The Executive Nominating Committee has selected candidates for next year’s election of AIAA President-Elect and the Council Nominating Committee has selected candidates for next year’s openings on the AIAA Council of Directors.
Elections will be held 27 January–19 February 2021. Executive Nominating Committee Chair Paul Nielsen, Council Nominating Committee Chair John Blanton, and AIAA Governance Director Christopher Horton confirmed the names of the candidates who will appear on the 2021 ballot.
Integration and Outreach Activities Division
Director-Elect–Young Professionals Group
Alexandra Dukes, Lockheed Martin Space Systems
Kaela Martin, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Cheryl O’Keefe, MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Regional Engagement Activities Division
Director–Region III
Peggy A. Cornell, NASA Glenn Research Center
Eric J. Ruggiero, GE Aviation
Director–Region VI
Melinda E. Tolle, Northrop Grumman Corporation
Oleg A. Yakimenko, Naval Postgraduate School
Technical Activities Division
Director–Aerospace Design and Structures Group
Jeanette L. Domber, Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.
Masoud Rais-Rohani, University of Maine
Director–Aerospace Sciences Group
M. Christopher Cotting, U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School
Lesley A. Weitz, The MITRE Corporation
The Executive Nominating Committee is pleased to present the slate of candidates for President-Elect for the 2021 election.
Laura J. McGill, Raytheon Missiles and Defense
George C. Nield, Commercial Space Technologies, LLC
The AIAA Diversity Scholars Program was established in 2018 by the AIAA Diversity and Inclusion Working Group to provide opportunities for underrepresented university students who have an interest in aerospace the chance to attend an AIAA forum or event. Since then, 156 scholarships have been awarded to university students. Here is a peek at what some of our alumni have accomplished since being a part of the program.
Sarah Adewumi
University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Since being a Diversity Scholar, I have utilized the tools provided to me at the SciTech Forum to propel me to succeed in the STEM industry. I am now a 3x intern for NASA (NASA Langley Research Center, NASA Glenn Research Center, and NASA Ames Research Center) and am graduating early with my bachelors degree in Aviation Science with a concentration in Management. I am extremely grateful to the AIAA Diversity Scholars Program for granting me the opportunity to have been welcomed into the Aerospace industry, and I can honestly say my life changed after the SciTech Forum experience.
Sarah Ketchersid
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach
Since receiving the scholarship, I was also able to intern over the summer with Northrop Grumman in Melbourne, FL, as a vehicle engineering design intern. Being a Diversity Scholar and having a chance to attend IAC 2019 was monumental for me, and allowed me to solidify my goals for the future. I had no idea what to expect from the industry, and the networking, technical papers, and mentors that I still keep in contact with gave me both hope and motivation to keep pushing forward, especially with the dampener COVID-19 has put on everything.
Gustavo Fujiwara
University of Illinois
Since receiving the scholarship, I have started a full-time job at Amazon Prime Air working on developing a Drone for Package Delivery, where I am currently working within the Aircraft Design team.
Payton Barnwell
Florida Polytechnic University
Since becoming an AIAA diversity scholar, accepted a full time offer at The Spaceship Company where I am now an Aero-Thermal Flight Sciences Engineer who also sits at the Mission Control console for SS2/WK2 [SpaceShipTwo/White Knight Two] flights. Being named an AIAA Diversity Scholar expanded my network of aerospace professionals exponentially and gave me mentors & friends that I’ll have for years to come.
Dayana Abdullah-Smoot
Texas Southern University
It was an honor to be accepted in the Diversity Scholar Program during the Fall of 2018. This November I will be graduating with my PhD in Environmental Toxicology from Texas Southern University and I hope to find a job working with Environmental Control and Life Support System. Being in the Diversity Scholar Program has boosted my confidence, encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and opened my eyes to a world of possibilities I could have never imagined.
Celina Arellano Correa
University of California, Merced
Receiving the scholarship to attend the AIAA SciTech Forum definitely helped define what I wanted to pursue in the future, it allowed me to see the endless opportunities within the aerospace industry and gave me the opportunity to expand my network. Since receiving the scholarship I have completed a research fellowship at UC Irvine’s Advanced Power and Energy Program.
