NUWC Division, Keyport Employee Spotlight Jonathan Heier

Sustaining our warfighting advantage requires a dedicated team of experts committed to Fleet readiness. Among these experts is Mechanical Engineer Jonathan Heier. During his two years so far at Keyport, Jonathan has distinguished himself as an exceptionally capable, versatile, personable team player with a knack for additive manufacturing.

“I've been impressed not just with his expertise in additive manufacturing, but his overall approach to helping customers,” said his supervisor. “He'll consult with them, and it's a very collaborative back-and-forth process. He’s able to scale his communications up and down to help people who are completely unfamiliar with additive manufacturing, but then he can get very technical. He's a good-humored person and definitely a morale booster to the whole team.”

Jonathan’s former supervisor added, “He is detailed, organized and communicates quite well. He is very persuasive without coming across as arrogant. He definitely has the respect, both professionally and personally, of all the people I see him interact with.”

Jonathan grew up in Ridgecrest, California. Working on household projects with his two grandfathers—one a career Navy captain and the other a master tool and die maker—instilled in him a love of tinkering from a young age. He came to enjoy modifying go-karts and building Rube Goldberg machines for his high school engineering class.

“That was the kickoff for me of just doing stuff with my hands,” said Jonathan. “I started building and programming stuff, and at that point I was really fascinated with the engineering side. That’s what solidified going down the engineering path for me.”

After finishing high school, Jonathan earned a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering and a Master of Science in advanced manufacturing from the Colorado School of Mines. He then became a mechanical engineer at Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division China Lake, doing production planning and additive manufacturing.

In 2024, Jonathan began his current position at Keyport, where he helped the command become the first Warfare Center to achieve a Naval Sea Systems Command Additive Manufacturing Technical Publication qualification for organic metal printing.

Through his 3D printing and reverse engineering work, Jonathan directly supports the second and third Naval Sea Systems Command Enterprise Strategy lines of effort: “Generate Readiness” and “Generate, Capture, and Use Data.”

Outside of work, Jonathan enjoys rock climbing, skiing, mountain biking and exploring nature in his off-roading truck.

-KPT-

Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Keyport is headquartered in the state of Washington on the Puget Sound, about 10 miles west of Seattle. To provide ready support to Fleet operational forces at all major Navy homeports in the Pacific, NUWC Division, Keyport maintains detachments in San Diego, California and Honolulu, Hawaii, and remote operating sites in Guam; Japan; Hawthorne, Nevada; and Portsmouth, Virginia. At NUWC Division, Keyport, our diverse and highly skilled team of engineers, scientists, technicians, administrative professionals and industrial craftsmen work tirelessly to develop, maintain and sustain undersea warfare superiority for the United States.