Member of the Month - January 2019
Meet January's ASNE Member of the Month - LCDR Savannah Gill, USN! Read on to learn a bit more about Savannah in her interview with Membership Manager Michelle.
Michelle: What got you into Naval Engineering? (What specific event or moment).
Savannah: Sometimes I feel like an accidental engineer ;)......Hopes to become a doctor led me to Biomedical Engineering during undergrad. I had a desire to serve my country and the Navy helped me pay for school so win-win. The Engineering Duty Officer community offered me opportunities for grad school followed by jobs that I couldn't pass down, and now here I am :)
Michelle: What is a fun fact most people don't know about you?
Savannah: As a kid, I grew up as a saleswoman at flea markets every weekend, later spent 7 years as a bridal consultant, and then somehow found myself as an Engineering Duty Officer in the Navy. On my time off, I love playing tennis, volleyball, creating party games, and serving as a youth leader in a Buddhist lay organization called Soka Gakkai International.
Michelle: What is one engineer/scientist/ or mathematician dead or alive would you like to meet?
Savannah: Grace Murray Hopper. To add to her unbelievable contributions to computers, the Navy and her country amidst a male-dominated environment spanning times of war, she also overcame her own personal life struggles (heartbreak, depression, alcoholism) to continue leading and inspiring so many future generations. I also admired her pride in educating young people and how she attributed her accomplishments in industry, the military, and society through being able to communicate hard things in an easy to understand way.
Michelle: If you could engineer your perfect concession stand/food truck, what would it be?
Savannah: It would be the "Second Lunch/Late Afternoon Munchies" Food Truck. I always get hit with the 3 o'clock munchies....but there's generally nowhere convenient to get a good, but small amount of food during this time.
Michelle: Why are you a member of ASNE?
Savannah: I believe in bringing together the community of shared knowledge and experience in order to solve our future's tough problems. We have so many seasoned experts in ASNE that can help our future leaders in Naval engineering and acquisition. ASNE can be the mechanism for creating personal bonds that enable this transfer of knowledge and experience.
Michelle: What does "Naval Engineering" mean to you?
Savannah: Please don't make fun of me, but growing up as a country bumpkin in landlocked Memphis, TN, I would have thought about the lead character in the movie "Flashdance" as a Naval Engineer. But after growing up, expanding my movie tastes beyond Rom-Coms, and spending 11 years in the Navy, Naval Engineering spans a whole world of people some of which don't even have "engineer" in their title or may not even touch or see the actual ship that they are supporting, such as acquisitions, contracts, cost analysts, HR, etc. Naval engineering is becoming more inclusive and diverse and will only get better by this.