Tag: aerospace community

AIAA Announces 2026 Key Issues to Advance U.S. Aerospace Leadership

FROM THE INSTITUTE
The United States enters 2026 at a pivotal moment for aerospace. To help policymakers and the aerospace community focus on the most consequential priorities, the Institute has released its 2026 Key Issues. The Key Issues reflect AIAA’s mission as a neutral, technical convener at the intersection of government, industry, and academia. They are designed to support practical oversight, responsible modernization, and sustained U.S. leadership across the aerospace enterprise.

AIAA Announces 2026 Sustained Service Awards Winners

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 19, 2025 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2026 Sustained Service Awards. The award recognizes sustained, significant service and contributions to AIAA by members of the Institute.

“Our volunteers are the Institute’s driving force. Their ingenuity and dedicated service make AIAA great,” said AIAA CEO Clay Mowry. “This year’s honorees exemplify servant leadership. We are grateful for their enduring contributions to our community.”

The Sustained Service Award winners are AIAA members in good standing who have shown continuing dedication to the interests of the Institute by making significant and sustained contributions over a period of time, typically 10 years or more. Active participation and service at the local section/regional level, and/or the national level is a potential discriminator in the evaluation of candidates.

The 2026 Sustained Service Awards winners are:

Melissa Carter, NASA Langley Research Center

For sustained leadership, service, and contributions to the Hampton Roads Section, Region I, and AIAA National

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 (INPSI) 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, including F-5/T-38, F-20, TSSAM, legacy F/A-18 and E/F, B-2, B-21, X-47A, JAST, F-22, F-35, UCLASS, NGAD, and other advanced programs. Hurwitz is an AIAA Associate Fellow and Deputy Director for the AIAA Propulsion and Energy (P&E) Group. He is a past chair of the AIAA Ethics Committee, served as Director of the P&E Group, and chair for 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 to the Hampton Roads Section, Region I, and AIAA national.

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 joined the staff of Langley in 1987 and has spent most of her career as a Research Engineer at the center 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 Associate Fellow of AIAA. 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 the 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, Section Chair, and recipient of the NASA Silver Achievement Medal.

Media Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell

About AIAA The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit www.aiaa.org, and follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

AIAA Announces 2024 Regional Student Conference Winners

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 7, 2024 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is pleased to announce the winners of six of the 2024 Regional Student Conferences. Additionally, the papers presented at the regional student conferences will be published by AIAA and available on Aerospace Research Center (ARC) later this year.

“We are thrilled to interact with so many of our student members during the AIAA Regional Student Conferences. University students gain practical experience presenting and publishing their research findings, receiving valuable feedback from professionals in the aerospace community,” said AIAA CEO Dan Dumbacher. “We look forward to seeing these students shape the future of aerospace!”

AIAA holds conferences in each region for university student members at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The student conferences are a way for students to present their research in person. They are judged on technical content and presentation skills by AIAA members working in the aerospace industry. Lockheed Martin was the generous sponsor of these conferences, in addition to many other regional-level sponsors.

More than 260 papers were presented by university and high school students across six regions, with over 900 students and professionals in attendance.

The first-place university student winners in each undergraduate, graduate, and team categories (listed below) are invited to attend and present their papers at the AIAA International Student Conference held in conjunction with the 2025 AIAA SciTech Forum, 6-10 January, Orlando, Florida.

Region I Winners
Undergraduate Category

  • 1st Place – “Wind Tunnel Testing of High Advance-Ratio Compound Helicopter Designs,” Howard Zheng, University of Maryland College Park (College Park, Md.)
  • 2nd Place – “Experimental Investigation of the Bell X-1’s Vertical Stabilizer Using Heated Flos to Replicate Supersonic Flight Conditions In A Subsonic Wind Tunnel,” Annemarie Bernardi and Craig Merrett, Clarkson University (Potsdam, N.Y.)
  • 3rd Place – “The Evaluation of Various Controller Architectures for an Air Brake on a High-Powered Model Rocket,” Sophie Jack, University of Maryland College Park (College Park, Md.)

Team Category

  • 1st Place – “Design and Feasibility of a Polar-Orbiting Gravimetry CubeSat,” Liam Piper, Ellie Sherman, Jackson Neu, and Ethan Prigge, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Worcester, Mass.)
  • 2nd Place – “2024: A DEEP Space Odyssey,” Aubrey Monk, Felix May, Thomas Pfaffe, Josh Profeta, Jaylean Ureña, Rida Awais, Eli Jenkinson, and Javid Bayandor, University at Buffalo (Buffalo, N.Y.)
  • 3rd Place – “CubeSat Test Platform for an Ultra-Lightweight Carbon Fiber Radiation System for High Performance Nuclear Electric Power and Propulsion Systems,” Liam Piper, Nathaniel Polus, Benjamin Peters, and Paige Rust, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Worcester, Mass.)

Region II Winners
Undergraduate Category

  • 1st Place – “Analytical and Computational Models of Rijke Tube Pressure Waveforms Using a Sigmoidal Temperature Distribution,” Emma Signor and Joseph Majdalani, Auburn University (Auburn, Ala.)
  • 2nd Place – “Experimental Study of Rotor-Sand Ground Interactions Utilizing Scaled NASA Dragonfly Model,” Darrell Nieves Lugo, Mario Vegnali, and Michael Kinzel, University of Central Florida (Orlando, Fla.)
  • 3rd Place – “Implementation of Alternative Pressure-Sensitive Paint for Future Ground Testing,” Meghan Smitherman, University of Tennessee Knoxville (Knoxville, Tenn.)

