2020 WEST: Premier Sea Services Event San Diego

Delores S. Washburn
Chief Engineer
Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific (NIWC Pacific)


Mrs. Delores Washburn became the Chief Engineer for the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific (NIWC Pacific) in Dec 2016. NIWC Pacific consists of 4,800 civilian and military personnel and over 2,100 contractor support personnel. NIWC Pacific has a total obligating authority of more than $2.5 Billion. Mrs. Washburn serves as the Chief Engineer for a diverse and highly technical organization in the research, development, fielding, and support of advanced technologies for command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR), cyber, and space capabilities. She is the command’s senior civilian responsible for enterprise-wide engineering efforts that span a range of high priority technical areas for the Department of the Navy (DON) including data science, cyber, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and autonomy. In this role, Mrs. Washburn is responsible for developing technical expertise in people, processes, and products across the organization. Prior to assuming her role as Chief Engineer, Mrs. Washburn was the Technical Director for the Tactical Networks Program Office (PMW160) under the Navy’s Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (PEO C4I). She was responsible for establishing capability objectives for PMW160 Programs of Record including the Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services (CANES) and the Automated Digital Networking System (ADNS). She provided technical direction to the Programs to ensure network upgrades aligned with Navy strategic plans, policies, and standards and were developed using Open Architecture design tenets to promote and ensure interoperability. Prior to joining PEO C4I in 2007, Mrs. Washburn spent ten years with the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) serving in increasingly responsible positions. In her last position, Mrs. Washburn served in the NAVWAR Office of the Chief Engineer as the Chief Systems Engineer for Networks where she contributed to the early implementation of technical authority for Afloat Tactical Networks. Before joining the NAVWAR Chief Engineer’s office, Mrs. Washburn served as the Networks initiatives lead and Test Director for the Trident Warrior Experiment Series where she led at-sea experiments for advanced networking technology. Her responsibilities as the Test Director included directing the laboratory tests necessary to reduce risks prior to installation and the final test of experimental initiatives onboard ship in an operational environment. Early in her career, she worked for the Naval Sea Combat Systems Engineering Station. She served as a test engineer developing test software for the Los Angeles Class Submarine’s AN/BSY-1 Combat System. Mrs. Washburn holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Old Dominion University and a bachelor’s degree in Physics from Virginia Tech. She has received numerous awards including the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award and the Federal 100 Award in Information Technology for 2019.

Sessions :