Kaylen Woods
Pennsylvania State University
The AIAA Diversity Scholarship actually changed my career path entirely. I always tell people “a really amazing aerospace conference” led to me changing my major!
When I came to Orlando for the forum, I was a sophomore in Astrophysics from Penn State. I didn’t really know a lot about the aerospace industry, but I knew that It would be a chance to network and a chance to learn about a lot of new areas of science and engineering I hadn’t heard of before.
While I was there, I learned about the field of Space Weather, which is a field I am heavily pursuing now as a senior in college. I switched my major to Atmospheric Science and kept my minor in Astrophysics to best prepare myself for a future in this field. Since then, I have had an internship at UCLA working on Martian Space Weather, and this past summer, I was a NASA intern in the Heliophysics department. The Diversity Scholarship opened up my eyes to opportunities like these and has really prepared me for my next steps!
A’liyah Fleeks
Harris-Stowe State University
Being selected as an AIAA Diversity Scholars changed my life for the better. I am now currently a Co-Op Systems Engineering Intern for Lockheed Martin Space and will be returning as a Summer 2021 Systems Engineering Intern. I am grateful for this program because it was the kickstart to my dreams!
Rupal Nigam
University of Michigan
Since receiving the scholarship, I have started my PhD program at the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign. Receiving the Diversity Scholarship helped me establish valuable connections and gain deeper insight into the space industry, all of which have supported me in accomplishing the above.
Jennifer Esparza
Iowa State University
As a diversity scholar for the 2019 AIAA AVIATION Forum, I had the amazing experience of getting to know Aurora Flight Sciences. In fact, the experience was so amazing that I spent the summer of 2020 interning for them! Through my internship, I learned more about the aerospace industry as well as a little more about myself. While I have all intention to jump into the industry to work full-time after I complete my undergraduate degree, it is because of the Aviation Forum and Aurora Flight Sciences that I have decided to pursue my Masters degree shortly after. Being a scholar has helped set flight to my future education and career goals!
Rebeca S. Griego
California State University, Long Beach
I was awarded the AIAA Diversity Scholars Scholarship in October 2019 and I was able to attend IAC 2019! The opportunity was truly amazing and helped me grow both academically and professionally. Thanks to AIAA and attending IAC 2019 I was able to start doing an independent research project in orbital debris. In addition, through networking at the event, I was able to find a Summer 2020 internship with Jacobs at NASA’s Johnson Space Center’s Orbital Debris Program Office.
“As a society, we need to support, invest in, and grow the untapped capacities and potential of underrepresented communities,” said AIAA Executive Director Dan Dumbacher. “We must bring those views, those perspectives, and those talents to address some of the aerospace industry’s most vexing challenges. We are thrilled that The Boeing Company has agreed to sponsor the AIAA Diversity Program for future events.”
Diversity scholarship applications are now open for the virtual AIAA SciTech Forum in January 2021. For information visit aiaa.org/get-involved/committees-groups/Diversity-and-Inclusion/Diversity-Scholars-Program.
The Joseph Freitag Sr. Awards were recently presented to Laurenz Siebold, Johannes Klösel, and Tim Lietzenmayer of the Daimler Ausbildung and Training School, Stuttgart, Germany. Each student was awarded 1,200 EUR.
The faculty of the Daimler school selected students from those who have been accepted to have a higher education to receive the award based on the criteria that characterized the life of Freitag: educational achievement, self-initiative, craftsmanship approach, team player, and determination and perseverance.
AIAA would like to thank the Freitag family for their generous donation of the remainder of the Joseph Freitag Sr. Memorial Fund to the AIAA Foundation, which helps advance AIAA’s mission to help aerospace professionals and their organizations succeed.
AIAA technical committees (TCs) and integration and outreach committees (IOCs) have selected the best professional and student technical papers presented at recent AIAA forums. With a standard award criteria and selection process from the respective committees, the following technical papers were selected as the “best,” and the authors were presented with a Certificate of Merit. The papers can be found online at the AIAA Aerospace Research Central (arc.aiaa.org), marked as “Best Paper.”
