Remarkable Women 2025 Winner: Paige George
PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) – Paige George is a mechanical engineer with a heart for science, innovation, and teaching.
She is the Technology Transfer Director at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City division.
George is responsible for their intellectual property portfolio so their scientists and engineers can patent the technologies they develop.
'Then it's my responsibility to try and commercialize these technologies, both for military use, but also commercial applications,' said George.
Her career at Naval Support Activity began in 2012 and involved a much more hands-on approach, responsible for the development and testing of various diving systems for the Navy.
One of those designs was the MK29 Mixed Gas Rebreather System.
The system can help conserve up to 80% of helium that a diver would normally bring on a diving mission.
Surface-supplied diving beyond the depths of 150 feet requires helium in the gas mix, but helium is a non-renewable resource so George and other engineers worked to find ways to conserve the gas.
She and her team took old re-breathers out of storage and connected them to a surface-supplied diving system.
In surface-supplied diving, George said the diver has gas that's provided to them from the surface and then they just breathe it out into the ocean.
'We can reclaim some of that helium and we can also increase the bottom time if a diver's line was cut to the surface,' said George.
She said if you add a system where you can re-circulate that gas, a diver gets more time to get back to their dive stage and back up to the surface safely.
That specific technology is no longer used as it has only evolved, but it earned her team the NAVSEA Warfare Center Commander's Award for Innovation.
'We used titanium hoses, which is not done in diving systems,' said George. 'So that was a very new type of technology and then the integration of an old system into a new system is was very innovative.'
George said she was extremely thankful to have been a part of it.
'Divers are an incredible group of people. The work that they do is unparalleled,' said George. 'There's nothing else like it. So, just to have a small part in making their job just a little bit safer and a little bit easier brings me more joy and fulfillment than anything else.'
Paige loves science and math and excels at it.
It's a passion she's had ever since she watched a live science demonstration at Patronis Elementary School.
In high school, she did her first internship at the Naval Surface Warfare Center.
'It was really at that time, I knew that that's where I wanted to be. So whatever that meant, I was going to work out there.'
Less than one month after she graduated the University of Florida, her dream became a reality, as an engineer working at NSWC-PC.
She said her journey was in a way, serendipitous.
Unknowingly, she had previously crossed paths with her first project manager.
'I go into his office and I see he has all these patents on the wall and all these pictures,' said George.
One of those pictures had a man in a lab coat and the name, 'Dr. Science.'
'I'm like, wait a second — that is the show that I saw in elementary school, that really inspired me to want to go into this field,' said George.
'So it's just such a full circle moment of like this is where I'm supposed to be.'
Including her internship, she's been at NSWC-PC for a little more than 15 years.
Another notable project George was involved in was the Divers Augmented Vision Display or DAVD.
As the task lead, she managed the daily tasking of the engineering team as well as supporting the partnership between the Navy Lab and Coda Octopus, an underwater technology company.
The DAVD is a holographic see-through heads-up display inside of a Navy diving helmet.
It provides the ability for those above the surface to send down videos, pictures, and text messages directly to the diver in an overlay using a side-scan sonar of where the diver is.
'99.9% of the time, they are diving in water that is very turbid, very dark,' said George. 'You can't see your own hands and so it's important for us, as design engineers for diving systems, to make their job safer and easier.'
'She's one of those people whose able to inspire other people without trying to, or doing it for the awards,' said Dr. Christopher Musto. 'It's doing it for the right reasons.'
Musto is a chemist by trade and met George while working in the Hydrospace Laboratory at the Naval Surface Warfare Center.
He also nominated his colleague for our Remarkable Women contest.
'So one of the things that Paige doesn't even realize in herself is how fiercely committed she is to public service – and public service – I don't mean the outstanding work she does for the Warfighter in protecting this nation, but all the way down to some of the teaching she does,' said Musto.
As an adjunct professor at Florida State University Panama City, she taught science to pre-service elementary teachers.
