Brett Gardner, a senior avionics engineer assigned to Fleet Readiness Center Southwest (FRCSW), is the recipient of the 2016 A. Bryan Lasswell Award for Fleet Support.

Sponsored by the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), the award recognizes individuals who provide exceptional support through in-service engineering procedures or technical innovation to Navy, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard forces based in San Diego.

For the past 23 years, Gardner has worked to identify and solve some of the most perplexing maintenance, repair, and overhaul issues naval aviation engineers face every day.

Factors such as vibration, air pressure, and temperature not only affect aircraft performance, but safety as well. The Navy previously relied upon flight test engineers for instrumentation testing, but the testing is expensive -- from $5,000 up to $100,000 per flight -- and the staff or aircraft are not always readily available.

While attending a Small Business Innovative Research forum five years ago, Gardner noticed an accelerometer manufactured by Mide that sparked his interest.

He envisioned modifying the device, and using funds through the Navy's Rapid Innovation Fund (RIF), partnered with Mide to create the Slam Stick-X™ -- a sensor and data logger that measures vibration, temperature, and atmospheric pressure. The RIF program funds innovative technologies that support warfighters.

The lightweight Slam Stick-X™ took one year to develop and cost approximately $450,000. It is 3 inches in length and less than 2 inches in width. With a depth of slightly over 1/2 inch, the device can be placed virtually anywhere in an aircraft from the pilot's shirt pocket to the least accessible bay.

The maiden use of the Slam Stick-X ™ at FRCSW was last year in locating the cause of a vibration reported by a C-2 Greyhound pilot during ground turns at the flight line.

Delivery of the vital Greyhound transport airplane to the fleet had been delayed by 80 days as ground crews worked to resolve the issue. Using nine Slam Stick-Xs™ throughout the aircraft, the cause was located and corrected in about two weeks.

Since, the device has served more than 300 flights and saved approximately $1.5 million as opposed to conventional test flight methods, and increasing the availability and readiness of the Navy's aircraft.

Gardner will receive the Lasswell Award at the NDIA Awards Program Oct. 25 at the Sheraton Mission Valley Hotel and Conference Center in San Diego.

Marine Corps Maj. A. Bryan Lasswell was a translator and cryptologist, who in 1942, worked relentlessly to decipher the communications of the Imperial Japanese navy. His efforts were instrumental in the American victory at the Battle of Midway Island.

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