2018 AIAA Hypersonic Best Paper
“Turbulence Dynamics in the Merging Process of Supersonic Streamwise Vortices” (AIAA 2018-5161) by Fabrizio Vergine, San Jose State University; Davide Vigano and Luca Maddalena, University of Texas at Arlington
2019 AIAA Aerospace Power Systems Best Paper Award
“Solar Power for Deep-Space Applications: State of Art and Development” (AIAA 2019-4236) by Andreea Boca, Clara A. MacFarland, Robert S. Kowalczyk, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
2019 AIAA Adaptive Structures Best Paper
“Off-Design Sonic Boom Performance for Low-Boom Aircraft” (AIAA 2019-0606) by David S. Lazzara, Todd Magee, Hao Shen, James H. Mabe, Boeing Research & Technology
2019 AIAA Aircraft Operation Best Paper Award
“Approach for Representing the Aircraft Noise Impacts of Concentrated Flight Tracks” (AIAA 2019-3186) by Alison Yu and R. John Hansman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2019 AIAA Applied Aerodynamics Best Student Paper
“Experimental Validation of the Unsteady CFD-generated Airwake of the HMS Queen Elizabeth” (AIAA 2019-3029) by Neale A. Watson, Mark D. White, Ieuan Owen, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom
2019 AIAA Atmospheric and Space Environments Best Paper Award
“High Ice Water Content in Tropical Cyclones during NASA/FAA Radar Flight Campaigns with Comparison to Numerical Simulations (AIAA 2019-3304) by Fred Palmer, Steve Harrah, and George Switzer, NASA Langley Research Center; Justin Strickland and Patricia Hunt, Analytical Mechanics Associates, Inc.
2019 AIAA Atmospheric and Space Environments Best Paper
“Remote Sensing of Spacecraft Potential at Geosynchronous Orbit using Secondary and Photo Electrons” (AIAA 2019-0311) by Miles T. Bengtson and Hanspeter Schaub, University of Colorado
2019 AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Best Paper
“Effects of Model Simplification on Wind Reconstruction During Open-Loop Longitudinal Flight” (AIAA 2019-1599) by Hunter G. McClelland and Craig A. Woolsey, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
2019 AIAA Structures Best Paper Award/Collier Research Hypersizer
“Experimental and Numerical Study on the Low Velocity Impact Damage of a Shear Dominated Composite Laminate” (AIAA 2019-1269) by Shiyao Lin and Anthony M. Waas, University of Michigan
2019 AIAA Computational Fluid Dynamics Conference Best Paper Award
“Geometry Modeling for Unstructured Mesh Adaptation” (AIAA 2019-2946) by Michael A. Park, William Kleb, and William T. Jones, NASA Langley Research Center; Joshua A. Krakos and Todd Michal, The Boeing Company; Adrien Loseille, INRIA; Robert Haimes, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and John F. Dannenhoffer, Syracuse University
2019 AIAA Design Engineering Best Paper
“An Exploratory Design Tool for Lattice Airplane Wing Components” (AIAA 2019-3067) by Patrick Riley and Samar Malek, United States Naval Academy
2019 AIAA Electric Propulsion Best Paper Award
“High Power Demonstration of a 100 kW Nested Hall Thruster System (AIAA 2019-3809) by Sarah W. H. Shark, Aerojet Rocketdyne; Scott J. Hall, Vantage Partners, NASA Glenn Research Center; Benjamin A. Jorns, University of Michigan; Richard R. Hofer and Dan M. Goebel, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
2019 AIAA Fluid Dynamics Best Paper Award
“Oscillating Shock Impinging on a Flat Plate at Mach 6” (AIAA 2019-3077) by Gaetano M. D. Currao, Liam P. McQuellin, and Andrew J. Neely, UNSW Canberra, Australia; Fabian Zander, David R. Buttsworth, and Ingo Jahn, University of Southern Queensland, Australia; Jack J. McNamara, Ohio State University
2019 AIAA Ground Testing Best Paper Award
“Characterization of Laminar Separation Bubbles using Infrared Thermography” (AIAA 2019-2808) by Dallyn W. Wynnychuk and Serhiy Yarusevych, University of Waterloo
