Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, headquartered in China Lake, California, and Berkeley-based Cambium Biomaterials, Inc. are collaborating to develop and produce new, bio-based, flame-resistant materials that can both control the spread of flames and reduce the toxicity of the smoke from fire.

NAWCWD and Cambium are creating high-performance composite materials from bio-based molecules. These building blocks can be extracted from plants, synthesized from biomass sources, or produced from sugar by a fermentation process similar to that used for brewing beer.

Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division recognized three teams for outstanding contributions and innovative spirit with NAWCWD Innovation Awards in a May 19 announcement from Executive Director Joan Johnson.

Due to current Force Health Protection measures, the command did not hold an in-person ceremony. Recognizing the winners, however, just could not wait.

The Dust Devils of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 31 won the Chief of Naval Operations Aviation Safety Award for fiscal year 2019.

The honor, also known as the CNO Safety “S” Award, was announced April 20 and recognizes squadrons for “exceptional professionalism, commitment to excellence, solid leadership and teamwork, the high-velocity outcomes, and in-depth risk management culture which resulted in safe and effective operations.”

Two Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division teams were honored during the 2019 NAVAIR Commander’s Awards ceremony held March 10 at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland.

The Command Re-utilization and Disposal (CRuD) Project Team won the NAVAIR Commander’s Award for Highest Impact Reduction in Business Transactions, and the Simplified Acquisition Procedures Procurement Team (SAP) earned the Small Business Advocacy Award during the ceremony.

Twelve teams from 11 different Ventura County schools gathered for the annual Tri-Warfare Center STEM Challenge at the California Air National Guard 146^th Airlift Wing’s facilities in Point Mugu, California, on Feb. 20.

The science, technology, engineering and math-focused challenge helps create a real-life understanding of the importance of engineering in their day-to-day lives and exposes them to the science and engineering professionals and opportunities supporting the warfighter in Ventura County.

Marco Romero, head of the Point Mugu Sea Range Military Radar Unit/Air Traffic Control/Rand Control Office, isn’t quite ready to come in for a landing after 40 years of service, but he definitely has the runway in sight.

Rear Adm. Scott Dillon, Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division commander, presented Romero with a 40-year length-of-service award in a ceremony Feb. 5 in Point Mugu, California, teasing Romero about the possible allure of a 45-year certificate.

Have you heard the story about the ex-military weapons expert who also writes spy novels and restores old cars in his spare time?

No? Then you haven’t met Mike Kennedy.

Kennedy, site manager for Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division’s Ready Missile Test Facility, celebrated 40 years of government service in a Feb. 5 ceremony in Point Mugu, California. Four decades is a long time, but it’s not the years that make Kennedy special – it’s what he’s packed into them.

Maj. Nathaniel Thayer, the AV-8B Joint System Support Activity (JSSA) military deputy for Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 31 at Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division China Lake, California, was honored as the 2020 Marine Corps Aviation Administration John Glenn Squadron Test Pilot of the Year during a ceremony held Jan. 30.

Dr. Curt Kidner was honored as Naval Air Systems Command’s Mentor of the Year at China Lake on Jan. 28 during a ceremony broadcast to all NAVAIR sites; Michael Herrera earned the honor at Point Mugu.

Kidner was one of eight nominees at China Lake. There were a total of 76 nominees across NAVAIR, with one winner picked at each of the eight sites.

What makes a great mentor? Naval Air Systems Command’s Point Mugu selection for 2019 Mentor of the Year, Mike Herrera, could tell you, but he’d probably rather just show you.

Herrera, a La Mirada, California native and U.S. Naval Academy graduate who joined Naval Air Warfare Center after retiring from the Navy in 2010, lives and breathes teaching and mentoring – or at least that’s what anyone who knows him will tell you.