AIAA Announces Section Awards Winners Written 14 August 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Brian Talbot
703.264.7532
briant@aiaa.org

Awards Honor Outstanding Section Programming in a Variety of Categories

August 14, 2020 – Reston, Va. –The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has announced its 2019–2020 section awards winners. The section awards honor particularly notable achievements made by member sections in a range of activities that help fulfill the Institute’s mission.

Section awards are given annually in five categories based on the size of each section’s membership. Each winning section receives a certificate and a cash award. The award period covered is 1 June 2019–31 May 2020. The Institute believes that vital, active sections are essential to its success.

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, Daniel Nice (Northrop Grumman Corporation), section chair; Second Place: Vandenberg, Michelle Itzel (Millenium Engineering and Integration Company), section chair; Third Place: Wisconsin, Michael Carkin (Sierra Nevada Corporation), section chair

• Small: First Place: Northwest Florida, Eugen Toma, section chair; Second Place: Palm Beach, Randy Parsley (Pratt & Whitney-Rocketdyne), section chair; Third Place: Long Island, David Paris, section chair

• Medium: First Place, Tucson, Michelle Rouch (Artwork by Rouch), section chair; Second Place: Antelope Valley, Jason Lechniak (NASA), section chair; Third Place: Wichita, Wilfredo Cortez (Department of Defense), section chair

• Large: First Place: St. Louis, James Guglielmo (The Boeing Company), section chair; Second Place (tie): Cape Canaveral, Elizabeth Balga (The Boeing Company), section chair; Second Place (tie): San Diego, Kimberly Painter (NAVAIR), section chair

• Very Large: First Place: Greater Huntsville, Charles Simpson, section chair; Second Place: Hampton Roads, Tyler Hudson (NASA), section chair; Third Place: Los Angeles-Las Vegas, Chandrashekhar Sonwane (Aerojet Rocketdyne), section chair

The Career and Professional 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: First Place, Delaware, Timothy McCardell (Northrop Grumman Corporation), career and professional development officer; Second Place: Wisconsin, Michael Carkin (Sierra Nevada Corporation), section chair; Third Place: Point Lobos, Giovanni Minelli (Naval Postgraduate School), section chair

• Small: First Place: Northwest Florida, Ryan Sherrill, career and professional development officer; Second Place: Long Island, David Paris, section chair; Third Place: Savannah, Andrew Clemens (Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation), career and professional development officer

• Medium: First Place: Antelope Valley, Joseph Piotrowski (Millenium Engineering and Integration), young professional officer; Second Place: Wichita, Eddie Irani (Spirit Aerosystems), programs officer

• Large: First Place (tie): Cape Canaveral, Elizabeth Balga (The Boeing Company), section chair; First Place (tie): Orange County, Erol Kilik, career and professional development officer; Second Place: St. Louis, Paul Bent (The Boeing Company), career and professional development officer

• Very Large: First Place: Hampton Roads, Elizabeth Ward (NASA) and Hyun Jung Kim (National Institute of Aerospace), career and professional development officers; Second Place (tie): Greater Huntsville, Nishanth Goli, section vice chair; Second Place (tie): Los Angeles-Las Vegas, Chandrashekhar Sonwane (Aerojet Rocketdyne), section chair

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, Christina Larson (Northrop Grumman Corporation), communications officer; Second Place: Vandenberg, Steve Boelhouwer (Mantech International), newsletter editor; Third Place (tie): Adelaide, Patrick Neumann (Neumann Space), section vice chair and then section chair; Third Place (tie): Point Lobos, Giovanni Minelli (Naval Postgraduate School), section chair

• Small: First Place: Savannah, Michael Hay (Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation), section secretary; Second Place: Sydney, Nimish Shete (Boomi), section vice chair and then chair; Third Place: Long Island, David Paris, section chair

• Medium: First Place: Tucson, Michelle Rouch (Artwork by Rouch), section chair; Second Place: Phoenix, Michael Mackowski, section chair; Third Place: Antelope Valley, Jason Lechniak (NASA), section chair

