Part of the attraction of federal service is that employees feel they’re helping others. The work of Jeffrey Rogers, a retired program manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), goes one step further — he helped to develop technology that saves lives and improves the treatment of victims of bomb blasts.

While at DARPA, Rogers created a device, known as the Blast Gauge, that measures the effects of bomb blasts experienced by service members. This allowed medics to a better assess of the levels of exposure the service member received in order to better provide the necessary medical assistance.

“On his own initiative, Jeffrey Rogers saw a problem and came up with a solution that gets the data that we need to better understand the brain damage we can’t see,” said retired Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the chief executive officer of One Mind for Research, a nonprofit that deals with brain injuries and mental illness.

For his work in developing the Blast Guage, the Partnership for Public Service recently named Rogers as one of the finalists for the 2014 Science and Environment Medal. The award recognizes federal employees who have made important contributions in the area of science and environment. This includes biomedicine, economics, energy, information technology, meteorology, resource conservation and space.

Getting to know Jeffrey Rogers

Federal News Radio asked each of the Sammies finalists five questions about themselves. Here are Rogers’ responses:

What three words best describe your leadership philosophy?
Look, listen, act.

Who is your greatest role model and why?
Everyone who does what they can to make the world a better place. No matter how seemingly insignificant the act, it matters.

What’s the last thing you read and what’s next on your reading list?
“Peter and the Shadow Thieves,” Current: “Peter and the Secret of Rundoon.” Over the summer, I am reading the “Peter Pan and the Starcatchers” book series with my children.

What would be the title of your autobiography and why?
“Hard Work = Easy Fun — How to Achieve Success and a Balanced Life.” This is essentially how I have lived my life and feel it’s been quite enjoyable!

The Science and Environment Medal is just one of the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals (Sammies) presented annually by the Partnership for Public Service. View a photo gallery of all the Sammies nominees.

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