LEGEND: ARMD NASA CENTERS
ARC = Ames Research Center
AFRC = Armstrong Flight Research Center
GRC = Glenn Research Center
HQ = Headquarters
LaRC = Langley Research Center
Technology and Innovation
Winner (Individual)
Dr. Chrysanthos Pananicolopoulos, LaRC
Awarded to Papanicolopoulos for applying his expertise in a broad range of physics-based technologies on behalf of a team that is inventing, researching and maturing a revolutionary technology for NASA. He personally investigated and solved technical challenges by performing extensive modifications to a one-of-a-kind experimental piece of hardware. The upgraded hardware is critical to future experiments exploring fundamental physics and to building confidence in newly developed computational tools.
Winner (Group)
Vehicle Level Reasoning System Group, LaRC
Awarded to the VLRS group for outstanding contributions to the design of the central maintenance computer for the Boeing 787 and Embraer aircraft. The group successfully developed a vehicle-level reasoning system that can detect precursors to potential problems onboard an aircraft 30 flights prior to adverse events. Such detection permits maintenance intervention prior to the failure, greatly improving aviation safety.
Team Lead: Eric G. Cooper
View Group Winners
Honorable Mention (Individual)
Guillame Brat and Michael Feary, ARC
Honorable Mention (Group)
Full Scale 2D Iced Aerodynamics Team, GRC
Leadership and Management Excellence
Winner
Todd Farley, ARC
Awarded to Farley for his control of the Efficient Descent Advisor (EDA) and 3D-Path Arrival Management (3D-PAM) research efforts and for guiding those efforts to a successful technology transition to the Federal Aviation Administration. Farley helped NASA and partners achieve understanding of goals and responsibilities, organized and mentored teams to address requirements, and served as the primary interface between each of NASA’s technical leads and the FAA’s lead, overcoming many difficult management obstacles.
Honorable Mention
Ashok Srivastava, ARC
Program and Mission Support
Winner (Individual)
Jenay Sharp Leach, HQ
Awarded to Leach for her instrumental role in re-planning aeronautics education programs and products to better align with agency plans, and for her participation in the redesign of the agency’s overall education program. By aligning aeronautics education materials with updated math and science standards, reworking lessons to be more inquiry-based, and coordinating an update of the Museum in a Box program, she made key materials for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) education more accessible and educator friendly.
Winner (Group)
ATP Capability Investment Project Managers, LaRC
Awarded to project managers at three NASA research centers (ARC, GRC, LaRC) for their work to fast-track the development and integration of major new research test capabilities, and to improve productivity, operational readiness and reliability at five strategically important test facilities across the three centers. Funded via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the facility improvements had to be identified and implemented in a very short time under complex requirements. They will enable critical work in aircraft and engine icing research, acoustic measurement capabilities, new data and facility control systems, and revitalized compressed air systems.
Team Lead: George H. Sydnor, ARC
View Group Winners
Honorable Mention (Individual)
Leslye S. Mogford, ARC
Honorable Mention (Group)
Aeronautics Strategic Communications Team, HQ
Strategic Partnerships
Winner
Thomas P. Ratvasky, GRC
Awarded to Ratvasky for exemplary performance in establishing and strengthening multiple strategic partnerships with non-NASA entities to leverage resources in the U.S. and abroad towards advancing ice crystal engine icing research. Ratvasky worked diligently to update or put multiple agreements into place that leverage the resources of NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration, Environment Canada, Boeing, The Australian Bureau of Meteorology, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Airbus, and the European High Altitude Ice Crystals Consortium specifically to perform the flight campaigns that will fully characterize the environment in which this type of icing occurs.
Honorable Mention
Steven M. Arnold, GRC
High Potentials
Winner
Peter Suh, DFRC
Awarded to Suh for significant contributions in the field of modeling, controls and dynamics including work to upgrade the verification and validation test bench for one of Dryden’s research aircraft. Using software to replicate 1970s-era hardware models of aircraft actuators, Suh reverse- engineered the models to develop a suitable “all software” replacement, accomplishing in a few months what previously took one year. The resulting tool is usable beyond the one aircraft and will benefit current and future flight research. Suh also worked to improve the modeling and control capability for flexible structures on aircraft, creating methods to incorporate fiber optic-based strain sensing techniques into a concise, efficient framework for controlling structural response.
Winner (Group)
AMELIA Test Team, ARC
Awarded to AMELIA test team members Jonathan Lichtwardt and Eric Paciano, who played major roles in the successful wind tunnel test of a subscale aircraft model called “Advanced Model for Extreme Lift and Improved Aeroacoustics, or AMELIA. The test was conducted to generate validation data for tools that can model aircraft with next generation capabilities that significantly increase lift and reduce noise. Lichtwardt developed computational fluid dynamics analyses to determine the model’s operational envelope, to help design and fabricate the AMELIA model, and to ensure AMELIA’s structural integrity during testing. Paciano was responsible for AMELIA’s mechanical systems, model assembly and safe integration of the model with the tunnel’s systems.
Team Members: Jonathan Lichwardt and Eric Paciano
Honorable Mention (Group)
Aeronautics Academy N+3 Team, GRC
ARMD Associate Administrator Award
