Otto C. Winzen Lifetime Achievement Award Open for Nominations 10 November 2024 – 15 January 2025

Home / Get Involved / Honors & Awards / Awards

Approved by the Board of Directors in 1993, the Otto C. Winzen Lifetime Achievement Award is presented for outstanding contributions and achievements in the advancement of free flight balloon systems or related technologies. It is presented in memory of Otto C. Winzen, a pioneer of modern day ballooning.

This award is presented biennially (in odd-numbered years) at either the AIAA Balloons Conference (co-located with the PIA Symposium when in the U.S.) or at the AIAA AVIATION Forum/ASCEND when the PIA Symposium is outside of the U.S.

Deadlines:
Accepting Online Nominations: 10 November (Even-numbered years)
Nomination Deadline: 15 January (Odd-numbered years)
Endorsement Letters Deadline: 1 February (Odd-numbered years)

Award Recipients

2021

  • Rodger E Farley
    Awarded
    Award: 2021 AIAA Otto Winzen Lifetime Achievement Award
    AIAA Citation: In recognition of a lifetime of achievements in applying aerospace mechanics to the dynamic response of aerospace vehicles from spacecraft to aircraft and to balloons

2017

  • Erich Klein
    Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility
    Awarded
    AIAA Citation: In recognition of a career dedicated toward advancing scientific balloon launch support equipment including the padded spool vehicle, LDSD launch tower, and Antarctic Launch Vehicle.

2013

  • Mr. Danny R Ball
    Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility
    Awarded
    AIAA Citation: For championing groundbreaking advancements in stratospheric ballooning by expanding worldwide launch opportunities, and fostering improvements in the state of the art for equipment and operations.

2011

  • Dr William Vernon Jones
    NASA HQ
    Awarded
    AIAA Citation: For applying the vision of long duration balloons to a better understanding of cosmology and the fundamental origins of our universe

2009

  • Loren G Seely
    Awarded
    AIAA Citation: For the development of SSA-10 tape, SSA-20 tape, and Stratofilm 372, all of which have been essential in increasing the reliability of scientific balloons.

2007

  • Mr Arthur A Giannetti
    ATA Engineering, Inc.
    Awarded

2005

  • Sigvard Stenlund
    Awarded
    AIAA Citation: For over forty years of significant contributions to the advancement of balloon capabilities and technologies and the advancement of this aerospace vehicle as a platform for scientific, military and commercial applications.

2004

  • Dr James L Rand
    Winzen Engineering Inc
    Awarded
    AIAA Citation: For an exceptional career in scientific ballooning which has provided numerous innovations in analytical modeling, manufacturing and design as well as the mentoring of the next generation of ballooning professionals

2003

  • Dr Vincent Lally
    Awarded
    AIAA Citation: For pioneering the application and development of superpressure balloons to worldwide atmospheric measurements utilizing long duration flights and state-of-the-art electronics

1999

  • James A Winker
    F/Rekwin Co
    Awarded
    AIAA Citation: In recognition of a career in the advancement of balloon design and manufacturing; and for preserving the history and technology of scientific ballooning through the NASA Balloon Technology Database

1997

  • Charles B Moore
    Awarded
    AIAA Citation: For pioneering efforts in determining the shape and stress of free floating balloons that opened the stratosphere to scientific research throughout the world.

1996

  • Justin H Smalley
    Awarded
    AIAA Citation: For pioneering efforts in determining the shape and stress of free floating balloons that opened the stratosphere to scientific research throughout the world

1994

  • Alfred Shipley
    Awarded