AIAA Announces Section Award Winners Written 6 August 2015

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AIAA
John Blacksten
703.264.7532
johnb@aiaa.org

Awards Recognize Outstanding Engineering, Math, Science and Technology Students

August 6, 2015 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has announced its 2014–2015 Section Award winners. The Section Awards honor particularly notable achievements made by member sections in a range of activities that help fulfill the Institute’s mission. The Institute believes that vital, active sections are essential to its success.

Section awards are made annually in five categories based on the size of each section’s membership. Each winning section receives a certificate and a cash award — $500 for first place, $200 for second, and $100 for third. The award period covered is June 1, 2014–May 31, 2015.

The Outstanding Section Award is presented to sections based upon their overall activities and contributions through the year. The winners are:

  • Very Small: First Place: Delaware, Breanne Sutton, section chair; Second Place: China Lake, Randy Drobny, section chair.

  • Small: First Place: Sydney, Michael West, section chair; Second Place: Savannah, Charles Harrison, section chair; Third Place: Twin Cities, Kristen Gerzina, section chair.

  • Medium: First Place (tie): Tucson Section, Elishka Jepson, section chair; First Place (tie): Long Island, David Paris, section chair; Second Place: Wichita, Minisa Childers, section chair.

  • Large: First Place: Orange County, Dino Roman, section chair; Second Place: San Diego, Cesar Martin, section chair; Third Place: Cape Canaveral, Matthew Zuk, section chair.

  • Very Large: First Place: Greater Huntsville, Kenneth Philippart, section chair; Second Place: National Capital, Supriya Banerjee, section chair; Third Place: Los Angeles/Las Vegas, Nicola Sarzi Amade, section chair.

The Career and Workforce Development Award is presented for section activities that focus on career development, such as time management workshops, career transition workshops, job benefits workshops, and technical versus management career path workshops. The winners are:

  • Very Small: Third Place: Delaware, Timothy McCardell, Career and Workforce Development Committee officer.

  • Very Large: Second Place (tie): Huntsville Section, Ken Philippart and Cody Crofford, Career and Workforce Development Committee officers; Second Place (tie): National Capital, Supriya Banerjee, Career and Workforce Development Committee officer

The Communications Award is presented to sections that have developed and implemented an outstanding communications outreach program. Winning criteria include level of complexity, timeliness, and variety of methods of communications, as well as frequency, format, and content of the communication outreach. The winners are:

  • Very Small: First Place: Delaware, Joseph Scroggins and Daniel Nice, communication officers; Second Place: China Lake, Jeff Scott, communication officer.

  • Small: First Place: Sydney, Rounak Manoharan and Amelia Greig, secretary and membership officers; Second Place: Twin Cities, Andrew Carlson, webmaster.

  • Medium: First Place, Tucson, Elishka Jepson, section chair; Second Place: Long Island, David Paris, section chair and newsletter editor; Third Place: Central Florida, Josh Giffin, secretary, membership and communications officer.

  • Large: First Place: Northern Ohio, Edmond Wong, communications officer; Second Place: San Diego, Martin Miller, secretary; Third Place: Orange County, Jody Hart, communications officer and webmaster.

  • Very Large: First Place: Greater Huntsville, Ken Philippart, Arloe Mayne, and Gabe Xu, section chair, webmaster and newsletter editor; Second Place (tie): National Capital, Bruce Cranford and Nils Jespersen, communication co-chairs; Second Place (tie): Hampton Roads, John Lin, newsletter editor.

The Membership Award is presented to sections that have increased their membership by planning and implementing effective recruitment and retention campaigns. The winners are:

  • Very Small: First Place: Delaware, Di Ena Davis, membership officer.

  • Small: First Place: Sydney, Amelia Greig, membership officer; Second Place: Savannah, Charles Harrison, section chair; Third Place: Twin Cities, Kristen Gerzina, section chair.

  • Medium: First Place: Central Florida, Josh Giffin, membership officer; Second Place: Tucson, Elishka Jepson, section chair.

  • Large: First Place: Orange County, Bob Welge, vice chair membership; Second Place, San Fernando Pacific, Carl Ehrlich, membership officer; Third Place: Cape Canaveral, Anthony Mansk, membership officer.

  • Very Large: Hampton Roads, Marlyn Andino, membership officer; Second Place (tie): Dayton – Cincinnati, Timothy Cleaver, membership officer; Second Place (tie): Greater Huntsville, Joseph Herdy, membership officer; Second Place (tie): Los Angeles/Las Vegas, Nicola Sarzi Amade, section chair.

