From Innovation Challenge to internship: NSWC Dahlgren Division inspires high school student’s mechatronics journey

From Innovation Challenge to internship: NSWC Dahlgren Division inspires high school student's mechatronics journey

By Jennifer Erickson NSWCDD Corporate Communications

When Joseph Shanklin's team won second place in the 2024 Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division High School Innovation Challenge, he knew he wanted to study mechatronics. As a sophomore at Westmoreland High School at the time, the Innovation Challenge was the turning point for him.

"It was my first year, so I was introduced to Python. I had been coding before that, but that really laid the foundation for wanting to pursue robotics because it was very fascinating," Shanklin, now 18, said.

Mechatronics, a combination of mechanical engineering, electronics and computer science, seemed like an ideal career path, he said.

"Robotics is what I want to do. Dahlgren has a lot of areas of expertise that involve robotics on the hardware and software side," he said.

After graduating in May, Shanklin looked for an opportunity to code software for robots. He found that opportunity through the NSWC Dahlgren Division's Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program (SEAP) in June and joined a team that created software for an all-terrain autonomous rover with object detection and manual override capability.

The project was an initial attempt to create drone and autonomous movement around Naval Support Facility Dahlgren for testing purposes. The algorithm the students created was intended for demonstrations and to use the robots as moving targets to test other weaponry. This autonomous tracking provided a critical learning opportunity, serving as an introduction to the full scope of both hardware and software.

Team lead Joseph Marsh, a directed energy computer scientist at NSWC Dahlgren Division, praised Shanklin's programming background. "Joseph was a rockstar from day one," Marsh said. "He immediately showed great leadership and interest."

Marsh noted that during daily "stand-up" meetings, Shanklin was quick to share knowledge, guide team members when they felt stuck and value team input on design decisions.

Reflecting on his involvement, Shanklin said, "Throughout this internship, I learned that collaboration and teamwork is probably one of the most important things."

Following his internship, Shanklin will serve in the Virginia Air National Guard and hopes to study mechatronics at Virginia Tech.

Ultimately, he would like to return to NSWC Dahlgren Division to support the warfighter by contributing to a system that is on a ship.

Shanklin encouraged other students to apply for the SEAP.

"Get involved with Dahlgren. I'd say one of the biggest helping factors for me was the Innovation Challenge because I had been here before," Shanklin said. "It's a great chance and learning environment for you."