Bethany Van Nortwick
Lockheed Martin
For technical acumen crossing multiple engineering disciplines; for stretching her skills at every opportunity; and for serving as a strong advocate for women engineers at work and within SWE.
Bethany Van Nortwick is a radar systems engineer at Lockheed Martin in Moorestown, New Jersey. She currently performs modeling and simulation in the Electronic Protection Group. In this role, she designs radar algorithms, implements them into a model, and verifies them. She also analyzes updates to her algorithms and uses the results to inform system requirements and design.
Prior to her current role, Van Nortwick worked on several efforts within the Radar Systems Engineering department. These included working as the deputy technical director of a major Aegis naval combat system baseline; a series of hardware and software upgrades; performing cost estimations for a radar-capture effort; serving as the Aegis common-source library deputy radar architect; and performing technical analysis and deriving system requirements for a new Aegis baseline. Although she already had a strong career foundation, these opportunities expanded her knowledge and visibility within Lockheed.
Van Nortwick is a graduate of the Lockheed Martin Engineering Leadership Development Program, where she completed rotations in mechanical engineering, modeling and simulation, integration and testing, radar systems engineering, and program oversight. She served as the program’s recruiting lead, generating interest in open engineering positions and supporting hiring efforts.
Van Nortwick has been an active member of the Society of Women Engineers for 12 years. She is currently the treasurer of the SWE Southern New Jersey Section and serves on the Lockheed Martin SWE events committee. She regularly leads and participates in events for both groups. Previously she served as the secretary of the Southern New Jersey Section, as well as the student government association representative and website developer/bulletin board designer for the Rowan University Collegiate Section.
She has been a strong advocate for women in engineering and STEM throughout her academic and professional career. Van Nortwick volunteers for and leads a variety of local outreach events at which she introduces young students to engineering. She has also served as a mentor to several Lockheed Martin interns, co-op participants, and new employees. Van Nortwick is an active member of the Lockheed Martin Women’s Impact Network (WIN) and is on the SWE committee within the WIN executive board.
Van Nortwick holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Rowan University and an M.Eng. in systems engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology. She received the FY23 WE Local Emerging Leader in Technology and Engineering (ELiTE) Award. She also received two Lockheed Martin bronze awards and a Lockheed Martin Spotlight Award for her contributions as a radar systems engineer.
In her spare time, Van Nortwick has participated in nonprofit community events such as American Heart Association walkathons and Bike for Bancroft, an autism services nonprofit. She loves traveling with her husband and enjoys music, visiting the beach and wineries, and exercising. She is also a huge Disney fan.