FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 30, 2021
Release #2160 Point of Contact—Jeffrey Prater (401) 832-2039
NUWC Division Newport engineer on cybersecurity team wins Women of Color magazine STEM Outstanding Achievement Award
Paula Farina, an information systems security engineer who leads the Electronic Warfare Cybersecurity Team within the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport’s Undersea Warfare Electromagnetic Systems Department, recently won a Career Communications Group Women of Color magazine STEM Outstanding Achievement Award in the Technology Rising Star category.
This annual award program recognizes achievements in science, technology, engineering and math by women in their workplace and in their communities. Rising stars are women with 21 or fewer years in the workforce who are helping to shape technology for the future.
Farina, a resident of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, began her career at Division Newport in 2016, having served 11 years as a senior test engineer at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific.
This past year, her team made tremendous strides in furthering the Naval Sea Systems Command’s strategic framework mission priority of cybersecurity to prevent, detect, characterize and mitigate cyberattacks on shipboard and shore networks. “Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Farina achieved great success in the area of cybersecurity, which has been recognized by Submarine Electromagnetic Systems Program Office,” the award states. “She led the Electronic Warfare Cybersecurity Team in developing and implementing a new virtual risk management framework process for submarine assessment and authorizations. With the new virtual solution in place, Farina and her team achieved 10 virtual submarine electronic warfare support system (AN/BLQ-10) cybersecurity assessments and authorizations concurrently in under one year.”
In addition to her daily tasking, Farina volunteered as the co-coordinator of Division Newport’s annual Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) from 2019-20 [link - https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Media/News/SavedNewsModule/Article/2489786/nuwc-division-newport-exceeds-2020-combined-federal-campaign-goal-despite-pande/] and is leading this year’s campaign.
“Her enthusiasm, initiative and drive in spreading the word about CFC to the workforce helped the CFC campaign exceed the command's 2020 goal for fundraising by 116%, raising a total of $144,837,” the award states.
Farina has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Connecticut College and a master’s degree in computer science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Farina joined Division Newport’s Alexandra Sanz-Guerrero [link - https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Media/News/SavedNewsModule/Article/2774042/nuwc-division-newport-engineer-wins-women-of-color-magazine-stem-outstanding-ac/] in being honored at the 2021 Women of Color STEM Conference held Oct. 7-9, 2021.
For more information, visit https://intouch.ccgmag.com/mpage/woc-stem-conference-program#recgonition-events
Farina was also presented an award certificate during an award ceremony held at Division Newport on Sept. 29, 2021.
NUWC Division Newport is a shore command of the U.S. Navy within the Naval Sea Systems Command, which engineers, builds and supports America’s fleet of ships and combat systems. NUWC Newport provides research, development, test and evaluation, engineering and fleet support for submarines, autonomous underwater systems, undersea offensive and defensive weapons systems, and countermeasures associated with undersea warfare.
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.
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