2019 AIAA Guidance Navigation and Control Best Paper
“Vision-Based Navigation for the NASA Mars Helicopter” (AIAA 2019-1411) by David S. Bayard, Dylan T. Conway, Roland Brockers, Jeff Delaune, Larry Matthies, Håvard F. Grip, Gene Merewether, Travis Brown, and Miguel San Martin, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
2019 AIAA High Speed Air Breathing Propulsion Best Paper
“Using Computational Flow Imaging to Optimize Filtered Rayleigh Scattering Measurements of an Isolator Shock Train” (AIAA 2019-4016) by Robin L. Hunt, Cody R. Ground, Robert A. Baurle, and Paul M. Danehy, NASA Langley Research Center
2019 AIAA Hybrid Rockets Best Paper Award
“Real Time Deep Throttling Tests of a Hydrogen Peroxide Hybrid Rocket Motor” (AIAA 2019-4266) by Alessandro Ruffin, Technology for Propulsion and Innovation; Enrico Paccagnella, Marco Santi, Francesco Barato, and Daniele Pavarin, University of Padova
2019 AIAA Inlets, Nozzles, and Propulsion System Integration Best Paper Award
“Development of a Ducted Propulsor for BLI Electric Regional Aircraft – Part I: Aerodynamic Design and Analysis” (AIAA 2019-3853) by Kenneth A. Brown, Jonathan Fleming, Matthew Langford, and Wing Ng, Techsburg, Inc.; Kyle Schwartz, AVEC, Inc.; Cory Combs, Ampaire, Inc.
2019 AIAA High Speed Air Breathing Propulsion Best Paper
“Study of Parasitic Combustion in an Optically Accessible Continuous Wave Rotating Detonation Engine” (AIAA 2019-0473) by Fabian Chacon and Mirko Gamba, University of Michigan
2019 AIAA Nuclear and Future Flight Best Paper Award
“Applications of Nuclear Thermal Propulsion to Lunar Architectures” (AIAA 2019-4032) by Christopher B. Reynolds, University of Michigan; James F. Horton, Claude. R. Joyner II, Timothy Kokan, and Daniel J. H. Levack, Aerojet Rocketdyne
2019 AIAA Liquid Propulsion Best Paper Award
“Additive Manufacturing and Hot-fire Testing of Liquid Rocket Channel Wall Nozzles Using Blown Powder Directed Energy Deposition Inconel 625 and JBK-75 Alloys” (AIAA 2019-4362) by Paul R. Gradl, Christopher S. Protz, and Tal Wammen, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
2019 AIAA Modeling and Simulation Best Paper
“The Suitability of Objective Motion Criteria for Rotorcraft Manoeuvres” (AIAA 2019-0180) by Michael Jones, German Aerospace Center
2019 AIAA Modeling and Simulation Best Paper Award
“Free-Wake Based Nonlinear Aeroelastic Modeling of UAV Scale Cycloidal Rotor” (AIAA-2019-3245) by Atanu Halder and Moble Benedict, Texas A&M University
2019 AIAA Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Best Paper Award
“High-Fidelity Multidisciplinary Sensitivity Analysis Framework for Multipoint Rotorcraft Optimization” (AIAA 2019-1699) by Li Wang, NASA Langley Research Center; Boris Diskin, National Institute of Aerospace; Robert Biedron and Eric Nielsen, NASA Langley Research Center; Valentin Sonneville and Olivier Bauchau, University of Maryland
2019 AIAA Propellants and Combustion Best Paper Award
“Influence of Cross-Frequency Interactions on Nonstationary Thermoacoustic Oscillations in a Rich-Burn Gas Turbine Combustor at Elevated Pressure” (AIAA 2019-3949) by Mitchell L. Passarelli and Timothy M. Wabel, University of Toronto; Krishna Venkatesan and Arin Cross, GE Global Research; Adam M. Steinberg, Georgia Institute of Technology
2019 AIAA Plasmadynamics and Lasers Best Paper Award
“Dual-Pulse Laser Ignition Using Oxygen REMPI Preionization” (AIAA 2019-3117) by Carter Butte, Colorado State University; Ciprian Dumitrache, Centrale Supélec EM2C, France; Azer P. Yalin, Colorado State University
2019 AIAA Pressure Gain Combustion Best Paper
“Operational Stability Limits in Rotating Detonation Engine Numerical Simulations” (AIAA 2019-0748) by Daniel Paxson, NASA Glenn Research Center; and Doug Schwer, Naval Research Laboratory
