NEWPORT, R.I.  –  

Dr. Jason Gomez, Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport’s chief technology officer, recently won a 2023 Providence Business News C-Suite Award, in the government agencies category, which recognizes top chief (C-level) executives who are innovators, trailblazers, role models and leaders in the community.

Gomez, a resident of East Greenwich, Rhode Island, has been employed at Division Newport since 1992. As chief technology officer, he is responsible for promoting a culture of innovation that leads to new technology development, cultivating strategic collaborations with industry and academic partners, championing programs that develop the science and technology workforce of the future, and ensuring the research and technologies developed transition quickly into naval fleet capabilities.

He directs Division Newport’s basic and applied research efforts in ways that strengthen the U.S. Navy’s undersea warfare capabilities and focuses the research efforts of more than 600 Division Newport scientists and engineers on current fleet capability needs. “His efforts to connect Sailors directly with engineers enable both communities to see how individual technologies fit into larger warfighting capabilities,” the award states.

“I have been very fortunate to work on efforts that span the entire technology development cycle from basic and applied research, through prototyping and demonstration, to fleet introduction and transition to acquisition,” Gomez said in a recent interview. “As NUWC Division Newport’s chief technology officer, I hope to utilize this full spectrum of experience to focus our researcher’s efforts on solving fleet needs and providing enabling technology solutions. NUWC Division Newport has provided our Sailors with groundbreaking technology for more than 150 years and I hope to help shape and direct our workforce to maintain that level of excellence for the next 150 years.”

Under Gomez’s leadership of the Technical Partnership Office, Division Newport currently has about 70 formal cooperative research and development agreements with industry and external partners and 40 educational partnership agreements with schools and universities. These agreements expand the research base of undersea technologies, tapping into outside expertise and potentially lead to dual-use technologies to help grow the blue economy.

Gomez also coordinates with Division Newport’s Northeast Tech Bridge within the Technical Partnership Office, to connect innovative industry to Navy technology developers and accelerate the process of transition. Division Newport utilizes its tech bridge to partner with the University of Rhode Island Research Foundation to enable local industry to gain access to Division Newport experts and testing facilities and to provide engineers access to local industry manufacturing and innovative commercial technologies.

“I have been very lucky throughout my career to have co-workers who took the time to both teach and provide me opportunities to learn on my own,” Gomez said. “I have tried to provide the same learning environment to younger engineers. It is great to see young scientists and engineers grow into leaders in their chosen paths.”

Gomez has a Bachelor of Science in aerospace engineering from Syracuse University, and a Master of Science and doctorate degree in mechanical engineering, from the University of Rhode Island.

Gomez will be honored at a Providence Business News award ceremony on April 20. To learn more about the awards, visit: https://pbn.com/event/2023-c-suite-awards-program/

Read the about the retirement ceremony at: https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Media/News/Article-View/Article/3348066/technical-directors-passion-to-nuwc-division-newports-mission-highlighted-durin/

NUWC Newport is the oldest warfare center in the country, tracing its heritage to the Naval Torpedo Station established on Goat Island in Newport Harbor in 1869. Commanded by Capt. Chad Hennings, NUWC Newport maintains major detachments in West Palm Beach, Florida, and Andros Island in the Bahamas, as well as test facilities at Seneca Lake and Fisher’s Island, New York, Leesburg, Florida, and Dodge Pond, Connecticut.

Join our team! NUWC Division Newport, one of the 20 largest employers in Rhode Island, employs a diverse, highly trained, educated, and skilled workforce. We are continuously looking for engineers, scientists, and other STEM professionals, as well as talented business, finance, logistics and other support experts who wish to be at the forefront of undersea research and development. Please connect with NUWC Division Newport Recruiting at this site- https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Home/Warfare-Centers/NUWC-Newport/Career-Opportunities/ and follow us on LinkedIn @NUWC-Newport and on Facebook @NUWCNewport.