Wakefield’s Manke Honored by NDIA

Release courtesy of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division in Newport.

Wakefield resident Robert Manke, an electrical engineer at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, has been selected as a winner of the National Defense Industrial Association Bronze Medal for 2012. 

The NDIA Bronze Medal is an annual award that recognizes outstanding individual achievements in science or engineering in the field of undersea warfare. 

Manke, a strategic assessment analyst in the Office of the Director of Undersea Warfare at NUWC, provides analytical input to NUWC senior leadership on matters pertaining to USW readiness and corporate strategic direction for improving fleet technical and operational capabilities. 

For more than 35 years, Manke has been at the forefront of many cutting-edge efforts, including developing towed array technologies, identifying submarine sonar improvements for the Los Angeles class attack submarine, determining Seawolf class submarine combat system requirements, conceiving undersea warfare distributed networked systems concepts and engaging in strategic planning for anti-submarine warfare in the post-Cold War era.   

A resident of Wakefield, Manke holds a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Connecticut.

Manke will be presented with the Bronze Medal during the NDIA Undersea Warfare Division Fall meeting the week of Sept. 24 in Groton, CT.

Headquartered in Newport, NUWC has two divisions in Newport and Keyport, WA. NUWC’s mission is to operate the Navy’s full-spectrum research, development, test and evaluation, engineering and Fleet support center for submarines, autonomous underwater systems, and offensive and defensive weapon systems associated with USW and related areas of homeland security and national defense.