Michael DeKort was an American

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

project manager A project manager is a professional in the field of project management. Project managers have the responsibility of the Project planning, planning, procurement and execution of a project, in any undertaking that has a defined scope, defined star ...

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

who posted a

whistleblowing Whistleblowing (also whistle-blowing or whistle blowing) is the activity of a person, often an employee, revealing information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe, unethical or ...

video on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

about the Lockheed Integrated Deepwater System Program.

Career

DeKort began working as an engineer at Lockheed Martin in 1994. He was working as a lead system engineer in 2003 when he noticed that the equipment Lockheed Martin was installing in U.S. Coast Guard vessels as part of the Deepwater program was faulty. According to DeKort, he alerted the CEO and Board of Directors of Lockheed Martin, but was ignored and removed from his position as project manager. DeKort then reported the equipment problems to the

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions invol ...

. DeKort felt that the Coast Guard was failing to cooperate adequately with the DHS. His attempts to alert ''

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'' and the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

were unsuccessful. DeKort released a YouTube video on August 3, 2006, detailing the problems with the Deepwater program. The same year, DeKort was laid off from Lockheed Martin. He filed a whistleblower's lawsuit against Lockheed Martin and

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and Arms industry, defense company. With 97,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $40 billion, it is one of the world's largest Arms industry ...

. The lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed sum in 2010. In 2008, DeKort was awarded the

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE has a corporate office ...

–Society on Social Implications of Technology public service award, as well as the Barus Ethics Award from the IEEE for his efforts to ensure accountability and

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

. The Barus award was presented by U.S. Rep.

Elijah Cummings Elijah Eugene Cummings (January 18, 1951October 17, 2019) was an American politician and civil rights advocate who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1996 until his death in 2019, when he was succeeded by his predecess ...

. In April 2013, DeKort was featured in the documentary, '' War on Whistleblowers''.

References

External links

"Michael De Kort LinkedIn page"
American whistleblowers Living people Lockheed Martin people Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-engineer-stub