The West Virginia University College of Engineering and Mineral Resources is hosting Geoffrey Bland, a design engineer with the United States Navy, on Wednesday, March 9, at 3 p.m.

Bland’s lecture, “The Development and Testing of the United States Navy’s Improved Kinetic Energy Electronic Time (IKE-ET) Projectile,” will be held in room G102 of the Engineering Sciences Building. The lecture is part of the WVU CEMR Distinguished Lecture Series. It is free and open to the public.

Bland will be discussing his own personal experience with attaining an engineering job after graduation, as well as what future employment issues current college students should be aware of while still in school. He will also present the development and testing processes of the Navy’s IKE-ET projectile.

Bland graduated from WVU in 1999 with bachelor of science degrees in aerospace and mechanical engineering. Before his current employment with the Navy, he worked for Northrop Grumman as a computer programmer helping to design an Aegis environment simulator. He also worked for Schafer as a systems engineer on the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense program.

Since beginning his employment at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division in Dahlgren, Va., he has provided system safety support for the Aegis Combat Training System program. He is currently working as a design engineer in large caliber munitions for naval gun systems.

Since the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole, the Navy has focused on developing defensive measures for use against a small boat attack. In response, the IKE-ET projectile is being developed. This projectile will disperse thousands of tungsten pellets near the target. The kinetic energy of the pellets is used to negate the threat.

-WVU-

03/02/11

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CONTACT: Mary C. Dillon
304-293-4086
Mary.Dillon@mail.wvu.edu