Tiffany Owens, Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) systems safety engineer, holds her certificate after being honored with the 2015 Modern-Day Technology Leader Award at the 29th annual Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA) gala. Standing left to right are Rear Adm. Anita Lopez, Deputy Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps; Dr. Kendall Harris, Dean of Prairie View A&M University's College of Engineering; and Dr. Robin Coger, Dean of North Carolina A&T State University's College of Engineering.
DAHLGREN, Va.—A Navy engineer who impacts the safety of military technologies - including the electromagnetic railgun - received the 2015 Modern-Day Technology Leader Award, Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) announced March 11.
U.S. Black Engineer and Information Technology magazine presented its award to Tiffany Owens at the 29th annual Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA) gala during the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Global Competitiveness Conference.
"I was very excited and humbled to receive the Modern Day Technology Leader Award," said Owens. "I'm grateful to have a chance to work on exciting projects utilizing so many new technologies in unmanned vehicles and the railgun."
Twenty other category award winners were also recognized at the BEYA gala for technical excellence, innovation, career advancement and diversity programs.
"Modern day technology leaders are men and women who are demonstrating outstanding performance and will shape the future course of engineering, science, and technology," said Tyrone Taborn, Career Communications Group chief executive officer and publisher of U.S. Black Engineer and Information Technology magazine in his letter to Owens upon her selection for the award. "You and the other technology leaders are individuals whose stories of phenomenal success merit national recognition."
The conference's prestigious awards ceremony provided employers with the unique opportunity to acknowledge and share the achievements of minorities who are leaders in the fields of math, science, engineering, and information technology.
"The impact of the work we perform at Dahlgren is so far reaching and it's very gratifying to know that I helped to make a contribution," said Owens, regarding the award's recognition of her accomplishments. "I feel that it's also important to look back, and help inspire the future generation of scientists and engineers to pursue careers in STEM. For this reason, I do a lot of outreach, mentoring and volunteering in STEM and share what I do as an engineer so youth can see engineering as an interesting, fun and achievable career path."
The purpose of the BEYA STEM Conference is to shed light on the underrepresentation of all minorities in the STEM industry, and to honor the successful modern-day minority inventors, technical innovators, gifted scientists, budding engineers, and high-level managers and executives whose careers are "Going Beyond the Limits" in private industry, government agencies, and the military, and who are living proof of the benefits of opening doors to opportunity.
"We hope this certificate (Modern-Day Technology Leaders Certificate of Recognition) will validate what you must already know: that you are a special and gifted person," Taborn added in his letter to Owens. "This recognition will also highlight for thousands of young women and men the breadth of opportunities that await them."
The event was hosted by U.S. Black Engineer and Information Technology magazine, the Council of Engineering Deans of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and Lockheed Martin Corp.
The three-day February conference attracted about 8,000 attendees, including students, college administrators, recruiters, engineering and IT professionals, scientists, and high-level decision-makers from the corporate, government, and military communities, in an effort to broaden diversity in this country's technical and scientific workforces.
Attendees participated in more than 40 training and networking events focused on career development, diversity in STEM, and innovation.
"The timing of the event was not accidental," said Dr. Eugene DeLoatch, veteran dean of the School of Engineering at Morgan State and longtime chairman of the Council of Engineering Deans of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
"It was planned to coincide with observance of National Engineers Week and to serve historically as a fitting tribute to those close to Black History Month."
The 30th Annual BEYA STEM Global Competiveness Conference will be held February 18-20, 2016 at the Philadelphia Convention Center.