2019 AIAA Sensor System and Information Fusion Best Paper
“Autonomous Wildfire Monitoring Using Airborne and Temperature Sensors in an Evidential Reasoning Framework” (AIAA 2019-2263) by Alexander A. Soderlund, Mrinal Kumar, and Chao Yang, Ohio State University
2019 AIAA Solid Rockets Best Paper Award
“Numerical Simulations of Air Inclusions Using ROBOOST Simulation Tool” (AIAA 2019-3959) by Fabrizio Ponti and Stefano Mini, University of Bologna, Forli, Italy; and Adriano Annovazzi, Avio Space Propulsion, Rome, Italy
2019 AIAA Shahyar Pirzadeh Memorial Meshing Visualization and Computational Environments Best Paper Award
“Verification of Unstructured Grid Adaptation Components” (AIAA 2019-1723) by Michael A. Park, Aravind Balan, and W. Kyle Anderson, NASA Langley Research Center; Marshall C. Galbraith, Philip C. Caplan, and Hugh A. Carson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Todd Michal, Joshua A. Krakos, and Dmitry S. Kamenetskiy, Boeing Research & Technology; Adrien Loseille and Frédéric Alauzet, INRIA Paris-Saclay; Loïc Frazza, Sorbonne Universités; and Nicolas Barral, Imperial College London
2019 AIAA Space Architecture Best Paper Award
“Space Habitat Reconfigurability: TESSERAE platform for self-aware assembly” (IAC-19.E5.1A.12×52608) by Ariel Ekblaw, Dava Newman, and Joseph Paradiso, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Anastasia Prosina, Stellar Amenities
2019 AIAA Spacecraft Structures Best Paper
“Analysis of the Column Bending Test for Bending of High Strain Composites” (AIAA 2019-1746) by Ajay Sharma, TJ Rose, Andrew Seamone, and Francisco López, University of Colorado; and Thomas Murphey, Opterus R&D
2019 ASME/Boeing Structures & Materials Award Best Paper
“Effect of Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) Manufacturing Signature on Mechanical Performance” (AIAA 2019-0516) by Minh Hoang Nguyen, Avinkrishnan Ambika Vijayachandran, Paul Davidson, and Anthony Waas, University of Michigan; Damon Call and Dongyeon Lee, Toray Composites American
2019 ASME Aerospace Division Propulsion Technical Committee Best Paper Award
“GRCop-42 Development and Hot-fire Testing Using Additive Manufacturing Powder Bed Fusion for Channel-Cooled Combustion Chambers” (AIAA 2019-4228) by Paul R. Gradl, Chris Protz, Ken Cooper, and Chance Garcia, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center; David Ellis and Laura Evans, NASA Glenn Research Center
2020 AIAA Aircraft Design Best Paper Award
“Development of an Efficient Mach=0.80 Transonic Truss-Braced Wing Aircraft” (AIAA 2020-0011) by Neal Harrison, Michael Beyar, Eric Dickey, and Kirshna Hoffman, Boeing Research and Technology; Gregory Gatlin and Sally Viken, NASA Langley Research Center
2020 AIAA Aerodynamic Measurement Technology Best Paper Award
“Extending the Frequency Limits of ‘Postage-Stamp PIV’ to MHz Rates” (AIAA 2020-2018) by Steven J. Beresh, Russel Spillers, Melissa Soehnel, and Seth Spitzer, Sandia National Laboratory
2020 AIAA Applied Aerodynamics Best Paper Award
“Examination of Pitch-Plunge Equivalence for Dynamic Stall over Swept Finite Wings” (AIAA 2020-1759) by Daniel J. Garmann and Miguel R. Visbal, Air Force Research Laboratory
2020 AIAA Gas Turbine Engines Best Paper Award
“Conjugate Heat Transfer Study of Innovative Pin-Fin Cooling Configuration” (AIAA-2019-0634) by Mohammad A. Hossain, Munevver E. Asar, Ali Ameri, and Jeffrey P. Bons (affiliations not provided)
2020 AIAA Thermophysics Best Paper Award
“Modeling Heatshield Erosion due to Dust Particle Impacts for Martian Entries” (AIAA 2020-0254) by Grant Palmer, Eric Chin, Matthias Ihme, Dirk Allofs, and Ali Gulhan, AMA, Inc. NASA Ames Research Center
2019 AIAA Aerospace Power Systems Best Student Paper Competition Award
