
NNS Engineer Honored with Lifetime Achievement Award
Published December 4, 2024
Michael Talley, a structural engineer with nearly 50 years of service to the government and shipbuilding industry, was recently honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Shock and Vibration Exchange (SAVE) symposium in Dallas, Texas, in recognition of his trailblazing accomplishments.
Talley came to NNS in 2004. Prior to that, he worked at NASA Langley Research Center as an electronics engineer in acoustics and later as a physicist and technical program manager. During his tenure at NASA, he was also an independent contractor, providing technical expertise to the Navy and commercial industry.
He started his career at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, where he graduated from the apprentice school at that shipyard. He later continued his education, earning bachelor’s, master’s and doctor of science degrees.
Matt Davis (E46), a colleague who nominated Talley and introduced him at the SAVE symposium, praised him not only for his professional expertise, but for personal leadership.
“Mike embodies what it means to be a leader in the shock and vibration community,” Davis said. “I am very grateful for the many ways he has welcomed me in, and many others, to share in his knowledge and experiences.”
Talley invented, designed and patented the deck simulating shock machine, which has been adopted by the U.S. Navy and has resulted in significant cost savings. He also developed software that efficiently predicts how isolated equipment responds to shock forces. This has become an industry staple, quickly predicting responses of isolated equipment.
Talley said he greatly appreciated the honor.
“I have had a lot of occasions over my career to work with some great people who helped to achieve a lot of successes in the field of shock and vibration,” he said. “I was truly honored to receive the award and it meant a lot to me to be recognized by the shock and vibration community and be among the other distinguished recipients of this award.”