Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) held a ceremony, July 22, to recognize several employees and development teams for their innovative solutions to mission challenges.

This recognition was part of NAVSEA's new Commander's Award for Innovation program. The program encourages employees to develop ideas that eliminate waste, improve work flow, create value and support the command's strategic business plan. This program also aligns with the Secretary of the Navy's direction that commanders create incentive programs for recognizing innovation.

"When you look at our strategic business plan you'll see that innovation is a foundational part of it," said Vice Adm. William Hilarides, commander, NAVSEA. "Recognizing innovation is essential to creating the culture we need to keep our Navy at the very top of the navies of the world."

From the 36 nominations, awards were presented to the top five submissions in each of the categories: individual, team, and "most innovative."

"We did what we engineers do. We looked at all the award criteria, and we picked the five individual awards and the five team awards based on those 10 criteria," said Bill Deligne, NAVSEA's executive director. "But then, as I was looking through the nominations not selected, I was thinking 'That's really innovative, and that is really innovative.' So we called an audible, and added a third category also to recognize projects based on pure innovation."

For their efforts, the 92 employees recognized will receive either time-off or cash bonus awards.

The innovations nominated run the gamut from reducing the cycle time of software development in order to meet an urgent threat requirement of the fleet, to building a 3D fly-thru for Virginia-class submarines to shorten response times, minimize damage and save lives in the event of a shipboard accident.

A good example of the impact one employee can make is illustrated by individual award winner Dale Parent. Parent, of PEO Integrated Warfare Systems, developed a process for overhauling two sub-assembly items of the MK15 Close-In Weapon System. The current process replaces the system's Gatling Gun and Electro-Optical Stabilization System with brand new components each time the MK15 undergoes a Class "A" overhaul.

Parent's analysis and subsequent engineering overhaul process reduces cost by reutilizing the sub-assemblies while still maintaining performance. This new process is expected to yield a savings of more than $3.5 million a year. Based on an estimated service life of 20 years, the total life cycle savings is estimated to reach $76 million.

All the innovations recognized ultimately support NAVSEA's mission priorities of "Culture of Affordability" and "Workforce Excellence and Judiciousness."

Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) is the largest of the Navy's five system commands. NAVSEA engineers, builds, buys and maintains the Navy's ships, submarines and combat systems to meet the fleet's current and future operational requirements.

To view the NAVSEA 2015 Commander's Award for Innovation list, please visit: http://www.navsea.navy.mil/Media/News/tabid/11975/Article/610712/naval-sea-systems-command-recognizes-rewards-employee-innovators.aspx

For more news from Naval Sea Systems Command, visit www.navy.mil