“Hydrogen Loss Effects on Mircoreactors for Space and Planetary Nuclear Power Production” (AIAA 2019-4452) by Vedant Mehta and Patrick McClure, Los Alamos National Laboratory; and Dan Kotlyar, Georgia Institute of Technology
2019 AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Student Paper Competition
“Beneficial Effect of the Coupled Wing-Body Dynamics on Power Consumption in Butterflies” (AIAA 2019-0566) by Madhu Sridhar, Chang-kwon Kang, and David Brian Landrum, University of Alabama in Huntsville
2019 AIAA Computational Fluid Dynamics Student Paper Competition – 1st Place
“Sensitivity computation of statistically stationary quantities in turbulent flows” (AIAA 2019-3426) by Nisha Chandramoorthy and Qiqi Wang, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2019 AIAA Computational Fluid Dynamics Student Paper Competition – 2nd Place
“A Novel Flux Reconstruction Method for Diffusion Problems” (AIAA 2019-3063) by Philip E. Johnson and Eric Johnsen, University of Michigan; H.T. Huynh, NASA Glenn Research Center
2019 AIAA Computational Fluid Dynamics Student Paper Competition – 3rd Place
“Assessment of low-dissipative shock-capturing schemes for transitional and turbulent shock interactions” (AIAA 2019-3208) by David J. Lusher and Neil D. Sandham, University of Southampton
2019 AIAA David Weaver Thermophysics Best Student Paper
“Investigation of Galileo Probe Entry Heating with Coupled Radiation and Ablation” (AIAA 2019-3360) by Aaron J. Erb, Thomas K. West, and Christopher O. Johnston, NASA Langley Research Center
2019 AIAA Hybrid Rockets Best Student Paper Award
“Experimental Findings on Pre- and Post-combustion Chamber Effects in a Laboratory-scale motor” (AIAA 2019-4336) by Flora Mechentel, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory; and Brian J. Cantwell, Stanford University
2019 AIAA Propulsion Education Best Student Paper Award
“Development and Experimentation of a Laboratory-Scale Pulse Detonation Engine (PDE)” (AIAA 2019-3808) by Austin P. Murray, Tyler L. Smith, Eric D. Pittman, Grant A. Risha, and Jeffrey D. Moore, Pennsylvania State University, Altoona
2019 AIAA Solid Rockets Best Student Paper Award
“Comparative Analysis and Justification of Optimal Rocket Motor Selection in NASA USLI by Applying Newton’s Second Law to a Variable Mass Body” (AIAA 2019-4138) by Brandon Roberts, UT Space Institute; M. Sam, John A. Brand II, and Trevor S. Elliott, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
2019 AIAA Space Architecture Best Student Paper Award
“SIRONA: Sustainable Integration of Regenerative Outer-space Nature and Agriculture (ICES 2019-302) by Heather Hava, Larissa Zhou, Elizabeth M. Lombardi, Kaixin Cui, Heeyeon Joung, Sarah Aguasvivas Manzano‖, Abby King, Hayley Kinlaw, Kyri Baker, Andrew Kaufman, and Nikolaus Correll (affiliations not provided)
2019 AIAA Walter R. Lempert Student Paper Award in Diagnostics for Fluid Mechanics, Plasma Physics, and Energy Transfer
“Single-Exposure Field-of-View Extension Using Multiplexed Structured Image Capture” (AIAA 2019-0832) by Cary Smith, Jacob Harrold, Zhili Zhang, and Mark Gragston, University of Tennessee
2020 AIAA Guidance, Navigation and Control Graduate Paper Competition
“Fast Trajectory Optimization via Successive Convexification for Spacecraft Rendezvous with Integer Constrains” (AIAA 2020-1616) by Danylo Malyuta, University of Washington
2020 AIAA Harry H. and Lois G. Hilton Student Paper Award in Structures
“High-efficiency and High-fidelity Numerical Predictions of Low Velocity Impact and Compression after Impact of Laminated Composites” (AIAA-0724) by Shiyao Lin, University of Michigan
2020 AIAA Jefferson Goblet Student Paper Award
“Granular jamming as a variable stiffness mechanism and biomimetic inspiration for morphing aerostructures” (no paper number) by J. David Brigido, PhD student, Bristol Composites Institute (ACCIS)
