A Conversation with John R. Short, Senior Technologist/Leader in Undersea Technology
UTIC Intersections–Conversations with Ocean and Undersea Tech Leaders: Conversations with influential leaders in the undersea technology community, soliciting their industry input, guidance and mentorship.
John R. Short is a dedicated and decorated undersea systems engineer and expert. After collecting his BS, MS and PhD in Electrical Engineering from Michigan State, John began a storied career in the government’s Senior Executive Service at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center working on a range of submarine, surface ship, missile defense and mine warfare systems. During his time at NUWC, John’s titles included Director of Undersea Warfare, Director of Submarine Combat Systems, and Head of Undersea Weapons Technology Division, and John served on several advisory and Blue Ribbon panels for Navy leadership.  John then took up top technical positions with RTX – Raytheon including Principal Engineering Fellow, Undersea Systems Technical Director and Australian Air Warfare Destroyer Combat System Chief Engineer.  His many awards and recognition include the Navy Superior Civilian Services Award (Awarded by President Bill Clinton), and the Raytheon’s Presidents Award. Dr. Short is also a lifelong technical educator, and leads UTIC’s Sonar, Underwater Sound, and Undersea Systems Course. Dr. Short is currently a Consultant for Rite Solutions.
We asked John for his thoughts on some important undersea technology questions:
Based on your experience, what are the key success factors for public/private partnerships focused on undersea technology development?
From my years in both government service and working for a large private company, here are my thoughts on some of the most important success factors for public/private partnerships:
- The clarity with which the public organization spells out their undersea technology needs, and the importance of discussion of those needs with potential private partners should occur as early as possible. The purpose of this early and focused two-way “need statement” discussion is to ensure that the fundamental need is clear, and the statement is broad enough to support various private partner’s solutions.
- The importance of a private partner’s efforts to convince the public partner that they have something of value to offer to the partnership is essential. This value could be, for example, off-the-shelf undersea technology, relevant experience and expertise, test capabilities or the willingness to invest Internal Research & Development (IR&D) funds.
What is some good career advice you would like to pass on to the next generation of undersea tech engineers?
In short, your career will be judged on your ability to solve challenging undersea engineering problems. Engineering problem solving requires using your skills and curiosity to understand the problem or task, conduct analysis and experiments to quantify the problem, with creativity and good judgement, and then to innovative and develop a solution that meets the problem’s requirements.
You need to see the problem and your solution in a “big picture” context so your boss as well as the customer will be “delighted” with your solution.
I often suggest a rather simple but very useful thought process to the younger generations that starts with imagining you are your boss, and then to look at your solution from your boss’s perspective. Ask yourself, “what would my boss say”? Repeat this thought process imagining you are the customer, and then the end user. Finally ask yourself would my boss, the customer and the end user be happy with my solution, or do I need to revise my solution to better meet their needs?
Also, and importantly, if you do not understand something don’t be afraid of finding a person who is experienced in the area and ask them to help you understand the issue and where you can learn about solution approaches. This industry is full of experience that needs to be tapped more often to solve our current and future undersea engineering challenges.
Finally, be excited about being a life-long learner and skill builder!
What are some recommendations you might offer your experienced peers that are interested to give back to the undersea tech industry?
Take time to interact with new undersea technology and engineering talent both on the commercial and government side. Encourage their learning and development by pointing out book chapters and papers that will help them grow in the subject areas they are interested in. Their interest in those areas will be crucial for future undersea innovation development.
Work with them, encourage them, and support them as they outline approaches to resolve the key problems they must solve in their roles, as this will only help advance our industry. Basically, be a guide so they don’t wander around aimlessly in the undersea technology desert!
Return to: Conversations with Ocean and Undersea Tech Leaders