• Large: First Place: St. Louis, Andrea Martinez, public policy officer; Second Place (tie): Cape Canaveral, Jacob Shriver (NASA), communications officer; Second Place (tie): Northern Ohio, Edmond Wong, communications officer

• Very Large: First Place: Hampton Roads, John Lin (NASA), newsletter editor; Second Place: Greater Huntsville, Nishanth Goli, section vice chair; Third Place: Rocky Mountain, Adrian Nagle (Ball Aerospace), newsletter editor

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

• Very Small: First Place: Delaware, Zachery Gent, membership officer; Second Place: Vandenberg, Christopher Menino, membership officer; Third Place: Point Lobos, Giovanni Minelli (Naval Postgraduate School), section chair

• Small: First Place (tie): Northwest Florida, Jill Barfield (Okaloosa County School System), membership officer; First Place (tie): Savannah, Michael Hay (Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation), section secretary; Third Place: Long Island, David Paris, secton chair

• Medium: First Place: Tucson, Rajka Corder (Raytheon Missile Systems), membership officer; Second Place: Wichita, Vicki Johnson (Spirit Aerosystems, Inc), membership officer; Third Place, Antelope Valley, Chris Coyne (U.S. Air Force), publicity officer

• Large: First Place: St. Louis, Nic Moffitt, membership officer; Second Place: Orange County, Robert Welge (Robert’s Engineering Development), membership officer; Third Place: San Diego, Nick Candrella (Naval Air Warfare Center), section secretary

• Very Large: First Place: Los Angeles-Las Vegas, Aldo Martinez Martinez, membership officer; Second Place: Greater Huntsville, Theresa Jehle, membership officer; Third Place: Rocky Mountain, Marshall Lee (Sypris Electronics), membership officer

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, Di Ena Davis, public policy officer; Second Place: Vandenberg, Michelle Itzel (Millenium Engineering and Integration Company), section chair; Third Place, China Lake, Steven Goad, public policy officer

• Small: First Place: Northwest Florida, Michael Kelton (U.S. Air Force), public policy officer; Second Place: Palm Beach, Kevin Simmons (The Weiss School), public policy officer; Third Place: Utah, Scott Stebbins, section chair

• Medium: First Place: Antelope Valley, Patrick Clark (Lockheed Martin Aeronautics), public policy officer; Second Place: Tucson, Michelle Rouch (Artwork by Rouch), section chair; Third Place: Wichita, Vicki Johnson (Spirit Aerosystems, Inc), membership officer

• Large: First Place: Northern Ohio, Victor Canacci (Jacobs Technology Inc), public policy officer; Second Place: Cape Canaveral, Helen Petrucci, public policy officer; Third Place: St. Louis, Frank Youkhana, public policy officer

• Very Large: First Place: Greater Huntsville, Naveen Vetcha (ERC Incorporated), public policy officer; Second Place: Hampton Roads, Steven Dunn (Jacobs Technology Inc) and Jake Tynis (Analytical Mechanics Associates), public policy officers; Third Place: Rocky Mountain, Tracy Copp (Ball Aerospace), public policy officer

The STEM K–12 Award is presented to sections that have developed and implemented an outstanding STEM K–12 outreach program that provides quality education resources for K–12 teachers in the STEM subject areas. The winners are:

• Very Small: First Place: Delaware, Kelly Storrs (Northrop Grumman), STEM K–12 outreach officer; Second Place: Vandenberg, Thomas Stevens (U.S. Air Force), STEM K-12 outreach officer; Third Place: China Lake, Michael Petersen (NAVAIR), section vice chair

• Small: First Place: Northwest Florida, Judith Sherrill, STEM K-12 outreach officer; Second Place: Palm Beach, Shawna Christenson, STEM K–12 outreach officer; Third Place: Savannah, Jessica Swann (Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation), STEM K–12 outreach officer

• Medium: First Place: Tucson, Elishka Jepson (Raytheon Missile Systems), STEM K–12 outreach officer; Second Place: Antelope Valley, Jason Lechniak (NASA), section chair and Robert Jensen (Sierrra Lobo, Inc), STEM K-12 officer

