Nguyet Anh Duong

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nguyet Anh Duong
Born Saigon, South Vietnam

Nguyet Anh Duong is a Vietnamese American scientist. In September 2001, she was in charge of a special endeavor and assisted in creating an urgently needed new weapon called the Thermobaric weapon in support of Operation Enduring Freedom to effectively defeat tunnels and caves being used as terrorists hideouts, in order to spare United States Armed Forces from the bloody prospect of tunnel-to-tunnel combat against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

She is noted as the "Scientist who developed the bomb that ended the war with Afghanistan" by the Vietnamese American National Gala [1].

Contents

[edit] Biography

During the invasion of South Vietnam by the Communist North Vietnamese Army and their Viet Cong Agents, she and her family left their homeland, while the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) were defending the capital city of Saigon.

Her family were devout anti-communists. To escape communism, they left Vietnam by boat and sailed to the Philippines. They were assigned to a refugee camp. Her family then contacted the U.S. Embassy and were given political asylum in the United States.

She graduated from the University of Maryland with both a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering and a B.S. degree in Computer Science.

In 1983 she started working as a Chemical Engineer at the Indian Head Naval Surface Weapons Center.

From 1991-1999, she managed all Navy basic, exploratory research and advanced development programs in High Explosives. Served as the U.S. Navy focus point for explosives and the transition of Navy explosives into weapon systems, providing consultation to government/military, industries and allied nations.

From 1999-2002, she managed all NSWC Indian Head's technical programs in Explosives and Undersea Weapons, from concept through engineering development to production and demilitarization.

She successfully assembled and led a team of scientists and engineers to develop the payload for a new weapon, now known as the thermobaric bomb, then proceeded to limited production and delivery to the Air Force, all in an unprecedented period of 67 days.

Nguyet Anh successfully led the development and transition of a total of 10 high performing explosives into 18 different U.S. weapons in the past 12 years, which is an unprecedented record of its kind.

She served as a U.S. Delegate at the NATO AC310 Subgroup I for Explosives, and chairman/member of many national and international Panels/Technical Steering Groups.

Since 2002 Nguyet Anh has been Director of Science and Technology of Naval Surface Warfare Center, U.S. Department of Defense, where she is responsible for Indian Head's overall technical investment strategies, guiding and overseeing research and development programs in all areas of science and technology and focusing these efforts toward the creation of future weapon generations for the United States.

[edit] Awards

In 1999 she was awarded the Dr. Arthur E. Bisson Prize for Achievement in Naval Technology and had her name engraved in a plaque on permanent display at the Office of Naval Research.

In 2001, she was awarded the Civilian Meritorious Medal for superb leadership, technical expertise and significant contributions to the Department of Defense in the area of High Performance Explosives.

In 2007, she was awarded the National Security Medal for significant contribution to the nation in activities related to national security.

[edit] Quotes

  • "We've gotten more sophisticated compared to the old days of dumb weapons"
  • "Now you can deliver it exactly where you want it to go. Our strong wish is to avoid as much collateral damage as possible"
  • "Look, the way I see it is simple. There are a lot of bad guys in the world. The best defense is offense. If you're not strong you're going to die"
  • "If you are weak you will lose, it's a simple fact"
  • "This (U.S.A.) land is a paradise not because of its beauty or richness but because of its people, the compassionate, generous Americans who took my family and me in, 32 years ago, and healed our souls, who restore my faith in humanity, and who inspire me to public service. There's a special group of people that I'm especially indebted to and I would like to dedicate this medal to them. They are the 58,000 Americans whose names are on the wall of the Vietnam War Memorial and the 260,000 South Vietnamese soldiers who died in that war in order for people like me to earn a second chance to freedom"

[edit] External links

Languages