diff --git a/requirements-dev.txt b/requirements-dev.txt
index cff63d62c..c35d7c182 100644
--- a/requirements-dev.txt
+++ b/requirements-dev.txt
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ smartredis>=0.1.1
 redis==3.5.3
 redis-py-cluster==2.1.3
 sphinx==3.1.1
-numpy>=1.18.2
 tqdm>=4.50.2
 psutil>=5.7.2
 tabulate>=0.8.9
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 7f4b70491..874133d43 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -4,5 +4,4 @@ tabulate>=0.8.9
 smartredis>=0.1.1
 redis==3.5.3
 redis-py-cluster==2.1.3
-numpy>=1.18.2
 tqdm>=4.50.2
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index b9e75673a..e10b02294 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -139,7 +139,6 @@ def has_ext_modules(_placeholder):
     "tabulate>=0.8.9",
     "redis-py-cluster==2.1.3",
     "redis==3.5.3",
-    "numpy>=1.18.2",
     "tqdm>=4.50.2"
 ]
 
diff --git a/smartsim/_core/launcher/step/step.py b/smartsim/_core/launcher/step/step.py
index fa574218d..9604e4bfd 100644
--- a/smartsim/_core/launcher/step/step.py
+++ b/smartsim/_core/launcher/step/step.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 import os.path as osp
 import time
 
-import numpy as np
+from ...utils.helpers import get_base_36_repr
 
 
 class Step:
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ def get_launch_cmd(self):
         raise NotImplementedError
 
     def _create_unique_name(self, entity_name):
-        step_name = entity_name + "-" + str(np.base_repr(time.time_ns(), 36))
+        step_name = entity_name + "-" + get_base_36_repr(time.time_ns())
         return step_name
 
     def get_output_files(self):
diff --git a/smartsim/_core/utils/helpers.py b/smartsim/_core/utils/helpers.py
index 277d085d2..2c7cd632e 100644
--- a/smartsim/_core/utils/helpers.py
+++ b/smartsim/_core/utils/helpers.py
@@ -34,6 +34,24 @@
 import psutil
 
 
+def get_base_36_repr(positive_int):
+    """Converts a positive integer to its base 36 representation
+    :param positive_int: the positive integer to convert
+    :type positive_int: int
+    :return: base 36 representation of the given positive int
+    :rtype: str
+    """
+    digits = "0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ"
+    result = []
+
+    while positive_int:
+        next_digit = digits[positive_int % 36]
+        result.append(next_digit)
+        positive_int //= 36
+
+    return "".join(reversed(result))
+
+
 def get_ip_from_host(host):
     """Return the IP address for the interconnect.