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Advisory Profiles
CAPT Rick Hepburn, PE, USN (Ret)
CAPT Rick Hepburn, PE, USN (Ret) is President of Hepburn and Sons, a consulting firm offering support to Government and DoD Contractors in the area of naval engineering, system engineering, and ship design support. He was previously Senior Vice President for Business Development for L-3 Communications Power Paragon Division. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1976 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Ocean Engineering. During his naval career, he had several tours at sea and ashore. His last tour was Commanding Officer, Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Bath, Maine where he took delivery of six DDG 51 class ships. Previous to this tour, he was NAVSEA Director of Surface Ship Design and System Engineering Group after serving as NAVSEA Deputy Director, Power Systems Group.
A nationally known expert in drydocking, Captain Hepburn served as the Docking Officer for multiple heavylift ship operations for mine countermeasure ships. After retiring from the Navy, he was Director of Naval Engineering for Noesis and later Defense Holdings Inc. where he provided senior level engineering support to ONR and NAVSEA. He wrote and taught the NAVSEA Drydocking and Heavylift Ship Operation Courses. >From there, he became Director Navy Systems for Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) Tactical Systems and Solutions Business Unit where he provided high end electrical systems for naval applications. Captain Hepburn has had four technical papers published by the American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE) and the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers.
In 1988, he earned his Master of Science degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering and a post masters Naval Engineer degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His thesis was titled "Nonlinear Three Degree of Freedom Submarine Drydock Blocking Systems.” He is a past President of ASNE and received the ASNE 2003 Frank G. Law Award. He is also a graduate of the DoD Advanced Program Managers Course. His book, History of American Naval Dry Docks; A Key Ingredient to a Maritime Power inspired a History Channel documentary. He and his wife Debby reside in Manassas, Virginia. They have three children and a grandson.
- Engineering Duty Officer (Retired 0-6)
- Author of History of American Naval Dry Docks
- Past President, American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE)
- ASNE 2003 Frank G Law Award Winner
- Former SUPSHIP Bath Maine Former Director Surface Ship Design Group NAVSEA
- Former Senior Vice President L-3 Power Paragon
- Elder, Reformed Presbyterian Church of Manassas, VA