A Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Atlantic engineer was recently honored as a 2023 Great Minds in STEM (GMiS) Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Conference (HENAAC) award winner in the STEM Military and Civilian Heroes category.
Elizabeth Tello, project engineer with NIWC Atlantic’s Air Traffic Control (ATC) Systems team, accepted her award Oct. 12 during the 35th Annual GMiS Conference at the Pasadena Conference Center in Pasadena, California.
“I am filled with joy and pride to be a part of the Class of 23’s STEM Hero award cohort,” said Tello.
GMiS is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting educational awareness of careers in science, technology, engineering and math to students from kindergarten through college, especially in underserved communities.
The HENAAC spotlights contributions of Hispanic professionals in STEM to serve as role models for future generations of American engineers and scientists.
The STEM Military and Civilian Hero Awards were established in partnership with the Department of Defense to recognize outstanding individuals who protect our service men and women with innovative, technological advancements that are used around the globe.
Tello was recognized as a STEM Hero Award recipient for “her exceptional systems engineering contributions supporting ATC systems and for her outstanding and unwavering support of STEM within the command, community and in the Hispanic/Latino community, inspiring young students to pursue STEM careers,” said Tello’s supervisor, Kevin Grove, project engineer and ATC Shore Systems Engineering competency supervisor in NIWC Atlantic’s ATC Systems Engineering division.
“Elizabeth is a STEM super supporter and deserves recognition for exceptional support,” said Grove. “I was elated to find out she would be receiving a national award recognizing her outstanding achievements.”
Since joining NIWC Atlantic in January 2020, Tello has spent significant time promoting STEM in local elementary, middle and high schools, talking to students about her career as a systems engineer performing life cycle management of ATC systems for Navy and Marine Corps Air Stations worldwide.
Tello develops STEM activities and leads students in completing them. For one such activity, Tello taught students at a school in a low-income area how to assemble components to develop their own computers capable of internet connectivity. This allowed students to have internet access during the summer, as the school had collected all the Google Chromebooks distributed to students before school ended for the academic year.
“She is just as enthusiastic in promoting system engineering in support of the ATC team,” said Grove. “For example, this summer she recruited five high school and college interns to support the team while they gained experience in ATC systems engineering. It was a win-win.”
Kathryn Murphy, senior scientific technical manager for Software Engineering, and co-champion for NIWC Atlantic’s Hispanic Latino Employment Team (HLET), commended Tello for her commitment to the HLET and for being “highly effective in promoting STEM within the Hispanic/Latino community.”
“She willingly volunteered her time to support and innovate our STEM outreach program, leaning in especially with schools that have a high percentage of English as a Second Language (ESL) students,” said Murphy. “She has translated numerous STEM presentations and activities from English to Spanish.”
“My first inkling of her tenacity was when we were planning our 2021 Hispanic Heritage Observance event,” said Murphy. “The person leading that effort left our organization for a job elsewhere, and Elizabeth jumped in to keep the event on track. It wasn’t until the day of the event that I learned she had only been with our command since January 2020 and was still considered a new professional. She coordinated with our guest speaker’s staff, NIWC Atlantic leadership, our event hosting team, and served as the emcee for the event. In parallel with the event planning, she became the co-lead for the entire HLET.”
Peter Reddy, executive director at NIWC Atlantic, said Tello’s award is a reflection of her extraordinary efforts to expand Hispanic representation in STEM fields not only within the command, but also, within the greater community.
“The award is well-deserved and properly acknowledges Tello as someone that we can all look up to – from that young middle school girl or boy aspiring to a career in STEM, to experienced government civilian employees, like myself, to try to match her ‘getting it done, all over the place’ achievements.”
Bruce Carter, HLET co-champion and head of NIWC Atlantic’s Shore Command and Control, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance and Integration (C2ISRI) department, echoed Reddy’s sentiments.
“Through her initiatives, not only does she honor those of Hispanic heritage who have helped make our country great, but by mentoring local students, she has inspired them to seek higher educational opportunities and consider STEM related career fields,” Carter said. “Elizabeth believes in helping everyone succeed regardless of their background and is well deserving of the HENAAC award.”