Navy Junior Engineer Wins HSI Award for Impact on New Wearable Technologies
DAHLGREN, Va. – A Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) junior engineer won the 2020 G. Dennis White Early Career Human Systems Integration (HSI) Practitioner Award, NSWCDD officials announced June 8.
The award recognizes Alex Kniffin of the Human Systems Research and Development Branch for his leadership in the Navy’s development of new wearable technologies designed to prevent accidents, injuries, and save lives.
“Wearable technology is a big part of the future in military and civilian life,” said Kniffin. “I see its capability in the military to be very beneficial for the Navy and all branches of the military.”
Kniffin – who joined the team in 2018, taking the role of team lead in 2019 – is the annual award’s third winner, the first at Dahlgren.
While leading his team, Kniffin fostered strong relationships with wearable technology companies to identify technologies that could be used to predict Sailor fatigue and aid warfighter readiness. Moreover, he demonstrated the award’s highlighted traits of cooperativity, courage, proactivity, flexibility, and persistence.
In the award nomination, NSWCDD Human Systems Research and Development Branch Head Sarah Lloyd described Kniffin’s “determination to gather the data he believed necessary to complete the project with technical rigor… pushing the limits of the project… [to] extend the human systems research and technology wearables technology capabilities.”
The G. Dennis White award honors a Navy or U.S. Marine Corps HSI expert early in their career, who exemplifies the same traits as retired Navy Lt. Cmdr. Dennis White who is credited with establishing the HSI Branch as a “discipline within Navy systems engineering.” He passed away suddenly in 2017 after nearly four decades of service.
Bridget White, Dennis White’s daughter, says the award was built in such a way to honor her father. “One of the quotes my dad had on his whiteboard was ‘Relentless Pursuit of Excellence.’ We push for excellence in everything we do, whether we get rewarded for it or not. The recognition is fantastic, but it’s not expected. It’s the excellence that counts.”
Bridget White says her dad believed in the power of early career practitioners.
“The intuition that can come from an early career practitioner is invaluable. The early career folks don’t always get recognized for how well they’re doing until later. It’s nice to give them a boost now and say ‘you’re doing a really good job now. Keep it up.’”
Before moving to the NSWCDD Human Resources Division, Bridget White served in the branch her father created. That’s where she first met Alex Kniffin. “I was actually working there when Alex worked as a student intern and new hire,” said Bridget White. “Knowing him then, I was absolutely not surprised and very happy to see him win this award. Alex is an exceptional engineer.”
Kniffin says the wearable technology as an indicator of warfighter readiness is different from other HSI projects. “A lot of HSI relies on subjective data, and what we’re trying to do is detect cognitive fatigue using objective physiological measurements.”
In addition to leading the project, Kniffin developed the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement program.
The program, once approved, will allow his team to work with leading researchers in academia.
“As we continue to increase our capabilities in wearable technology and machine learning, we will collaborate closely with academia to best meet the needs of the warfighter,” Kniffin explained. “Academia has vast knowledge of technology and machine learning that we can research together and adapt to increase warfighter performance.”
“This has tremendous potential as a game-changer in HSI with the warfighter,” said Lloyd. “Mr. Kniffin continually works to achieve a positive impact for the warfighter, despite opposition and adversity.”
“The project has been quite successful, and the team is a big part of that. I seem to get the credit for it, but I do my best to pass that credit along to them,” added Kniffin. “I want to thank the team, especially Brandon Marine and Rachel Sides. You can lead a project, but it’s nothing without a good team.”
By NSWCDD