The Harry Staubs Precollege Outreach Award is presented to sections that have developed and implemented an outstanding STEM K-12 outreach program that provides quality educational resources for K-12 teachers in the “STEM” subject areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The winners are:

  • Very Small: First Place: Delaware, Elishabet Lato, STEM K-12 officer.

  • Small: First Place: Sydney, Andrew Neely, STEM K-12 officer; Second Place (tie), Savannah, Jason Riopelle and James Fowlkes, STEM K-12 officers; Second Place (tie): Vandenberg, Tom Stevens, STEM K-12 officer; Third Place: Twin Cities, Kristen Gerzina, section chair.

  • Medium: First Place: Tucson, Elishka Jepson, section chair; Michelle Rouch, aerospace and societies officer; Second Place: Southwest Texas, Joan Labay-Marquez, STEM K-12 officer; Third Place: Long Island, David Paris, section chair.

  • Large: First Place: Orange County, Jann Koepke, vice chair, education; Second Place: Northern Ohio, Julie Kleinhenz, STEM K-12 officer; Third Place (tie): Cape Canaveral, Matthew Zuk, section chair; Third Place (tie): San Diego, Chris McEachin, student activities chair.

  • Very Large: First Place: Dayton-Cincinnati, Carl Tilmann, STEM K-12 officer; Second Place: Pacific Northwest, Elana Slagle, vice chair; Third Place: Greater Huntsville, Meagan Beattie, STEM K-12 officer and Ken Philippart, section chair.

The Public Policy Award is presented for stimulating public awareness of the needs of aerospace research and development, particularly on the part of government representatives, and for education section members about the value of public policy activities. The winners are:

  • Very Small: First Place: Delaware, Timothy Dominick, public policy officer.

  • Small: First Place: Sydney, Michael West, public policy officer; Second Place: Savannah, Charles Harrison, section chair.

  • Medium: First Place: Central Florida, Jason Hopkins, public policy officer; Second Place: Tucson, Michelle Rouch, aerospace and societies officer; Matt Angiulo, section member; Jeff Jepson, Regional Activities Council representative.

  • Large: First Place: Orange County, John Rose, director at large; Second Place: Northern Ohio, Amber Abbott-Hearn, public policy officer; Third Place: San Diego, John Kucharski, public policy officer.

  • Very Large: First Place: National Capital, Supriya Banerjee, section chair; David Brandt, programs vice chair; Second Place: Los Angeles/Las Vegas, Jeff Puschell and Michael Todaro, public policy officers; Third Place: Huntsville, Ken Philippart, section chair.

The Young Professional Activity Award is presented for excellence in planning and executing events that encourage the participation of the Institute’s young professional members, and provide opportunities for leadership at the section, regional, or national level. The winners are:

  • Very Small: Delaware, Daniel Nice, young professional officer.

  • Small: First Place: Sydney, Arnab Dasgupta, young professional officer; Second Place: Savannah, Ryan Stanford, young professional officer.

  • Large: First Place: San Diego, Iona Broome, young professional officer; Second Place: Phoenix, Garrick Williams, young professional officer; Third Place: Cape Canaveral, Taylor Dacko, young professional officer.

  • Very Large: Dayton-Cincinnati, Robert Mitchell, young professional officer; Second Place: Greater Huntsville, Cody Crofford, young professional officer; Third Place: National Capital, Scott Fry, young professional officer.

The Outstanding Activity Award allows the Institute to acknowledge sections that held an outstanding activity deserving of additional recognition. The winners are:

  • Very Small: China Lake, Randy Drobny, section chair. Ridgecrest Autism Awareness Aviation Day. Ridgecrest Autism Awareness is a support community that organizes events for local families afflicted with autism or other special needs. The organizers chose an aviation theme for this event to expose participants to STEM education and opportunities in the aerospace field. The China Lake Section provided educational activities for children and young adults and sponsored three activities. The activities were: setting up and operating a homemade wind tunnel and demonstrating it to the students; manning a table with a space flight simulator game called the Kerbal Space Program; and helping kids operate simulators of radio-controlled planes, cars, and helicopters.

  • Small (tie): Sydney, Michael West, section chair. Perspectives from Space: 2015 AIAA National Lecture Tour. Dr. Sandra Magnus, former NASA astronaut and AIAA executive director, toured Australia for two weeks during May 2015 to meet with members and promote AIAA. The section coordinated a five-day city national tour that featured public lectures in Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne. Dr. Magnus delivered several presentations during her visit including talks to school assemblies and groups of underrepresented university students. Visits to AIAA student branches around the country and STEM K-12 outreach events were a particular focus of Dr. Magnus’ itinerary. In total over 3,000 people attended the various events ranging from aerospace professionals, university to school students and the general public.

