AIAA has announced the winners of the 2026 Sustained Service Awards. The award recognizes sustained, significant service and contributions to AIAA by members of the Institute. The 2026 recipients are:
Melissa Carter, NASA Langley Research Center
For sustained leadership, service, and contributions to the Hampton Roads Section, Region I, and AIAA national as HRS officer, technical committee member, conference organizer, and conference session chair.
Carter became an AIAA student member at Penn State in 1997. She held many positions in the Hampton Roads Section, including Young Professional Committee Chair and Section Chair. She is a member of the Inlets, Nozzles, and Propulsion System Integration Technical Committee and served two years as Chair. Carter started working at NASA Langley Research Center as a co-op student in 1998, converted to a full-time employee in 2000, and is retiring in January 2026.
David Casbeer, Air Force Research Laboratory
For leadership advancing AIAA’s focus on autonomy and intelligent systems in aerospace.
Casbeer, a 20-year member of AIAA, heads the UAV Cooperative and Intelligent Control Team at the Air Force Research Laboratory. His team works to develop enabling technology for autonomous UAVs, supporting future Air Force missions.
Wayne Hurwitz, Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems
For sustained leadership and dedicated service to AIAA at the national level through significant contributions to Corporate Membership advocacy, the Air Breathing Propulsion TC, Propulsion & Energy Group, TAD leadership, and the Ethics Committee.
Hurwitz is the Northrop Grumman Fellow for Propulsion. He has served as a manager or IPT leader on a range of military aircraft programs. Hurwitz is an AIAA Associate Fellow and Deputy Director for the AIAA Propulsion and Energy (P&E) Group. A past chair of the AIAA Ethics Committee, he served as Director of the P&E Group and chair of the Air Breathing Propulsion Technical Committee. Hurwitz is the 2023 recipient of the Engineer’s Council Jack Northrop Spirit of Innovation Award.
Elizabeth Lee-Rausch, NASA Langley Research Center
For sustained leadership, service, and contributions at the section and national levels as a Hampton Roads Section officer, Integration subcommittee leader, and journal associate editor.
Lee-Rausch is the Chief Engineer for the AeroSciences Division at NASA Langley Research Center. She received her B.S. in aerospace engineering from Auburn University in 1987 and her M.S. in aeronautics and astronautics from Purdue University in 1992. Lee-Rausch has spent most of her career at Langley as a Research Engineer working on the application and validation of CFD tools for large-scale aerospace systems.
Michael Oppenheimer, Air Force Research Laboratory
For sustained leadership, service, and contributions to the Dayton/Cincinnati Section, Region III, and AIAA national.
Oppenheimer is a Senior Electronics Engineer at the Air Force Research Laboratory and an AIAA Associate Fellow. He has performed flight control research on reusable launch vehicles and flapping wing micro air vehicles, as well as development of control allocation techniques for multiple applications. Oppenheimer holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Akron and a Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology.
Kerri Phillips, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
For sustained leadership and service through Technical, Ethics, and Public Policy Committees; the AIAA DEFENSE Forum Executive Steering Committee; and outreach at the section, regional, and national levels of AIAA.
Phillips serves as Program Area Manager for Threats and Intelligence in the National Security Space Mission Area at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. Formerly APL’s Chief Scientist for Air and Missile Defense, she is an AIAA Associate Fellow and recognized expert in missile guidance and control. She was recently inducted into West Virginia University Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering’s Academy of Distinguished Alumni for her technical and leadership achievements.
Joshua Rovey, University of Illinois
For sustained leadership, service, and contributions to the Illinois Section, Region III, and AIAA national.
Rovey is Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Illinois and Director of the Illinois Space Grant Consortium. He is an Associate Fellow and a member of the Electric Propulsion Technical Committee and the Publications Committee. He spent several years as an associate editor of the Journal of Propulsion and Power.
Todd Treichel, Sierra Space
For exemplary leadership, dedicated service, and significant contributions to the Wisconsin Section, Region III, and the AIAA national organization.
Treichel is an Operations Manager at Sierra Space with over two decades of experience spanning quality, reliability, environmental testing, manufacturing, and design engineering. Notable spaceflight contributions include ISS payloads, Cygnus & HTV-X spacecraft, and Mars landers. Since founding the AIAA Rocket Science STEM short courses in 2010, Treichel has continued to lead this Wisconsin-based educational initiative. He is an AIAA Associate Fellow, Wisconsin Section chair, and recipient of the NASA Silver Achievement Medal.
