WASHINGTON, Feb. 21, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Eight Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) employees received top awards at the annual Black Engineer of the Year Award (BEYA) Conference held Feb. 17-19 in Washington, D.C. The BEYA rewards excellence in accomplishments in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. An additional 36 Northrop Grumman employees were recognized as BEYA Modern Technology Leaders at the conference.

Photos of the 8 top awardees accompany this release and are available at: http://media.globenewswire.com/noc/mediagallery.html?pkgid=8779

"The contributions these award recipients have made to the corporation has been immeasurable. We salute the BEYA committee for selecting these employees as they are most deserving of this distinct honor," said Debora Catsavas, Northrop Grumman vice president and acting chief human resources officer.

The employees were recognized for their dedication to community service, educational leadership and outstanding technical contribution, among other things.

Dr. Leona Charles was awarded the Most Promising Engineer or Scientist -- Industry Award for her unrelenting pursuit of excellence in the field of engineering.   Charles is a payload systems engineer. She earned a bachelor's degree in computer science at the City College of the City University of New York, and both her master's and doctorate degrees in electrical engineering from the City University of New York Graduate Center.

Michael Hollis, Jr., a systems engineer, was awarded the GEM Outstanding Young Alumnus award for demonstrated excellence not only in his studies but also in his performance at Northrop Grumman, particularly on the Systems Engineering Integrated Product Team, where he is the lead. Hollis earned his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering at Clemson University, and his master's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan.

Dr. Tami Randolph won the Outstanding Technical Contribution – Industry award for her leadership in a Northrop Grumman-led multimillion dollar business capture and execution effort.  Randolph earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University, and a master's and doctorate degrees from Georgia Institute of Technology.

Marcos Stephens received the Educational Leadership award for his work in promoting minority education advancement in STEM fields. Stephens is a training manager. He served in the U.S. Navy and earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Columbia College.

Eric Garvin and William Patrick were awarded Community Service awards for demonstrating strong leadership in the minority STEM community through their various volunteer activities.

 Among his many activities in service to the community, Garvin currently serves as a board member at The Fishing School in Washington, D.C. He is the manager for Global Hawk Business Development for Northrop Grumman. Garvin earned his bachelor's degree in finance with a minor in engineering from the U.S. Air Force Academy and a master's degree in national security strategy from National War College.

Patrick serves in numerous capacities as an advocate and mentor to at risk youth, promoting careers in STEM fields. He is the principal CAD/CAM engineer for Northrop Grumman's Engineering Environment Development and Support department. Patrick earned his bachelor's degree in engineering management from the University of Missouri-Rolla.

Both Bryan Green and Howard Miller, III, received special recognition awards. Green is a systems engineer for the maritime and tactical systems integrated product team for Northrop Grumman. He earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and a master's degree in computer information and systems engineering from Tennessee State University. 

Miller received special recognition for technical sales and marketing.  He is the manager of the Capture and Proposal Win Center that supports all Northrop Grumman laser systems business areas. He earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Tuskegee University and a MBA from Colorado Technical University.  

Several Northrop Grumman employees were also honored as BEYA Modern Day Technology Leaders. They are: Rhea Altamura, Cedric Bailey, Ray Baldon, Carl Banks, William Beckett, Veronica Bloom, David Culverhouse, Douglas Cunningham, Dr. Nathaniel Curtis, Sean Damon, Michael Debisette, Chris Deering, Sheryl Dias, Ludwig Goon, Aaron Henderson, Daryl Holoman, Harold Howard,  Esther Jean-Pierre, Ronald Jones,  Kiran Karra, Lisa Lopez, Valerie Mansfield, April Martin, Michael Moore, DaShawn Murry, William McDaniel, Tram Nguyen, Jamesha Parks, Allen Petrin, Daniel Reitz, Oni Sadiki, Michael Werling,  Sierra Williams, Melvin Wofford, Jr., Herbert Yu and Rickey Zachary.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a leading global security company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, shipbuilding and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide. Please visit www.northropgrumman.com for more information.