  • Small (tie): Northwest Florida, Benjamin Dickinson, section chair. Eglin Flight Line Tour. The 7th and 8th grade math students from Paxton School requested to tour the Eglin Air Force Base flight line (fighters). The AIAA Northwest Florida section organized the trip, providing a fighter jet pilot as the flight line tour guide and provided money for bus transportation for the students. The students were impressed with the aircraft and night vision goggles. The section feels this inspirational event made an impression on students and encouraged them to pursue aerospace careers.

  • Medium: Southwest Texas (Honorable Mention): Joan Labay-Marquez, section chair. University of Texas Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day. During Engineers Week at the University of Texas-Austin, more than 300 girls in grades 4 and 5 designed, built, and tested a balloon car racer made from water bottles and various arts and crafts items. Student branch members as well as professional members from the AIAA Southwest Texas Section volunteered and assisted the girls in all aspects of the activity. Parents and teachers participated as well. UT Austin’s Cockrell School of Engineering was the host site and there were many other corporate/academic sponsors and organizations. The Student branch volunteers and other student organizations’ volunteers were critical to the success of this event.

  • Large: Cape Canaveral (tie), Matthew Zuk, section chair. AIAA Fall Gala. The Cape Canaveral Section hosted a Fall Gala in November 2014. The guest speaker was Dr. Sandy Magnus, Executive Director of AIAA. Over 39 AIAA professional members, 20 student members and 19 guests were in attendance, including the Kennedy Space Center director and several corporate senior leaders. The goal was to increase meeting participation using a business professional, yet festive environment, at a venue, the Exploration Tower facility, which provided added value for each attendee. The facility has seven floors of museum exhibits, interactive play stations, and an observation tower overlooking Port Canaveral and KSC. The section also used a scavenger hunt to get members to tour the facility during the social hour.

  • Large: Orange County (tie), Dino Roman, section chair. Team America Rocketry Challenge. Student Payload and Rocketry Challenge (SPARC), Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC), and AIAA OC Rocketry Club. The AIAA Orange County Section created a STEM education through rocketry program that this year included a new activity, the first annual SPARC. SPARC is open to 7th-12th graders and runs through the summer months. It places the emphasis on electronic scientific and engineering payload as well as the rocket. SPARC further inspires kids in STEM as well as AIAA members and others to get involved and give back to their profession, community and the next generation. The AIAA OC’s Section TARC, SPARC, STEM, and Educational Outreach program sponsored multiple student interactive build and launch programs throughout the year.

  • Very Large: Los Angeles/Las Vegas (tie), Nicola Sarzi Amade, section chair. Aerospace Career Mentoring Event – Journey to Success. The Los Angeles/Las Vegas Section hosted a career mentoring event that was a great networking opportunity for professionals at all stages of their careers. It was a unique chance to meet five well-known, high-profile individuals in the aerospace industry in person and learn from their career stories. The program consisted of an initial general networking, a three-course dinner combined with mentoring discussions from the featured speakers, a mentoring panel, two additional individual mentoring sessions and a speed networking event.

  • Very Large: National Capital (tie), Supriya Banerjee, section chair. AIAA NCS Patuxent River Chapter Inaugural Event. The inaugural Cinco de Mayo event organized by Major Tucker Hamilton and held at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Patuxent River, Maryland, focused on a revitalization effort of the Southern MD Chapter of the AIAA NCS. The event focused on two discussions led by NCS members: “Introduction to AIAA” by Major Hamilton, U.S. Air Force and Brendan Andrus, NCS Membership Chair and “F-35C Carrier Suitability & Ship Trials” by Commander Michael Wilson, U.S. Navy. The event attracted people interested in joining AIAA and becoming involved in running a local chapter. The event was hugely successful with about 100 people attending.

  • Very Large: Greater Huntsville (tie), Kenneth Philippart, section chair. Engineers Week.The Greater Huntsville Section scheduled a full program commemorating Engineers Week (E Week). They organized, conducted and/or participated in nine events, more than double the number they had held during E Week in 2014. They scheduled at least one event for each day in E Week, ensuring that each of their membership demographics had at least one event tailored to them and covering every AIAA mission during the week. To begin their E Week festivities, they scheduled the winner of their First Flight Commemoration Video Contest, Eric Black, to receive an orientation flight provided by the Experimental Aircraft Association. Other activities were a Kick-off Social at Bar Louie in Huntsville and a tour of the United Launch Alliance facility in Decatur, Alabama.

About AIAA 
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 85 countries, and 95 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, www.aiaa.org, or follow us on Twitter @AIAA.

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