MIT Aeronautics and
Astronautics Department
enews Vol 4, #6
May 2008
In this issue:
- Four Faculty Approved for Tenure
- 2008 Student Awards
- AIAA Present Grad Awards to AA Student
- Hall Appointed Simmons Housemaster
- Williams Elected AAAI Fellow
- Yamamoto Receives Jefferson Goblet Award
- Students Have E-Role in New York Production
- Newman Biosuit in Met Superhero Show
- Lin, Liu Named to Phi Beta Kappa
- Daedalus Reunion on the Web
- All Invited to 16.622 Display and Pizza Fete
1. FOUR FACULTY APPROVED FOR TENURE
The Executive Committee of the MIT Corporation has awarded tenure
to Aero-Astro Professors Olivier de Weck, Raul Radovitzky, Zoltan
Spakovszky, and Karen Willcox. Department head Ian Waitz said of
the announcement, "(These professors) have distinguished themselves
through exemplary contributions in research, teaching and service.
And they are all marvelous colleagues who are a pleasure to have
in the department." Professor Waitz added, "A single award
of tenure is important, but four at the same time is a watershed
moment. Please join me in congratulating Oli, Raul, Zolti, and Karen."
2. 2008 STUDENT AWARDS
The following awards were presented at the Aero-Astro Annual Student
Awards Dinner on May 12:
The Andrew Morsa Prize - given to undergraduate students for demonstration
of ingenuity and initiative in the application of computers to the
field of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Gerardo E. Cruz and Christopher
K. Hoffman
The Apollo Award - given to an Aero-Astro student who conducts the
best undergraduate research project on the topic of humans in space.
Joy M. Dunn and Corinne E. Vannatta
The David J. Shapiro Award - given to Aero-Astro undergraduate students
to pursue special aeronautical projects that are student-initiated,
and/or to support foreign travel for the enhancement of scientific/technical
studies and research opportunities. Robyn Allen, Ruijie He, Bruce
T. Vest, Louis E. Perna
The AIAA Undergraduate Advising Award - given by the AIAA Student
Chapter to a faculty or staff who has demonstrated excellence in
serving as an academic or 16.621/16.622 advisor and has made a real
positive impact on a student’s time in the Aero Astro Department
- Prof. R. John Hansman. The AIAA Teaching Award was presented to
Prof. Zolti Spakovszky
The Leaders for Manufacturing Prize - awarded to a team that uses
their project to directly deal with issues related to the interaction
between manufacturing and engineering through demonstration of modern
manufacturing processes. Brittany Baker and Noelle Steber.
The Lockheed Martin Prize for Excellence in Systems Engineering
- awarded to an undergraduate team who has exhibited superior level
of accomplishment in engineering innovation, product development
and team organization. The Mars Gravity Biosatellite Team
The United Technologies Corp. Prize - given to an Aero-Astro student
for outstanding achievement in the design, construction, execution,
and reporting of an undergraduate experimental project. Warren (Woody)
Hoburg and James P. Houghton
The Admiral Luis De Florez Prize - given for "original thinking
or ingenuity" as demonstrated by the individual effort of the
student, not the ideas and suggestions of his advisor, instructors,
or an advisory team. Katrina M. Sorensen and Joseph Yurko
The James Means Award for Excellence in Space Systems Engineering.
Zachary J. Bailey, Katherine A. Ingle, James P. Houghton
The James Means Award for Excellence in Flight Vehicle Engineering,
David A. Sanchez
The Aero & Astro Teaching Assistantship Award: Daniel G. Courtney
and Francois T. Le Floch, Jaime de Mateus, Gregory Michael Lack
The Yvnge Raustein Award: Jonathan Borras
The Henry Web Salisbury Award: Warren Hoburg
Congratulations to all!
3. AIAA PRESENTS GRAD AWARDS TO AA STUDENTS
AIAA annually presents graduate awards to Master's and Ph.D. students
studying topics "encapsulated" by the AIAA Technical Committees.
