MIT Aero Astro -
 

November 2014

In this issue:
1. Honors and awards
2. WGA^3 promotes women's involvement in aerospace
3. Dava Newman nominated as NASA deputy director
4. Newsbriefs
5. In the picture
6. Symposium videos posted

Spakovszky
Spakovszky

Radovitzky
Radovitzky

Mindell
Mindell

Allmaras
Allmaras

Shah
Shah

BalakrishnanBalakrishnan

1. Honors and awards

Newly-elected AIAA fellows include professors David Mindell, Raul Radovitzky, Zoltan Spakovszky, and research engineer Steven Allmaras. AIAA Associate Fellows are "individuals of distinction who have made notable and valuable contributions to the arts, sciences, or technology of aeronautics or astronautics."

Professor Larry Young writes, "We are so pleased to learn that our own Dr. Allie Anderson was awarded one of the coveted National Space Biomedical Research Institute post-doctoral fellowships to support her training with Dr. Jay Buckey at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical School. By my count, that makes her the third MVLer (Man Vehicle Lab), after Hiro Aoki and Torin Clark, to be so honored."

Christine Edwards Stewart (SB '06, SM '08) was recognized by Aviation Week as one of the "Aerospace & Defense Industry’s Top 40 Under Forty." Christy is a systems engineer with Lockheed Martin.

Professor Julie Shah was selected by Technology Review for its annual list, "Innovators Under 35." The MIT-affiliated magazine says that the list recognizes "exceptionally talented technologists whose work has great potential to transform the world."

Grad student Sydney Do is a 2014-2015 recipient of the Josephine de Kármán Fellowship. The Fellowship is awarded via a trust that famed aerospace engineer and physicist Theodore von Kármán created in memory of his sister.

The American Automatic Control Council selected Professor Hamsa Balakrishnan as recipient of its 2014 Donald P. Eckman Award. The award citation reads "For excellence in the control design, analysis, implementation, and evaluation of practical algorithms to improve the efficiency and environmental performance of air transportation systems."

Award winners

AeroAstro students Sreeja Nag (right) and Tam Nguyen received first prize and an honorable mention, respectively, at the 2014 Small Satellite Conference Frank J. Redd Student Paper Competition. Tam's advisor is Professor Kerri Cahoy (center), Sreeja's is Professor Oli de Weck. Sreeja has also been awarded the 2014-15 NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship.

 

2. WGA^3 promotes women's involvement in aerospace

On November 2, the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Conn. organized the exhibit "Women take flight!" to promote women's involvement with aeronautics and astronautics. Under the sponsorship of the Women's Graduate Association of Aeronautics and Astronautics, AeroAstro was present at that exhibit. WGA^3 members Irene Dedoussi and Ioana Josan-Drinceanu displayed examples of the work that graduate women are doing in the department. They inspired the visiting public (girl scouts, parents, scientist, teachers, parents) about how exciting aerospace engineering can be, and what they can achieve by working in this field.

Museum exhibit

Irene Dedoussi shows "Women take flight!" visitors some of AeroAstro's fascinating research. "The questions the kids asked were amazing!" she says. One of the youngsters in this photo wanted to know why the D-8 aircraft's engines are in the rear instead of the conventional under-the-wings position. (Ioana Josan-Driscoll photo)


Dava Newman

3. Dava Newman nominated as NASA deputy director

By David Chanler, MIT News Office

The White House announced in October the nomination of AeroAstro Professor Dava Newman as NASA’s deputy administrator, the space agency’s No. 2 leadership position. Newman’s appointment will require approval by the U.S. Senate. Newman, who has been on the MIT faculty since 1993, is co-director of the Man Vehicle Lab, director of MIT’s Technology and Policy Program and MIT Portugal Program, a faculty member in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, and a Margaret McVicar Faculty Fellow. “It’s very exciting, and an enormous honor,” Newman says of her nomination as NASA’s deputy administrator. “Aerospace engineering, of course, is my passion. Maybe I’ve been training for this my whole life!”

The deputy administrator’s duties include overseeing NASA’s legislative and intergovernmental affairs; communications; the Mission Support Directorate; and international relationships, including the multinational partnership that manages the International Space Station. In addition, the post oversees educational programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

 


4. Newsbriefs

Professor emeritus Karl (Uno) Inhard, age 93, passed away at his home in Gerrish Island, Maine on August 21. With a joint appointment in Physics and AeroAstro, Inhard was on the faculty for 41 years, retiring in 1991. He received electrical engineering degrees from Chalmers Institute of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden before moving to Cambridge in 1947. Professor Inhard received a Ph.D. in physics from MIT in 1950.

ingard

Professor Karl Inhard lectures an MIT class in 1965.

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Grad students Sydney Do, Andrew Owens, Koki Ho, and Sam Schreiner and Professor Oli de Weck caused not a little controversy, especially in social media and the blogosphere, when their research questioned feasibility of the Mars One colonization project. In a paper presented at the October International Astronautical Conference in Toronto, the team postulated that Mars One might have to rethink elements of its plan, ranging from a colony's ability to extract excess oxygen from its environment, to the number of heavy launch vehicles required to supply the mission.

"The paper contains a detailed integrated feasibility study with logistics, human habitation, plant growth and architectural analysis integrated," says de Weck. "We show that Mars One, which has already recruited thousands of potential colonists is based on overly optimistic claims both in terms of existing technologies as well as the required number of launches."

Mars One, a Dutch nonprofit organization created in 2012, generated widespread interest and enthusiasm when it announced plans to establish the first human Mars colony by 2025. The mission would initially send four astronauts on a one-way trip to Mars.

 

5. In the picture

lab picnic

The necstlab gang enjoys its summer BBQ at the MIT Sailing Pavilion.
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Holschuh on TV

Grad student Brad Holschuh made an appearance on Boston's Fox 25 this fall to discuss the Man Vehicle Lab's Biosuit design for a future spacesuit.
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AeroAstro people in Langley wind tunnel.

Grad student Michael Lieu set up this photo of an AeroAstro contingent in front of the NASA Langley 14 x 22 foot Subsonic Wind Tunnel fan. MITers spent a month this summer at Langley running tests on the D-8 "double-bubble" aircraft design.

 

6. Symposium videos posted

Videos of all October 22-24 AeroAstro Centennial Symposium panels, speakers, and video presentations are now available online. They can be accessed via links from the Symposium agenda or via AeroAstro YouTube Channel's Centennial Symposium playlist.

Two Mikes at the AeroAstro Centennial celebration — Mike Collins (Gemini 10, Apollo 11) chats with AeroAstro alumnus Mike Fincke (Expedition 9, Expedition 18, STS-134) at the JFK Library Gala Banquet. Videos of their participation in Symposium panels are now posted.

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If you know of events, honors, activities, or other information you'd like to see in the next issue of AeroAstro enews, please send to wlitant@mit.edu.

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