The Council Nominating Committee has selected candidates for next year’s openings on the AIAA Council of Directors. Elections will be held January/February 2024. Council Nominating Committee Chair Laura Richard and AIAA Governance and Executive Operations Administrator Susan Silva confirmed the names of the candidates who will appear on the 2024 ballot.
Integration and Outreach Activities Division
Director–Elect Young Professional Group
Taylor Fazzini, Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems
Regional Engagement Activities Division
Director–Region III
Peggy Cornell, NASA Glenn Research Center
Director–Region VI
Cristian Calugarita, BijuSoft
Oleg Yakimenko, Naval Postgraduate School
Technical Activities Division
Director–Aerospace Design and Structures Group
Dawn Phillips, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
Masoud Rais-Rohani, University of Maine
Director–Aerospace Sciences Group
Christopher Cotting, EpiSys Science, Inc.
Martiqua Post, NASA
The AIAA Foundation has been igniting students’ interest in aerospace for over 25 years. Educator awards and grants provide K-12 educators with the resources they need to foster enthusiasm for aerospace in their classrooms. At the university level, the Foundation provides real-world experience through student conferences, the Diversity Scholars Program, design competitions, and Design/Build/Fly, as well as awarding over $100,000 in scholarships and graduate awards.
In 2023 the AIAA Foundation proudly supported:
• 644 university students at seven Regional Student Conferences
• 58 university students through the Diversity Scholars Program at 2022 ASCEND, AIAA SciTech Forum, and AIAA AVIATION Forum
• 2,565 university students through Design/Build/Fly and Design Competitions
• $100,000 in scholarships and graduate awards
• $75,000 in K-12 educator grants and awards
Our new K-12 partnerships are having a significant impact.
• The ExGen program, a partnership with Estes Rockets and the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA), provides K-12 educators with free, engaging classroom-ready lessons and curriculum storylines to immerse students in real-life applications of STEM while exploring various concepts in aerospace, engineering, and rocketry and has influenced 540,000 K-12 students.
• Students To Launch (S2L), a partnership with First Light, Griffin Communications Group, and Oregon State University, inspires middle and high school students with the wonders of space. S2L invites students from underrepresented and underserved communities to engage in NASA mission-inspired events – from hands-on afterschool activities to attending rocket launches at NASA Kennedy Space Center – and has influenced 21,888 middle school students.
On Giving Tuesday, please consider helping us reach our goal of raising $75,000 to develop the next generation of aerospace leaders. With your support, we are looking forward to making an even bigger impact next year! Donate at aiaa.org/foundation.
The AIAA Colorado School of Mines Student Branch hosted the Pathfinder Conference on 16 September. This free event was conceived to enlighten students from diverse backgrounds about the myriad career opportunities in the aerospace sector. About 100 students from community colleges and high schools throughout Colorado attended.
A highlight of the conference was a panel discussion titled “The Many Paths to Aerospace,” including Robin Bruce, president of the Colorado Council of Black Nurses; Anthony Clark, assistant director of Scholarship Programs at the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals; Zyola Mix, an opto-mechanical engineering technical specialist at Ball Aerospace; and Brian Ysasaga, a special programs systems integration and test engineer at Lockheed Martin. These professionals provided invaluable insights into their unique experiences as individuals from underrepresented communities in the aerospace domain and imparted advice to the attendees.
The day also featured an enlightening lecture by Abbud Madrid from the Colorado School of Mines’ Space Resources Center. He provided an overview of the center’s work and passionately encouraged the students to chase their dreams.
The Exhibit Hall featured a diverse range of industry stakeholders, academic institutions, and student organizations, all poised to share knowledge and opportunities in the aerospace industry. Among the exhibitors were Ursa Major Technologies, ULA, UCCS admissions, Spartan College, the Department of Electrical Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines, and the Colorado School of Mines chapter of NSBE. To foster engagement, students were provided with bingo cards, prompting them to interact with exhibitors and partake in various activities. The completed cards were eligible for entry into a raffle.
Feedback from the conference was overwhelmingly positive. We would like to extend our gratitude to the AIAA Rocky Mountain Section for awarding us the Diversity Grant, which played a significant role in making this event possible. We hope the section will continue to support such initiatives and spearhead the planning of this conference annually, enabling it to rotate among different campuses.
In addition to exploring the use of aerospace technology for the benefit of society, the AIAA Society and Aerospace Technology Outreach Committee (SAT OC) is also examining the relationship and influence that society, culture, and the arts have on aerospace technology. In a new event on 16 November, AIAA and SAT OC will collaborate to host a free webinar on the U.S. aerospace workforce. The global workforce has changed significantly over the past few years, and we’ll explore some of the challenges and opportunities. Against a COVID-19 pandemic backdrop and changes in the aerospace sector, conversations about the aerospace workforce are more important than ever. Moderated by Amir Gohardani, vice president and Space Thought Leader, Deloitte, the session features Digna Carballosa, Talent Services Director, NASA; Mike French, vice president for Space Systems, Aerospace Industries Association (AIA); and Janet W. Grondin, chief executive officer, Stellar Solutions.
More information can be found at: aiaa.org/SciTech/program under What’s New on the dropdown menu.
Diversity Corner
Name: Daniel Perez (AIAA Young Professional Member)
Notable Contributions: Perez is a Senior Principal Test Engineer at Northrop Grumman. Before coming to Northrop, he worked as a flight test engineer at NAVAIR. Perez holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rochester Institute of Technology and an M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Purdue University.