• Large: First Place: St. Louis, Jackie Blumer (Greenville Junior High School), STEM K–12 outreach officer; Second Place: San Diego; Rich Kenney (AeroED Group), STEM K-12 Officer; Third Place: Orange County, Janet Koepke, Binay Pandey, and Ed Rocha, STEM K–12 outreach officers

• Very Large: First Place: Hampton Roads, Karen Berger (NASA) and Amanda Chou (NASA), STEM K-12 outreach officers; Second Place: Greater Huntsville, Ragini Acharya (Raytheon Technologies), STEM K-12 outreach officer; Third Place: Los Angeles-Las Vegas, Dean Davis, STEM K-12 officer

The Section-Student Branch Partnership Award recognizes the most effective and innovative collaboration between the professional section members and student branch members.

• Very Small: First Place: Delaware, Daniel Nice (Northrop Grumman Corporation), section chair; Second Place: Vandenberg, Anthony Touchette (U.S Air Force), program officer; Third Place: Wisconsin, Robert Michalak (Sierra Nevada Corporation), university liaison

• Small: First Place: Northwest Florida, Judith Sherrill, STEM K-12 outreach officer; Second Place: Palm Beach, Kevin Simmons, public policy officer, and Randy Parsley (Pratt & Whitney-Rocketdyne), section chair; Third Place: Sydney, Cole Scott-Curwood (University of Sydney), student branch representative

• Medium: First Place: Tucson, Teresa Clement (Raytheon Technologies), section vice chair; Second Place; Wichita, Linda Kliment (Wichita State University), education officer; Third Place: Antelope Valley, Robert Jensen (Sierrra Lobo, Inc), STEM K-12 officer, and Kasthuri Sivagnanam, university liaison

• Large: First Place: St. Louis, Charles Svoboda (The Boeing Company), education officer; Second Place, San Diego, Kimberly Painter (NAVAIR), section chair; Third Place, Atlanta, Aaron Harcrow, membership officer

• Very Large: First Place, Los Angeles-Las Vegas, Chandrashekhar Sonwane (Aerojet Rocketdyne), section chair; Second Place: Pacific Northwest, Adriana Blom-Schieber (Boeing Commercial Airplanes); Third Place (tie): Dayton/Cincinnati, Aaron Altman (AFRL) and Krista Gerhardt (U.S. Air Force), eduction officers; Third Place (tie) Greater Huntsville, Brittany Searcy, university liaison; Third Place (tie): Hampton Roads, Manuel Diaz (National Institute of Aerospace), Forrest Miller (Old Dominion University), and Julie Deutsch (Virginia Tech), student branch liaisons

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: First Place: Delaware, Taylor Coleman (University of Delaware), young professional officer; Second Place: Wisconsin, Michael Carkin (Sierra Nevada Corporation), section chair; Third Place: Vandenberg, Anthony Touchette (U.S Air Force), program officer

• Small: First Place: Northwest Florida, Ryan Sherrill, young professional officer; Second Place: Utah, Jacob Hopkins, young professional officer; Third Place (tie): Savannah, Scott Terry (Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation); Third Place (tie): Sydney, Divya Jindal, young professional officer

• Medium: First Place: Antelope Valley, Joseph Piotrowski (Millenium Engineering and Integration) and Patrick Clark (Lockheed Martin Aeronautics), public policy officer; Second Place: Tucson, Michael Hotto, young professional officer; Third Place: Wichita, Julie-Elisa Acosta (Spirit Aerosystems), young professional officer

• Large: First Place: St. Louis, Stephen Clark (The Boeing Company), young professional officer; Second Place: San Diego, Zachary Annala, young professional officer; Third Place: Atlanta, Jeremy Young (Generation Orbit), young professional officer

• Very Large: First Place: Los Angeles-Las Vegas, Moises Seraphin, young professional officer; Second Place (tie): Greater Huntsville, Lindsey Blair, young professional officer; Second Place (tie): Rocky Mountain, Alexandra Dukes (Lockheed Martin Space Systems), young professional section 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: Delaware, Daniel Nice, section chair. First State, First Step Viewing. As E-week was winding down, the screening of the aerospace documentary “First State, First Step” was the one last hoorah of the week for the AIAA Delaware Section. This event was a joint sponsored event, with the students of ASAE at the University of Delaware. With approximately 30 people in attendance, Michael Oates, director and moderator of the film, revealed the impact such a small state had on the space race and how it helped to put the first humans on the moon. The video captured the contributions of the many people who helped, from those who sewed the space suits to the leaders of Gore and ILC, and the engineers involved. The close-up view of those involved in that era really stirred up an effervescence of energy as we look the moon and beyond once again. Following the screening, a Q&A session was held with ILC Dover marketing director, Daniel Klopp, and the film director.

