Victoria Moore of the Engineer Research and Development Center’s Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory has been selected to receive the Research Leadership Award at the 2017 Black Engineer of the Year Awards Science, Technology, Engineering and Math conference. The 31st BEYA STEM conference will be held in Washington, District of Columbia, in early 2017.
The award is given on behalf of Career Communication Group’s U.S. Black Engineers Information Technology magazine, the Council of Engineering Deans of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Lockheed Martin Corporation.
“Ms. Moore’s achievement in STEM stood out among the hundreds of nominations that were evaluated by the BEYA selection panel,” wrote Tyrone D. Tabor, Career Communication Group’s chief executive officer, in his announcement letter to ERDC Director Dr. Jeff Holland.
Moore joined the ERDC as a contract student. She progressed from junior researcher, to an associate technical director and is now chief of GSL’s Mobility Systems Branch.
As a computer scientist, she developed software for testing and evaluation of environmental impacts on ground mobility performance. Moore served as software engineering lead for the Department of Defense’s Institute for Maneuverability Terrain and Physics Simulation.
She is responsible for the research, development and evaluations that ensure U.S. military forces maintain ground mobility superiority over their adversaries in any type of environment. The work Moore leads includes systematic studies in ground mobility testing and evaluation, ground mobility modeling and vehicle performance analyses which involve funding of more than $5 million annually.
GSL Director Bartley P. Durst said, “Vickey is extremely deserving of the BEYA Research Leadership honor. As chief of GSL’s Mobility Systems Branch, she is steering major research and development efforts that are ensuring the Warfighter maintains ground mobility superiority in all situations. I am very proud of what Vickey is accomplishing for GSL, the ERDC, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and beyond.”
Moore received her dual bachelor’s in mathematics and computer science from Alcorn State University and earned her master’s in computer science, with emphasis in software engineering from Mississippi State University.
She has authored numerous publications and is a member of the Society of American Military Engineers, International Society of Terrain-Vehicle Systems, Association of Computing Machinery and the Military Operation Research Society.
Moore’s previous awards include ERDC awards for Program Development Achievement and Outstanding Achievement in Technology Transfer, the Women of Color Magazine Technology Rising Star Award and a Department of the Army Achievement Medal for Civilian Service.
“Receiving the BEYA Research Leadership award was certainly an unexpected yet humbling moment. I sincerely appreciate the honor of being selected as a BEYA research and development recipient! I could not have done any of the work without being surrounded by exceptionally talented individuals. Research and development has persistently facilitated innovative products resulting in improvement in quality of life to ultimately saving lives. It is an iterative investment in future capabilities, and in the world of research and development, the sky is not the limit,” Moore concluded.
In February, Moore will be honored at the 2017 BEYA Gala in Washington.