2020 AIAA Lockheed Martin Student Paper Award in Structures
“A Methodology to Investigate Skin-Stringer Separation in Postbuckled Composite Stiffened Panels” (AIAA-0477) by Luc Kootte, Delft University of Technology
2020 AIAA Meshing Visualization and Computational Sciences Best Student Paper
“Advancing Layer Surface Mesh Generation” (AIAA 2020-0902) by Jasmeet Singh, University of British Columbia; and Carl Ollivier-Gooch, British Columbia University
2020 AIAA Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Student Paper Competition (1st Place)
“Windowing Regularization Techniques for Unsteady Aerodynamic Shape Optimization” (AIAA-2020-3130) by Steffen Schotthöfer, Beckett Yx Zhou, Tim A. Albring, and Nicolas R. Gauger, Technical University of Kaiserslautern
2020 AIAA Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Student Paper Competition (2nd Place)
Simultaneous layout and topology optimization of curved stiffened panels (AIAA 2020-3144) by Sheng Chu, Scott Townsend, and Carol Featherston, Cardiff University; and Hyunsun A. Kim, University of California, San Diego
2020 AIAA Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Student Paper Competition (3rd Place)
“Advances in the Pseudo-Time Accurate Formulation of the Adjoint and Tangent Systems for Sensitivity Computation and Design” (AIAA 2020-3136) by Emmett Padway and Dimitri J. Mavriplis, University of Wyoming, Laramie
2020 AIAA Plasmadynamics and Lasers Best Student Paper
“Complementary Laser Diagnostics of Metastable N2(A3Σu+,v) Molecules in Nonequilibrium Plasmas and in High-Speed Flows” (AIAA 2020-1743) by Elijah Jans, Ilya Gulko, Xin Yang, Terry Miller, and Igor V. Adamovich, Ohio State University
2020 AIAA Southwest Research Institute Student Paper Award in Non-Deterministic Approaches
“Toward reliable digital twins via component-based reduced-order models and interpretable machine learning” (AIAA-2020-0418) by Michael Kapteyn, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2020 AIAA/CEAS Aeroacoustics Best Student Paper Award
“Investigating the numerical stability of using an impedance boundary condition to model broadband noise scattering with acoustic liners “ (AIAA 2020-2547) by Michelle Rodio and Fang Q. Hu, Old Dominion University; and Douglas M. Nark, NASA Langley Research Center
2020 American Society for Composites Student Paper Award
Morphing Composite Cylindrical Lattices: Thermal Effects and Actuation (AIAA-0247) by Ciarán McHale, Bernal Institute, School of Engineering, University of Limerick
Angus D. McRonald died on 5 June. He was 91 years old.
McRonald served for five years in the U.K. RAF Volunteer Reserve as a student pilot, learning to fly before he could drive. He graduated with a B.S. in physics from the University of Aberdeen in 1950, and began his career in England at the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment (AWRE).
In 1954, McRonald moved to the Australian government’s Weapons Research Establishment (WRE) in Adelaide. In 1962, McRonald began a post in Sydney with the Australian Atomic Energy Commission. His love of aerospace inspired him to learn Russia for translating technical articles. In 1963, he was employed at the National Physical Laboratory in England.
In 1965, he began work at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (California) in the wind tunnel and shock tube area. McRonald earned a master’s and Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California and became an American citizen. At JPL, much of his career was spent in mission analysis and design, providing planetary trajectory and launch approval support for Voyager, Galileo, Ulysses, Cassini, MER, New Horizons, Mars 96, and Mars 98 missions. His original analysis included aero-braking, aero-gravity assist, aerocapture and hypersonic ballutes.
