IT Executive Award Winners!

Two SSC Pacific leaders were honored Thursday night during the Third Annual Information Technology Executive of the Year Awards ceremony at the Hall of Champions in San Diego's Balboa Park.

Capt. Mark Kohlheim, commanding officer of SSC Pacific, was selected as the top executive in the government category.

Ronald Broersma, chief engineer for the IT division at SSC Pacific, received the lifetime achievement award. Broersma also serves as the SPAWAR Network Security Manager and Defense Research and Engineering Network (DREN) Chief Engineer.

Both men said they were honored to accept the awards during the event.

"It's very humbling," Kohlheim said. "It really represents the team. I accept this on behalf of the team."

Broersma, who previously has received government and industry awards for his work, said winning this award was an exciting, new experience.

"This is like nothing I've ever experienced before," he said.

The awards were presented by the San Diego Business Journal and Cox Business.

More than 150 leaders were nominated for the award. Winners were chosen for six categories to honor a public company, private company, nonprofit organization, business nonprofit, government agency and education.

Finalists and honorees received public recognition during the ceremony, receiving a plaque on stage. Honorees also received a trophy and small gift from Cox.

The recognition of two SSC Pacific employees reflects the important role the Department of Defense plays in the greater San Diego region.

According to a report released last month by the San Diego Military Advisory Council (SDMAC), the DoD has an employment impact accounting for nearly one quarter of all regional employment.

And when it comes to information technology, SSC Pacific’s expertise in C4ISR is second to none.

The Department of Defense directly and indirectly accounts for roughly one quarter of all employment in San Diego County. For the leader of the local technology-rich Navy command to win this award reinforces the value and benefit the military brings to the region.

SSC Pacific employs more than 4,200 civilian engineers, scientists, researchers, technical staff and support staff along with more than 230 active duty military personnel and roughly 6,000 industry and academic partners.

The lab partners with the public sector to advance technologies that can be beneficial to both the warfighter and the general public.

SSC Pacific ranked 6th among San Diego-based corporate patent recipients for calendar year 2008 with 24 patents received.

In Fiscal Year 2009, SSC Pacific entered into more than 20 cooperative research and development agreements (CRADAs) that partner the government lab with industry, academic or other government partners to advance research and development of important technologies.

More than 10 CRADAs already are underway for the current fiscal year.

For more information about SSC Pacific, please visit www.spawar.navy.mil/pacific.