In celebration of the National Hispanic Heritage Month, the Naval Surface Warfare Center Philadelphia Division recognizes José E. Rosario who manages the Technology Deployment Branch.

“Hispanic Heritage goes beyond words can explain. There are values that extend back through generations of my Hispanic ancestors that have been cultivated since the beginning of our existence,” Rosario said. “I learned most of my values from my parents, which continue to be cultivated through my interactions with my children and the community. When obstacles arise, we examine, explore, and steadfastly follow our ideas until we can find a feasible solution.”

“I was born and raised in a colorful town in Puerto Rico. The name of the town is Cidra, and is known as ‘el pueblo de la eternal primavera’ (the town of the everlasting spring),” he added.

In 2007, Rosario graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez. Ten years later, after gaining experience in the field, he returned to school and gained his Master’s of Science in Engineering Management from the University of Dayton, Ohio.

As a lifelong learner, Rosario has navigated various struggles, learned and persevered, gaining strength and wisdom along the way.

“I recall graduating from high school being excellent in Math and Science. Yet, I had no practical understanding of the English language with the exception of words like mom, dad, and house,” he said. “You can imagine the struggles when I was taking basic engineering classes taught in English from professors whose native language wasn’t necessarily English either. My study time was always accompanied with a dictionary. Due to the language barrier I spent twice as much time than other students trying to understand the concepts.”

“The values of perseverance, and the intention of finding the positive over the negative helped me to keep moving forward and never quit. And, here I am today working for one of the most important entities of our nation, language is no longer a barrier!” Rosario added.

During the first five years of his career he gained valuable work experiences, first as an engineer for an aerospace organization, and then as a supervisor of the maintenance and repair department for the biggest maritime transportation company on the island.

Rosario began his journey at NSWCPD in 2012. He was hired as an In-Service Engineering Agent for Oil Pollution Abatement (OPA) Systems. Rosario’s experience, dedication and outstanding work ethic, helped him to be considered as a Senior OPA In-Service Engineering Agent.

His instrumental knowledge, skills and abilities were essential for the beginning of the OPA improvement installations in 2016. In addition, he also managed the Oil Content Monitor (OCM) technical support facility at NSWCPD. He then oversaw the facility operations until September 2020. During this time, Rosario’s effort helped to solidify the collaboration between NSWCPD’s OCM Program and the main sponsor, Naval Supply Systems Command Weapon Systems Support (NAVSUP WSS).

Promoted to Branch Manager of the NSWCPD Technology Deployment Branch in 2020, Rosario currently supervises a group of 27 employees. The group manages the life cycle for modernization efforts accomplished by Alteration Installation Teams (AITs).

Rosario has also served as the chair of NSWCPD’s Latin American Employee Resource Group (LAERG) since 2018. The LAERG is a diverse group of Naval Sea Systems Command employees with backgrounds that are dedicated to elevating support for others in need of empowerment through connection and guidance to succeed in NAVSEA.

Additionally, he is one of the senior recruiters for NSWCPD. He continues to dedicate time in seeking candidates looking for employment with the command through educational meet and greets and other invitations made through collaborative partnerships that have a focus on science, engineering and technology. Rosario’s efforts have and will continue to promote the NSWCPD command and the NAVSEA enterprise to support diversity, inclusion and equality.

“As a Hispanic, I contribute and will keep contributing to this organization supporting the diversity that brings us together regardless of our differences. Contributing with the inclusion of our ideas and looking forward for opportunities that can help us to sustain our equality,” Rosario said.

NSWCPD employs approximately 2,800 civilian engineers, scientists, technicians, and support personnel. The NSWCPD team does the research and development, test and evaluation, acquisition support, and in-service and logistics engineering for the non-nuclear machinery, ship machinery systems, and related equipment and material for Navy surface ships and submarines. NSWCPD is also the lead organization providing cybersecurity for all ship systems.