Congratulations to the MIT winners: John Leland Atwood Graduate Award,
Jessica Edmonds, "Effectiveness of Exercise during Centrifugation";
Open Topic Graduate Award, Martin Ouimet, "A Framework Architecture
for Specification-Based Real-Time System Engineering"; and Open
Topic Graduate Award, Caroline Lamb, "Systems Engineering within
Aerospace Community." Also, the Abe M. Zarem Award for Distinguished
Achievement, Astronautics category was presented to Philip Cunio
who was honored along with his advisor Geoffrey Landis.
4. HALL APPOINTED SIMMONS HOUSEMASTER
Professor Steve Hall has been appointed Simmons associate housemaster.
An MIT lifer, Professor Hall began his career at the institute in
1977 as a freshman in Random Hall. A MacVicar Faculty Fellow, he
has been on the Aero-Astro faculty since 1985.
5. WILLIAMS ELECTED AAAI FELLOW
Professor Brian WIlliams has been elected a Fellow of the Association
for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence for his "significant
contributions to model-based reasoning and control, and the innovative
application of AI to space exploration."
6. YAMAMOTO RECEIVES JEFFERSON GOBLET AWARD
Grad student Namiko Yamamoto, who is working with Professor Brian
Wardle, received the Jefferson Goblet Award for best student paper
at the 49th AIAA Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference
in Chicago last month. The award was for her oral presentation as
well as the manuscript. Namiko is a Hardy Fellow in the department,
who started in Aero-Astro as a Unified student. Her paper was "Electrical
and Thermal Properties of Hybrid Woven Composites Reinforced with
Aligned Carbon Nanotubes."
7. STUDENTS HAVE E-ROLE IN NEW YORK PRODUCTION
Aero-Astro students worked with this year's Edgerton Award winner,
Associate Professor of Music and Theater Arts Jay Scheib, in the
production of a show titled "Untitled
Mars (this title may change)" that ran in New York City
from April 9 to 27. In Prof. Scheib's words, the play shows "science
versus fiction" set in a simulated Martian environment and is
based in part on Phillip K. Dick's novel "Martian Timeslip." Aero-Astro
graduate students Zahra Khan and Phillip Cunio; senior Hui-Ying Wen;
and graduate student Lisa Messeri from Science, Technology and Society
contributed through live Skype interviews held during the performances.
The students provided insight on questions related to life on Mars
(both indigenous and transplanted), the history and future of exploration,
and the feasibility of one-way trips to Mars, while also clarifying
for the public's benefit some of the less-realistic aspects of and
technical challenges associated with the ideas presented in the play.
8. NEWMAN BIOSUIT IN MET SUPERHERO SHOW
Professor Dava Newman is involved with a show at the MET (New York's Metropolitan
Museum of Art). The new Superheroes Show (Fashion and Fantasy)
sponsored by Armani, the Costume Institute and others is showing
her next-generation BioSuit spacesuit, helmet and gloves, and boots. "We
actually made a brand new, white BioSuit, for this show," Professor
Newman says. "I'm eager to see how they are going to display
it on a mannequin." The Superheroes show runs through Sept.
1, 2008.
9. LIN, LIU NAMED TO PHI BETA KAPPA
Aero Astro '08 students Eleanor Lin and Eric Liu were voted to The
Xi Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa in recognition of their excellent academic
records and commitment to the objectives of a liberal education.
This notable achievement is presented to fewer than 10 percent of
each MIT class.
10. DAEDALUS REUNION ON THE WEB
Photographer Alex Mavradis has placed on his Web site photos he
took at the April 19 Daedalus flight reunion, which was held at the
MIT Museum. You can see the images at http://alex-mavradis-photography.smugmug.com/Airplanes.
11. ALL INVITED TO 16.622 DISPLAY AND
PIZZA FETE
Dick Perdichizzi invites all to the 16.662 Projects Display Party,
Wednesday, May 14 in the Gelb Lab from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. There will
be displays of the student projects, and plenty of pizza and soda.
If you know of events, honors, activities, or other information
you'd like to see in the next issue of Aero-Astro enews, please send
to wlitant@mit.edu - we'd be
pleased to include it!