Following retirement from JPL in 2000, he continued to consult on JPL and NASA projects. During his 35 years at JPL, McRonald was very active with the AIAA San Gabriel Valley Section. An AIAA member since 1965, he was recognized with the AIAA Sustained Service Award in 2009.
Alexander “Mac” A. McCool Jr., 96, died on 14 July.
After high school, Mr. McCool served as a first class petty officer and machinist mate in the U.S. Navy, serving at various Naval Air stations. He received a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and a master’s degree in Engineering at Louisiana State University in 1951.
After college, he was employed by the Army Corps of Engineers in Vicksburg, MS. He transferred to the Ordinance Corps, U.S. Army in 1954 in Huntsville, where he worked in the Guided Missile Development Division at Redstone Arsenal as a propulsion engineer. He developed propulsion systems for early U.S. space launch vehicles. As chief of Engine Systems Analysis with the Army’s Ballistic Mission Agency, he was a key participant in the propulsion design of the Jupiter rocket, which placed the Explorer satellite into orbit.
In 1960, McCool transferred to NASA Marshall Space Flight Center to work with the Wernher von Braun team. He was heavily involved in the design of the propulsion systems for the Saturn launch vehicles. In 1969, as Chief of the Systems Project in NASA Marshall’s Astronautics Laboratory, he directed project engineering for the Saturn/Apollo and Skylab programs. In the 1970s, as the Director of Structures and Propulsion Laboratory, McCool assumed the leadership role in the early development of the space shuttle’s main engine and in the early 1980s, he managed the in-house development, test, and flight phases of the space shuttle solid rocket boosters. After the Challenger accident in January 1986, McCool was selected to lead the Solid Rocket Boosters recovery activity at the Kennedy Space Center. His expertise made him a valuable commodity at NASA, where he was named Director of the Safety, Reliability, Maintainability, and Quality Assurance Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center.
Mr. McCool retired in 2004 after over 50 years of service. He volunteered as an emeritus docent at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. He was recognized by AIAA with the von Braun Award for Excellence in Space Program Management in 2005.
Michael Goodyer, age 86, died on 6 September in his UK home.
He was accepted as an apprentice to Armstrong Siddeley Motors Ltd studying automobile and aeronautical engineering, and gained his HNC in Mechanical Engineering in 1954, before attending the College of Aeronautics, Cranfield in 1956, where Goodyer gained his M.Sc with a specialization in aircraft propulsion in 1958 before returning to now Bristol Siddeley Engines Ltd as Section Leader of the performance section.
In 1963 his long association with Southampton University began with his appointment as a Research Fellow to the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Promoted to Lecturer in 1966, he gained his Ph.D. in Experimental Aerodynamics in 1968 and remained in this post until his promotion to Senior Lecturer in 1978, Reader in Experimental Aerodynamics in 1985, Deputy Head of Department in 1993, and ultimately held the Acting-Head of Department position at his retirement 33 years later in 1995.
Goodyer’s innovative proposals for the use of cryogenically cooled fluids in wind tunnels, allowing smaller scale and potential for magnetic suspension, resulted in a NASA consultancy from 1970 to 1991. In the 1970s, Goodyer’s work with the practical application of cryogenic cooling for high Reynolds number aerodynamic testing and his inventive work on a stagnation pressure probe won him several NASA awards. In 1984 he received the NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement and in 1990 the NASA Space Act Award for his scientific contribution to the National Transonic Facility (NTF) at NASA Langley Research Center. Data from NTF and the European Transonic Wind-tunnel have been used in many legacy program and are still in use today advancing the design of military and commercial air vehicles.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s Goodyer was in high demand as a visiting lecturer and spent time in Japan, Taiwan, Australia, and China. He also acted as a consultant to many institutions, including British Aerospace, Vickers, the Royal Aircraft Establishment and the European Transonic Wind-tunnel (ETW) group.
In 1990 he became an AIAA Associate Fellow, and in 1994 a Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and of the Royal Aeronautical Society.
