Department of Defense Value Engineering Achievement Award Winners Announced

Department of Defense Value Engineering Achievement Award Winners Announced


The winners of the fiscal 2007 Department of Defense Value Engineering Achievement awards have been announced by the Department of Defense. A ceremony will be held in June to recognize the recipients’ outstanding achievements through the application of value engineering.

Value engineering is a systematic process of function analysis to identify actions that reduce cost, increase quality, and improve mission capabilities across the entire spectrum of DoD systems, processes, and organizations. The DoD’s Value Engineering Program continues to be an incentive for government and our industry partners to improve the joint value proposition by promoting innovation and creativity. Innovative value engineering proposals seek best value solutions as part of a successful business relationship. During year 2007, 1,373 in-house value engineering proposals and contractor-initiated value engineering change proposals were accepted with projected savings/cost avoidance in excess of $4.5 billion.

The Value Engineering Awards Program is an acknowledgment of exemplary achievements and encourages additional projects to improve in-house and contractor productivity. Award winners from each DoD component were eligible for selection in five categories: program/project, individual, team, organization, and contractor. Additional special awards were given to recognize innovative applications or approaches that expanded the traditional scope of value engineering use.

Army winners include the following:

Program/Project: Civil Works District Value Engineering Program, Jacksonville District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Individual: Karen Caudle, U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command

Team: Firefinder Reliability, Maintainability Improvement Program Team, U.S. Army, Communications-Electronics Life Cycle Management Command Organization Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Contractor: Northstar Aerospace Inc., Ill. And Carleton Technologies, Inc. N.Y.

Special: U.S. Army Tank-automotive & Armaments Life Cycle Management Command and Jim Knowles, Headquarters, U.S. Army Materiel Command

Navy winners include:

Program/Project: Virginia Class Submarine Program, Program Management Office, Ships

Individual: John Martin, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division, Calif.

Team: Program Management Office, Warfare, Design to Scope Team, Sea Systems Command

Organization: Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Heuneme Division, Air Dominance Department

Special: Naval Air Systems Command, Avionics Component Improvement Program and Naval Surface Warfare Command Crane, Airborne Electronic Warfare; Naval Facilities Systems Command Design-Build Acquisition Strategy and Cooperative Engagement Capability System Antenna Environmental Control Unit Redesign

Air Force winners include:

Team: Processing and Fabrication Branch, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio

Defense Logistics Agency winners include:

Program/Project: Ned Pruitt, Reliability of Aviation, Defense Supply Center Richmond, Va.

Individual: Robert Volk, Jr., Defense Supply Center Columbus, Ohio

Team: Organic Manufacturing Team, Defense Supply Center Richmond, Va.

Organization: Defense Supply Center Columbus, Ohio

Special: Mitchell McElroy, Defense Supply Center Columbus, Ohio and Supply Center Richmond,Va., Value Management Office

Missile Defense Agency winners include:

Program/Project: Terminal High Altitude Area Defense Project Management Office

Individual: Toni Hamilton, Manufacturing and Product Assurance Directorate, Redstone Arsenal, Ala.

Team: Radar Obsolescence Value Engineering team, Redstone Arsenal, Ala.

Special: Richard Gonzalez and Rod Haverkamp, program executive office, Missile and Space, Huntsville, Ala.