'Research shows that if you do not get a child excited about science before fifth grade, it's a lot harder to capture them in middle school and high school,' said George. 'So, if our teachers can fall in love with science, it will better support our students falling love with science.'
Paige also inspired young minds as the STEM Outreach Director for the Navy.
She spent time in local classrooms with students and provided teachers with the resources and tools to teach STEM.
'Teachers are our heroes in this community. They have do much with nothing,' said George. 'In order for us to best support them, we try and provide as many programs to train them to do underwater robotics, we train them to do unmanned vehicles.'
Paige is a wife and mom of two boys, who have a passion for baseball. She said her and her husband are at the ball field almost every night.
Paige is also the Facilitate Committee Chair for the Federal Laboratory Consortium, which means she leads the committee that supports joint activities with the federal labs and industry and academia.
Smart, motivated, and making a difference, all while remaining ever so humble.
'The remarkable thing about me is that I've been able to surround myself with so many remarkable women,' said George. 'The women I work with at the command are brilliant.'
'If you ask her why she's remarkable, she's going to give it to someone else, I guarantee it. So, the truth of the matter is, that's one those things that makes her more remarkable is the fact she doesn't even see it,' said Musto.
George is the 2025 Remarkable Woman of the Panhandle.
She heads to Los Angeles next week for a celebration among other 'Remarkable Women' from across the country.
News 13 also presented George with a $1,000 check to donate for a charity of her choice.
George chose to have the money donated to the Pregnancy Resource Center in Panama City.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Brain Drain: How Trump's Policies Could Wreck American Innovation for Generations
70 years ago, at the height of the Red Scare, the United States deported Qian Xuesen, a pioneering Chinese-born aerospace engineer. The government accused Qian of being a communist, which he denied. Back in China, Qian continued his work, becoming known as the father of Chinese rocketry and laying the foundations for the nation's missile and space programs. Former US Under Secretary of the Navy Dan Kimball called Qian's deportation 'the stupidest thing this country ever did.' Now, the Tr
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
108-year-old submarine wreck seen in stunning detail in new footage
In 1917, two US submarines collided off the coast of San Diego and submarine USS F-1 sank to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, along with 19 crew members aboard. The horrible accident, whose wreckage was discovered in 1975, represents the US Naval Submarine Force's first wartime submarine loss. Now, researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have captured new footage of the 1,300 feet-deep underwater archaeological site. 'They were technical dives requiring specialized expertise and equipment,' Anna Michel, a co-lead of the expedition and chief scientist at the National Deep Submergence Facility, said in a statement. 'We were careful and methodical in surveying these historical sites so that we could share these stunning images, while also maintaining the reverence these sites deserve.' The high-definition imagining and mapping of the USS F-1 took place during a deep-sea training and engineering mission in February and March. The missions aimed to train future submersible pilots and test the human-occupied vehicle Alvin and autonomous underwater vehicle Sentry. The team captured never-seen-before images and videos and conducted a sonar survey, which essentially consists of mapping a region by shooting sound waves at it and registering the echo. Imaging specialists combined the 2D images into a 3D model of the wreck—a technique called photogrammetry. Using photogrammetry reveals measurements not just of the submarine but of the marine life that over the past century has claimed the vessel as its own. 'As a Navy veteran, making this dive—together with another Navy veteran and a Navy historian—was a solemn privilege,' said Office of Naval Research Program Officer Rob Sparrock, who was in Alvin when it went down to the wreck. 'There was time to contemplate the risks that all mariners, past and present, face. It also reminded me of the importance of these training dives, which leverage the knowledge from past dives, lessons learned and sound engineering.' [ Related: An exclusive look inside where nuclear subs are born. ] The researchers also investigated a Navy torpedo bomber training aircraft that went down in the region in 1950. After the dives, they held a remembrance ceremony aboard the research vessel Atlantis during which a bell rang once for each of the crew members lost in 1917. 'History and archaeology are all about people and we felt it was important to read their names aloud,' said Naval History and Heritage Command Underwater Archaeologist Brad Krueger, who also dove in Alvin. 'The Navy has a solemn responsibility to ensure the legacies of its lost Sailors are remembered.'
