The work at NSWC Indian Head is attracting student interns from near and far. Many of these interns are offered full-time positions upon completing their training programs. We recently interviewed two new hires to discuss their journeys to Indian Head, their current roles, and what motivates them to stay.
Gabe Piatt and Duncan Scandin, both engineering majors from West Virginia University, interned at NSWC Indian Head during the summer of 2023. Piatt is a Southern Maryland native, born and raised in Calvert County. Scandin, originally from Wisconsin, spent most of his life in New Jersey. Despite their different backgrounds, they both chose the same university and internship opportunity at the naval base in Indian Head, becoming close colleagues in the process.
Gabe Piatt, an electrical design engineer at Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division, prepares to solder a cable harness on an in-house data recorder. Photo by U.S. Navy photographer Matt Poynor.
Duncan Scandin, a mechanical design engineer at Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division, prepares the programmable rotary table for post-launch sensor evaluation. Photo by U.S. Navy photographer Matt Poynor.
Path to Indian Head
Piatt says, “What brought me to Indian Head was a Facebook ad for NAVSEA internships. My mother sent me a screenshot of it. I’d done an internship the previous summer on the west side of West Virginia, close to the college, but I was unsure about wanting to move there.” With a degree in electrical engineering, Piatt was seeking DoD (Department of Defense) jobs. His interest in this field was sparked by his experience with amateur rocketry, where he served as the safety officer for his college's amateur rocketry department.
The internship was listed as general engineering, and Piatt came to Indian Head for a group interview. “A couple other people and I interviewed in bulk,” he says. “Some got immediate offers, including me.” After the internship, Piatt’s supervisor asked him to come back full time. Piatt graduated in December 2023 and has been working at the base full-time since then.
Scandin earned degrees in mechanical and aerospace engineering and completed the same internship as Piatt, in the same division and office. “I met Dave Williams at a career fair at West Virginia University, and I talked to him for a good half hour,” says Scandin. “He sold me on how much he loved his job. He knew that I fit the mechanical build and sent me on a short list to the Fuze and Initiation Systems Branch Manager, Mike Deeds. He gave me his email, and we emailed back and forth, got on a few phone interviews, and at the end of that day, I’d got my internship offer. It was pretty quick. I took it and loved it here.”
About Indian Head: A Place to Live and Work
One thing Scandin loves about the area is the climate and experiencing all four seasons. He also appreciates being close to history. “I’m a big fan of living through and seeing history more than just going through a textbook,” he says. “Being able to see it and be near it and be able to call it your home in such a historic area is a big deal, but it’s also nice being outside of the traffic and mayhem of Washington DC.”
Piatt likes to fish in Mattawoman Creek and enjoys Charles County’s abundant state parks. Still commuting from Calvert County, he says, “I figure I’ll eventually move to Charles to be close to the base. I’m now commuting 50 minutes.” He adds, “I do very much enjoy my job. This has been a tremendous opportunity for me. When my previous employer asked me, ‘Where do you want to be in 5 years?’ I answered, ‘In the DoD.’ I’m very happy with where I ended up, and I plan to be here a long time.”
Interested in opportunities at the NSWC Indian Head? Visit their website here. For more about the Western Charles Technology Corridor, click here.
