NUPOC program available to students

Navy NUPOC program available to Trine students

ANGOLA, Ind. – U.S. Navy educator liaison and Trine Department of Mathematics & Informatics instructor Dan Matthews will be educating Trine students over the next few months about the Navy′s Nuclear Underwater Propulsion Officer Candidate (NUPOC) program.

NUPOC offers qualifying students up to $168,300 while they finish their degrees, providing a regular monthly income ranging from $3,280 to $5,610 for up to 30 months prior to graduation. A military salary, food and housing allowances and comprehensive military health care benefits are included.

After graduation, candidates begin the process of becoming commissioned as Navy nuclear officers. The highly competitive program offers opportunities in any of four career focus areas: nuclear submarine officer, surface warfare officer on nuclear aircraft carriers, naval reactors engineer, or naval Nuclear Power School instructor. The program requires four years of U.S. Navy service after becoming commissioned.

Trine mechanical engineering seniors Jordan Buchanan and Tom Laderach have made the cut into the program, which requires a rigorous application, testing in calculus and engineering and an interview process culminating in an interview with a U.S. Navy admiral. Tom has chosen the Nuclear Power School focus, and will instruct on the nuclear propulsion system in Charleston, S.C.

Matthews became involved with the program in April 2009, when his son was accepted into the NUPOC program. When the U.S. Navy learned of his background in informatics, he was invited to San Diego to speak at the Navy sub station. He has since joined the Navy as educator liaison, and was flown by the Navy two weeks ago to an aircraft carrier in the Pacific for a two–day tour as part of an elite group.

After Matthews hosted an informational Navy Day on campus last year, the Navy budgeted $100,000 to host other lunch and learn programs at district universities, all modeled on what Matthews started at Trine last fall. Twenty–two Navy officers traveled to Trine Sept. 22 and 23 for an annual meeting on the campus.

A similar Navy Day involving other faculty members is planned for fall semester. Well–known Navy officials will speak, and food will be provided. Matthews is taking his message to Trine classrooms, and will send Navy Day invitations to interested students. "I can help students in a way I never thought possible," he said.

Candidates who make it into the program receive a VIP trip like the one Matthews experienced to give them a look at the direction of such a career. Applicants need competency in calculus and calculus–based physics, and must maintain a grade point average above 3.0 in a related field such as engineering, math or physics. Around 20 people per month are selected for the national program. Military height and weight standards apply.

Matthews can also help students without calculus or physics backgrounds to fit into other Navy programs like NUPOC. He encourages students to contact him at matthewsd@trine.edu or 260.665.4247 to begin the application process.

Trine′s Office of Career Services is also involved with the placement of candidates. Ninety–eight percent of work on naval carriers is concerned with humanitarian efforts or intelligence gathering, Matthews noted.