD Chief Scientist, Dr. Jim Pharmer.

Johnson was recognized for her human factors analysis with the Enterprise Data Fusion (EDF) team by implementing human integration into the EDF's agile process in a positive manor. In a letter to Johnson Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Dr. Brett Seidel said, "This award recognizes the attributes that Mr. G. Dennis White sought to instill in junior engineers as key factors in the success of HSI practitioners: Cooperation, Courage, Proactivity, Flexibility, and Persistence."  Dr. Seidel continued on to say, "Your positive and proactive interactions with team members and contractors led to designs that improved value and efficiency for the Navy and warfighter.

Johnson was nominated by her Supervisor, Dr. Emily Stoneham who  said, "Only once in my life have I ever met anyone as well rounded and motivated as Emily Johnson... she portrays a unique and approachable combination of confidence and willingness to admit what she doesn't understand and ask the right questions to fix that. It is a difficult combination of traits to master and she has done it to an expert level." Highly praised for her work ethic and ability to work at the highest level she is also requested by name for her work, a high honor. 

For Fiscal Year 22 Johnson was transferred to COMMS, an advanced and high activity team with an opportunity to use her skills as a human factors specialist to step into the role a systems engineer would take to not only help the team's engineer shortage but to become embedded as the team HFE. "This has been quite a challenge because it requires extensive training on the system while also applying a human systems wide understanding to each part of the communications system. It has put her in the very unique position of providing knowledgeable feedback to the comms engineers while helping the users identify the best possible way forward from their perspective" said Dr. Stoneham. She went on to say, "although she has only been with our group for two years, in just the last year she has become the most requested Human Factor Engineer, HFE, I have in the branch... has created applications so valued they have now been requested by NAVAIR HQ."  

This award is unique in many ways, one of which being that it is specifically targeted towards those with less than five years in the field. NAWCTSD Chief Scientist, Dr. Jim Pharmer has a personal connection to this award. He said, "Dennis was a good friend of mine so this award is very meaningful to me personally. Our friendship arose from a long term collaboration between NSWC Dahlgren and NAWCTSD." Dr. Pharmer honors White's legacy in an impactful way by chairing the selection panel consisting of representatives from Navy warfare centers and labs. At the ceremony he provided opening remarks and hosted White's family. When asked what Dennis was passionate about Dr. Pharmer said, "he was passionate about two things; mentoring our early career folks, and delivering effective products to the fleet by integrating the human into the systems acquisition process." 

This award is given in the memory of G. Dennis White, who was a tireless advocate for the warfighter and mentor to junior engineers, the Naval Laboratory and Centers Coordinating Group (NLCCG) and the HSI Community of Practice. The intent is to recognize the contribution of these early career HSI scientists and engineers and encourage their zeal. It is awarded on an annual basis at a ceremony held at NSWC Dahlgren Division.