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
'This is an attack on NASA.' Space agency's largest union speaks out as DOGE cuts shutter science institute located above 'Seinfeld' diner in NYC
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. NEW YORK — NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies has stood on a Manhattan corner near Columbia University's campus since 1966. The institute, called GISS for short, shares the building with Tom's Restaurant, a diner made famous by its regular appearance on the hit sitcom "Seinfeld." As George and Jerry discussed their dating lives over coffee, scientists two floors up were busy developing probes for NASA's Voyager program and analyzing the composition of Earth's atmosphere. But thanks to the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency, led by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, all that is coming to an end. In April, GISS employees received word that their office was being shuttered as part of the administration's latest round of federal funding cuts. They had until May 31 to move out completely from the institute's offices at the corner of Broadway and West 112th Street. "This is an attack on NASA," Matt Briggs, president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) — NASA's largest union — told Tuesday (May 27) during a news conference outside the GISS offices. IFPTE represents 8,000 NASA scientists and engineers, including a number at GISS. The air at the press conference was somber. We stood on the sidewalk outside Armstrong Hall, the Columbia building that houses GISS. As reporters approached, a few lingering GISS employees scattered. We were later told that they had been instructed not to speak with the press under threat of losing their jobs. "As part of the administration's government-wide review of leases to increase efficiency, NASA is canceling its lease of Columbia University's Armstrong Hall in New York City, home to the Goddard Institute for Space Studies," a NASA spokesperson said in a statement emailed to "Over the next several months, employees will be placed on temporary remote work agreements while NASA seeks and evaluates options for a new space for the GISS team." But critics point out that closing the office won't actually save the agency much money. NASA already signed a $3 million per year lease on the building through 2031, and they can't sublet the space to outside parties. Those dollars ultimately come from taxpayers. "It makes no fiscal sense whatsoever," said Briggs. In addition to the financial waste, the shuttering makes little sense from a research perspective. GISS has a stellar scientific pedigree going back decades. In 1966, it hosted the meeting that birthed the theory of plate tectonics. GISS personnel worked on instruments for NASA's historic Mariner 5, Pioneer 10 and 11, and Voyager missions. (Voyagers 1 and 2, launched in 1977, are now exploring interstellar space.) The facility also houses climate change records dating back to the 1880s, and its scientists were involved in modeling potential flooding in New York City that became invaluable during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. While Briggs spoke, movers began wheeling stacks of boxes bearing labels like "LONG TERM STORAGE/GISS LIBRARY" past us. Some were bound for storage on Columbia's campus, while others will likely be shipped to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. But it is unclear whether all of the files — both physical and digital — at GISS will end up in these locations. RELATED STORIES: — Trump administration cancels lease for NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies lab in New York City — Experts alarmed as White House proposes 'largest single-year cut to NASA in American history' — Scientists warn of consequences as over 800 NOAA workers are fired: 'Censoring science does not change the facts' Photos obtained by show the inside of the building gutted. Conference rooms stand empty. A handful of neon sticky notes, left by employees, speckle a NASA logo. Written on them is the oath that the researchers took upon becoming civil servants, according to one IFPTE member who asked not to be named. Briggs sees the closure as part of an ongoing attack by the Trump administration on both science and higher ed. Columbia in particular has been singled out by the administration, which withdrew $400 million in federal grants from the institution in March. But Briggs and IFPTE have no intention of throwing in the towel. Their next move is to petition congressional lawmakers to explicitly write GISS's funds into an appropriations bill. "What we're trying to do is get Congress to do their job and protect this place," Briggs said.