Potential Societal Impact of Contributions: Perez is working on different assignments that span the entire lifecycle of AARGM-ER missile program and other derivatives. Prior to this assignment, he worked at Northrop’s Palmdale facility as a System Test Engineer on all the different High Altitude Long Endurance UAV platforms, such as Global Hawk, Triton, and NATO AGS. At NAVAIR, he worked on F-35B, F-35C, and P8A. Perez has a strong background in flight test along with broad development and manufacturing experience in military aviation. He currently serves as the Defense Systems Sector Chair for the Adelante Employee Resource Group (ERG) (2021–2023) and participated in the company’s Mentoring Technical Protégé (MTP) program for the 2023 class.
*In collaboration with the AIAA Diversity and Inclusion Working Group and Claudine Phaire, the AIAA Society and Aerospace Technology Outreach Committee is highlighting prominent members of the wider aerospace community in the Diversity Corner.
Indian aerospace and fluid dynamics scientist Roddam Narasimha’s AIAA membership level was incorrect in his obituary in the September issue of the AIAA Bulletin. He was elevated to AIAA Fellow in 1993. AIAA regrets the error and has updated the Aerospace America website with the correction information.
Robert (Bob) J. Englar, 76, died on 29 March 2021.
Englar earned a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering in 1967 from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He served in the Virginia Polytechnic Institute ROTC guard and completed a co-opt internship with the U.S. Navy. In 1973, he earned an M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Maryland.
Englar worked for the Department of Navy, followed by the David Taylor Naval Ship Research and Development Center in Carderock, Maryland. He then worked at Lockheed Martin in Marietta, GA, and Georgia Institute of Technology Research Institute (GTRI). He had over 44+ years of experience in aerodynamic research, much of it was circulation control related, advanced concept development, and experimental techniques.
Englar was a Principal Research Engineer at GTRI and was responsible for research project direction and development of advanced technologies in aerodynamics. He had originated, conducted, and/or directed over 134 such sponsored research programs at GTRI since January 1989. He was Principal Investigator leading a NASA program on circulation control aerodynamics for subsonic fixed-wing aircraft and a co-investigator on a NASA program on pneumatic powered lift aircraft. He held 11 patents and 19 invention disclosures on these advanced concepts and published 209 papers and technical reports. He also taught senior design courses in the Georgia Tech Aerospace Engineering and Mechanical Engineering Schools.
An AIAA Associate Fellow, Englar was a founding member of the AIAA Applied Aerodynamics Technical Committee. He was elected AIAA Young Engineer/Scientist of the Year for his work on circulation control wing (CCW), received numerous professional awards, and lectured on the subject of powered lift and advanced concepts to government agencies, technical societies, private industry, and universities.
He was elected as a GTRI Technical Fellow because of his involvement with advanced aerodynamics and related advanced concepts. He led the development of advanced CCW airfoils and other pneumatic concepts, including full-scale flight testing of the A-6/CCW STOL Demonstrator aircraft. After retiring in 2013, Englar continued to act as Advanced Aerodynamics Consultant, particularly in the development of advanced pneumatic aerodynamic technologies for ground and water-based vehicles as well as advanced STOL and high-performance aircraft.
He led the revival of the Willard Custer Channel Wing for wind tunnel experiments directing airflow, a study that was funded by NASA and for which he was featured in Air & Space Magazine, and recently co-authored the book History of the Channel Wing with Joel Custer, the grandson of the original developer, Willard Custer. He also worked as a consultant on the X-plane project DARPA – CRANE (Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effectors).
Ming Chang, AIAA Aeronautics Domain Lead, died 1 October. He was 69 years old.
After spending most of his childhood in Hong Kong and Brazil, Chang immigrated to the United States, and attended college at the Polytechnic Institute of New York, where he received his bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering. Chang worked for Boeing for a short period of time before pursuing his master’s degree in aerospace engineering at Cornell University, graduating in 1981. Chang then accepted a job as an aerospace engineer at Lockheed Corporation.
Between 1991 and 1994, he worked for Martin Marietta and Northrop Grumman before returning to work at Lockheed Martin in 1994. Chang excelled within Lockheed Martin where he assumed various roles, starting as an aerospace engineer associate and later managing the Aero, Acoustics and CFD group. He also was the Flight Sciences IPT lead for the JASSM (Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile) and Nano UAV program. He was a Lockheed Martin Fellow specializing in Aeronautics. In that capacity he managed flow control programs for drag reduction such as plasma flow control and the Air Force Research Laboratory engineered surfaces, materials, and coatings (ESMC) program.
In December 2017, Chang started a position as a senior director at General Atomics in San Diego. His responsibilities included working on the Predator product line, developing real time pilot-in-the-loop simulations for handling qualities assessment, assembling the company’s first remote flight test control room for Predator flight test monitoring and participation, and developing capture strategies for CRADS such as ASAPTR and SkyBorg programs. He retired in 2021 as Senior Director of Flight Technologies, overseeing aero, propulsion, CFD, and flight controls/GNC activities.
After he retired in 2021, he became the inaugural AIAA Aeronautics Domain Lead, where he set Advanced Air Mobility, Carbon Emissions and Sustainability, Certification, and High-Speed Flight as key topics for the engagement of volunteer-led domain task forces and external programming opportunities.
An AIAA Associate Fellow, Chang was also a member of the AIAA Applied Aerodynamics Technical Committee for six years. In his position as Aeronautics Domain Lead, he was the chair of the 2023 AIAA AVIATION Forum Guiding Coalition.
