It is my honor to nominate Brooke Pyne for the 2012 Individual Tibbetts Award. I have witnessed the positive impact her enthusiasm and knowledge has had for both the Subject Matter Experts at NSWC Crane as well as the SBIR/STTR Award Recipients.

Brooke has had the unique experience of working as the SBIR Program Manager at NSWC Crane as well as the SBIR Director for the state of Indiana. The two positions provided the opportunity for her to guide a project from inception to fruition; however her skills and determination made her a recognized leader and valued resource for the SBIR community. Her SBIR career began in 2002 at NSWC Crane where she was tasked with developing a program that had not been as successful as anticipated, into a thriving program for the Crane S&T Division. Her mission began by engrossing herself in the S&T community at NSWC Crane and conducting educational training sessions to create awareness for the program and processes. She also engaged the National SBIR/STTR Program Managers from Agency Sponsors to ensure that Crane was included in future Calls for Topics. Through her efforts, the number of Crane Subject Matter Experts submitting topics increased, as well as the number of agency sponsors selecting topics written by Crane Subject Matter Experts, resulting in an overall growth of over 500% over the course of four years.