Carl Kolon

I am a nuclear Submarine Officer in the US Navy with four years of experience leading small engineering teams. I have a mathematical and coding background from my research in college and independent projects since then.

EDUCATION

US Naval Academy – B.S. with Distinction, Mathematics with Honors – (May 2018)

3.89 GPA, Trident Scholarship, Julian Clancy Frazier Mathematics Research Award.

EXPERIENCE

United States Navy – Submarine Officer – (May 2018 – Present)

• Quality Assurance Officer: Authorized all maintenance involving the submarine’s most critical components (seawater boundaries, fly-by-wire systems, nuclear pressure boundaries, etc.), and the SUBSAFE program.
• Assistant Engineer: Served as the primary advisor to the ship’s Engineer, and as a subject matter expert on the Navy’s newest submarine reactor plant (Type II S9G).
• Nuclear Watch Officer: Oversaw all aspects of plant operation, including emergency response when on duty.
• Engineering Division Officer: Led a division of eleven nuclear-trained mechanics. Responsible for the ship’s engines, steam system, air conditioning, and all nuclear piping aboard.
• Completed a 193-day deployment to the European theater, including daily operational planning at the TOP SECRET level.
• Spent over a month as the ship’s Engineer, the senior advisor to the Captain on engineering matters. This is a job typically reserved for an officer five years my senior, and involves leading a department of 50-60 people.
• Submarine Squadron Eight Junior Officer of the Year for 2021. Selected as the best junior officer among a group of about 80 peers.

PROJECTS

All my projects are documented on my blog. Some highlights are listed below.

Trident Scholarship

On My Website – Preprint – Video Presentation – (Mar 2017 – May 2018)

Studied an applied mathematics problem concerning the stability of swarm models.

• Authored several original proofs about swarm dynamics and coupled differential equations.
• Presented my research at the Naval Academy, Service Academy Student Math Conference, and University of Maryland Graduate Math Seminar.

Torpedo Evasion!

On GitHub - (Feb 2021 – Present)

A submarine combat computer game.

• Created and developed a video game in Unity and C#, based on my experiences aboard an operational submarine. Used empirical techniques to optimize performance of enemy and torpedo AI.

Statistical Analysis of Backpacks

On My Website – (Sep 2021)

A project to rate backpacks by statistically analyzing their weight and volume.

• Involved website access automation (web scraping) using Selenium and data analysis using Pandas.

TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION

• Joint Fleet Quality Assurance (Jan 2022)
• Prospective Nuclear Engineer Officer (May 2021 – Aug 2021)
  • Top in my class studying the first-of-its-kind Type II S9G reactor plant.
• Naval Nuclear Power Training (Jul 2018 – Aug 2019)
  • Widely recognized as the most academically challenging training program in the military. 6 months of instruction, 6 months of practical experience leading a watch team on a real reactor plant.
• TOP SECRET/SCI security clearance (Dec 2018 – Present)

SKILLS

• Significant Experience In: Python, C#, C++, HTML, Wolfram Language, Linux/Unix Shell
• Proficient: JavaScript, Liquid, CSS, R, Gusek, Ruby, QGIS
• Language Skills: Proficient in Mandarin (Speaking), lived in Beijing for 9 years.

PERSONAL INTERESTS

In my spare time I enjoy backcountry skiing, ultralight backpacking, guitar, and tennis.