NEWPORT NEWS, Va., Oct. 30, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) announced today that Philip Luna, corporate vice president and president, UniversalPegasus International (UPI), a subsidiary of HII, has been promoted to the HII senior executive team, reporting to HII President and CEO Mike Petters, effective immediately. The company also announced that, effective March 1, 2016, Michael S. Smith, currently serving as corporate vice president, corporate development and nuclear and environment sciences, will also join the senior executive team in the role of corporate vice president, strategy and development. Smith will also report to Petters in his new role.

With more than 30 years of engineering and construction management experience, Luna will continue to oversee the management of UPI, a leading provider of engineering, project management and field services to the global onshore and offshore energy markets.

“Philip’s more than three decades of experience, combined with his exemplary leadership of UPI during this volatile time in the oil and gas industry, has resulted in an organization that is well-positioned to leverage its technical expertise and its focus on customer satisfaction as the market improves,” Petters said. “I look forward to him joining my leadership team.”

Luna holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. He began his career as a project engineer at Exxon and has spent equivalent time working in the owner/operator and the services side of the oil and gas industries. He joined UPI in 2012 from Jacobs Engineering, where he held various positions, including vice president of business development, vice president of projects, and vice president of operations in Baton Rouge, La. Prior to serving at Jacobs Engineering, Luna was vice president and general manager of CDI Engineering.

Luna is a member and past chair of the board of directors for St. Thomas High School and a former member of the board of the Rice University Global E&C Forum.

In his new role, effective March 1, 2016, Smith will be responsible for strategy and development activities at HII, including the development and integration of strategic planning efforts as well as the analysis and entrance into markets where HII can leverage its engineering and construction competencies.

“Mike has a stellar reputation and a solid background in strategy and business development that will be critical to HII in our future pursuits,” Petters said. “His experience in both the government and commercial nuclear business makes him an excellent fit for this position.”

Smith joined HII in 2014 in in the role of corporate vice president, business growth. He came from BAE Systems, where he worked for 10 years—most recently as sector vice president, business development, strategy and planning, for the Support Solutions sector. Prior to BAE, he worked at Marsh USA, Inc. as a leader for the company’s nuclear risk practice and then as vice president for insurance services.

Smith earned two degrees at Stanford University: a bachelor’s in industrial engineering in 1995 and a master’s in engineering management in 1996. Smith also served five years as a surface warfare officer in the U.S. Navy, including tours on three HII-built ships: the cruiser USS Valley Forge (CG 50) and the aircraft carriers USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) and USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74).

Photos accompanying this release are available at: http://newsroom.huntingtoningalls.com/releases/leadership-luna-smith.

Huntington Ingalls Industries is America’s largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of manufacturing, engineering and management services to the nuclear energy, oil and gas markets. For more than a century, HII’s Newport News and Ingalls shipbuilding divisions in Virginia and Mississippi have built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII employs approximately 37,000 people operating both domestically and internationally. For more information, visit:

CONTACT: Contact: 

Beci Brenton
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