• Small: Northwest Florida, Eugen Toma, section chair. Transit of Mercury. While the planet Mercury passes in front of the sun at regular intervals, the morning of 11 November 2019 presented a unique opportunity as the passing was visible during the daytime from northwest Florida. Dr. John Fay set up his telescope with solar filter at Lincoln Park in Valparaiso, FL, where scouts from Cub Scout Pack 52, students from Edge Elementary, and anyone else who was interested could watch Mercury's transit. The transit was a unique opportunity as the next visual passing of Mercury from Florida will not occur until 2049. The event was well attended by the Scouts, their families, and their leaders. For Tiger Scouts that attended, this event satisfied an elective requirement toward the "Sky is the Limit" merit badge.

• Medium: Wichita, Wilfredo Cortez, section chair. AIAA Young Professionals Tour Series. The AIAA Young Professionals Tour Series served to provide young professionals with a glimpse into their local industry. Cortez worked with local industry to coordinate tours of production lines, labs, wind tunnels, and museums. These tours served to show young professionals local company capability, the history of flight, and testing capabilities in the Wichita vicinity. The tours also allowed companies to showcase their capabilities and attempt to recruit new talent. Young professionals could view companies of interest before deciding to apply for a job there.

• Large: St. Louis, James Guglielmo, section chair. A Practical Guide to Wind-Tunnel Testing Lecture and Tour. The event was presented in two parts. In Part 1, Mathew Rueger presented A Practical Guide to Wind Tunnel Testing, held in a cafeteria on the Boeing campus. His lecture provided an overview of the concepts of wind-tunnel testing, types of tests and facilities, and recent trends. The evening concluded with an open forum discussion of the use of CFD and wind tunnels in the development of flight vehicles. Part 2 was a tour of the Boeing Polysonic Wind Tunnel (PSWT). The name “Polysonic” derives from the ability to provide test conditions in the subsonic, transonic, supersonic, and hypersonic flow regimes. Over its 60-year history, the PSWT has played a key role in the development of major programs such as Gemini, F-4, F-15, F-18, Delta Rocket, X-51, and more. PSWT staff members Mark Kammeyer, Rob Spencer, Tom vonHatten, and Rob Whiting led four groups of 15-20 guests each through the facility, which is a 4-foot blow-down wind tunnel. The wind tunnel tour lasted almost three hours.

• Very Large: Rocky Mountain, Merri Sanchez, section chair. Apollopalooza. Wings Over the Rockies Museum invited the section to participate in Apollopalooza – a weeklong regional celebration of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing and future human space exploration. The section staffed a membership table throughout the week. Adjacent to the membership table, they organized a felt storyboard and asked students to tell their space exploration story by making felt shapes of planets, astronauts, and spacecraft. Every morning they challenged visitors (kids, parents ,and grandparents alike) to design, build, and test a sturdy, but lightweight “lunar lander” of gumdrops and toothpicks. Over 200 “engineers” participated. They also offered two-hour “Orbital Confusion” workshops for high school students and a half-day workshop for teachers as part of “Apollo University,” a weeklong continuing education program.

Honorable Mention: Greater Huntsville, Charles Simpson, section chair. AIAA Greater Huntsville Inaugural Remembrance Event. The Greater Huntsville Section held an inaugural Remembrance Event to honor the section's departed members who are memorialized in the US Space & Rocket Center (USSRC) Saturn V courtyard. The section began a program during the 2017 section year to purchase an inscribed memorial brick in the Saturn V Courtyard for departed section members. This Remembrance Event was the first ceremony to be held at the courtyard to bring AIAA members, coworkers, family, and friends together to remember our departed colleagues.

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