KAYLEE CABRAL, an engineer in the Combat Systems Department Cybersecurity Division of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport, was presented the Society of Women Engineers Helen Martha Sternberg Award for 2023 during the division’s annual awards ceremony on June 7. The award is given annually to a female mathematician, computer scientist or computer engineer who has been working at Division Newport for between six and 24 months.
What does it mean to you to be named the Sternberg Award winner? To win the 2023 Society of Women Engineers Helen Martha Sternberg Award was such a surprise and honor. I never thought I’d even be nominated for an award like this, but it has made me want to work harder and achieve even more. I’ve always wanted to be an engineer since I was younger, and I can now say I’m very proud to be able to represent the growing field of women in STEM [science, technology, engineering and math].
Explain your role as the primary information systems security officer with the Royal Australian Navy’s combat systems group and how your work is partnering with the operations at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center. My role as the primary information systems security engineer for the Royal Australian Navy combat systems group is to assist the Joint Program Office within the Naval Sea Systems Command Program Office with cybersecurity best practices. One of the main projects I’ve worked on was helping to establish the program’s cybersecurity requirements for the [Royal Australian Navy]. This will contribute to a more secure and resilient system design that benefits both countries’ navies.
Given you always wanted to be an engineer, in what ways are you serving as a mentor or as someone inspiring other women to get into the engineering or other STEM fields? My sister actually just changed her major to concentrate in information technologies. I’ve spent a lot of time helping her with things [such as] choosing classes and with assignments. She’s currently taking a class about scripting in [the] Python [computer programming language], which I’ve been tutoring her in.
Moving forward, where do you hope to see a graduate program in cybersecurity specializing in artificial intelligence and machine learning be offered and what will that program mean in terms of supporting the technology sector in general? I haven’t really looked into what master’s program I’d attend yet. I do think the idea of attending a school that is technology-focused such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology would be really cool. I’d want a program that focuses on new cutting-edge technologies and maybe someday be able to do something in a field like that.