NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. — Twenty four Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) employees and officers were recognized for completing a two-year master’s degree in systems engineering via the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) at a graduation ceremony in the north engineering center April 21.

Rear Adm. Dean Peters, commander, Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD), congratulated the graduates and praised their academic achievement in using cross-domain analysis, critical thinking and problem solving skills.

“Everyone is starting to recognize the merit of cross domain disciplinary training,” said Peters. “All of our programs depend on cross domain expertise to be able to deliver capable and effective technological solutions to the fleet.”

“It was encouraging to see the diverse folks from within this graduating class, including people from our contracting competency, our engineering competency, our test competency, and our logistics competency,” added Peters, who also recognized members of the audience for the support they provided to the graduates. “Thank you and congratulations to the graduating class and their families. I fully appreciate that the person getting the degree here today is not the only one who put forth effort and made sacrifices to realize this accomplishment. This is a day for you also, because your hard work has finally come to fruition.”

To earn Master of Science degrees in systems engineering (MSSE) or engineering systems (MSES), degrees under the program, students completed a challenging, 16-course curriculum that included a capstone project designed to resolve real NAVAIR engineering issues.

Two NPS graduates, Cmdr. Vernon Red and Ronald “Barry” Walden were presented with the Meyer Student Award in recognition of their educational excellence and leadership.

“Everyone had a different perspective,” said Tracey Scindian, NPS graduate. She said that obtaining a cohesive voice was the most challenging, yet rewarding aspect of the capstone project. She explained how each group member added their expertise to their 200-page research project about laser-guided technology. “We had a nice, well-rounded group of professionals whose expertise ranged from test, program management, and environmental science. Each person was able to add their viewpoint to the project.”

NAVAIR has partnered with NPS to provide professional education and development for NAVAIR military officers and civilians desiring to improve their expertise in systems engineering. In addition to MSSE or MSES, a Lead Systems Certificate program provides graduate-level courses to prepare senior active-duty military officers and civilians for positions as lead system integrators.

NPS Graduates in the April 2015 cohort #11:

(MSSE)

Shane Axness, Nicholas Barlett, Paul Conlin, Georg Contag, Cynthia Davis, Mark DeArmas, Hughlyn Henderson, Daniel Hyatt, Rustin Laycock, Johanna Matias, Sean McKnight, Ryan Schmidt, Tracy Scindian, Ronald “Barry” Walden, Thomas Wang, Maj Zarra

(MSES)

Jonathan Catalano, Matthew Kiefer, William “Chris” Kimmel,  Robert “Tim” Leake, Brittany Teig, Nicole Theberge, Cmdr. John Red, William Winters