Masters Category

  • 1st Place – “Structural Health Monitoring for Launch Vehicle Reusability Using Fiber Bragg Grating Written Optical Fibers,” Thomas Colicci and Andrew Noonan, Vanderbilt University (Nashville, Tenn.)
  • 2nd Place – “Designing and Manufacturing University of South Carolina’s First CubeSat Prototype,” Shruti Jadhav and Patrick Bailey, University of South Carolina (Columbia, S.C.)
  • 3rd Place – “Development of a Mechanical Stage Separation Mechanism for Two-Stage Sounding Rockets,” Griffin Jourda and Nishant Sood, Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, Ga.)

Team Category

  • 1st Place – “Lessons Learned from the Launch of a Student-Built Jet-A/Liquid Oxygen Rocket,” Rithvik Nagarajan, Ethan Heyns, Braden Anderson, Michael Krause, Callum MacDonald, Varun Natarajan, Anthony Otlowski, and Tristan Terry, Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, Ga.)
  • 2nd Place – “Validation and Development of an Atmospheric Electroaerodynamic Propulsion System,” Gaige Sidaway, Britain Steele, Tyler Zeringue and Conner Evans, Mississippi State University (Starkville, Miss.)
  • 3rd Place – “Liquid Bipropellant Rocket Design,” Matthew House, Sherie LaPrade, Niyati Shah, Shelton Waddell, Michael Cowles, Nate Deforest, and Rodrigo Graca, Florida Institute of Technology (Melbourne, Fla.)

Outstanding Branch Activity Category

  • 1st Place – “Volunteer Spirit and Outreach Through AIAA,” University of Tennessee Knoxville (Knoxville, Tenn.)
  • 2nd Place – “GT-AIAA: Diverse Perspectives and Increased Engagement,” Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, Ga.)
  • 3rd Place – “Inspiring Young Aerospace Professionals—The USC AIAA Process to Educate, Engage, and Retain,” University of South Carolina (Columbia, S.C.)

Freshman/Sophomore Open Topic Category

  • 1st Place – “Unlocking New Horizons: The Role of Kenya’s Broglio Space Center in the Commercial Space Era,” Kurt Gugelev-Shapiro, Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, Ga.)
  • 2nd Place – “Managing Safety Hazards In The Preliminary Design Phase of a Student-Lead Liquid Rocketry Program,” Michael Johns, University of Alabama Huntsville (Huntsville, Ala.)
  • 3rd Place – “Applications of Bio-Inspired UAVs for Enhanced Aerial Capabilities,” Haitish Gandhi, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Daytona Beach, Fla.)

Poster Session Category

  • 1st Place – “Static Fire Test Stand for Jet Vanes Analysis,” Shalini Shailesh, Margaret Hwang, Catherine Gang, Alexander Swift, Ahmet Baturay Coksaygili, Kush Bandi, Owen Pollack, and Pritham Sathish, Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, Ga.)
  • 2nd Place – “Multiphysics Analysis of Carbon Composite Structural Batteries,” Atharva Gujrathi, Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, Ga.)
  • 3rd Place – “Design of a Launchable Remote-Controlled Rover and Protective Aeroshell,” Matthew Loewer, Colby Weeks, Lake Williams, Jackson Zazzaro, and Wout De Backer, University of South Carolina (Columbia, S.C.)

Region III Winners
Undergraduate Category

  • 1st Place – “Evaluating Performance of Simple Gas-on-Liquid Injector Designs in a Small Bipropellant Rocket Engine,” Stephen Hyde and Victor Argueta, Alma College (Alma, Mich.)
  • 2nd Place – “A Parallel Approach to Arbitrarily-High Antenna Pattern Visualizations,” Brady Phelps and Chad Mourning, Ohio University (Athens, Ohio)
  • 3rd Place – “Using the Drag Equation and Euler’s Method in Python to Predict Model Rocket Flight Trajectories,” Kulvir Chavda and Heather Arnett, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (Champaign, Ill.)

Masters Category

  • 1st Place – “Analysis of the Circular Restricted N-Body Problem (CRNBP) in the Sun-Venus System,” Annika Gilliam and Robert Bettinger, Air Force Institute of Technology (Dayton, Ohio)
  • 2nd Place – “Optimizing Robotic Arm Capture of Tumbling Satellites with a Genetic Fuzzy System Approach,” Sathya Karthikeyan and Donghoon Kim, University of Cincinnati (Cincinnati, Ohio)
  • 3rd Place – “Machine Learning Applications for Compression Strength After Low Velocity Impacted Carbon Fiber Composites,” Jason Mack and KT Tan, University of Akron (Akron, Ohio)

Team Category

  • 1st Place – “Design of a Low Barrier to Entry Reusable Rocket Engine and Test Stand,” Seth Arkwright, Matthew DiPofi, Jackson Godsey, Joshua Slivka, and Nicole Zimmerli, University of Akron (Akron, Ohio)
  • 2nd Place – “Design and Flight Vehicle Integration of a VaPak Liquid Engine Rocket,” Ana Clecia Alves Almeida, Reece Davis, and Jonathan Armbrust, University of Akron (Akron, Ohio)
  • 3rd Place – “United States Military Academy Army Rocketry and Engineering Sciences Team: Project Endurance,” Ellery Doyna, Elizabeth Joo, Allen Schneider, Arnav Pai, Timothy Ormsby, Ella Davis, Benjamin Johnson, Matthew Dupuis, Chase Adams, Aiden Ford, Tavis Cahanding, Pavel Shilenko, Michelle Hon, James Ye, Jacob Lombardo, Maxx Simeon, Matthew Dupuis, Juan Herrera Vasquez, Jake Moffat, Thomas Dickerson, Reagan Eastlick, and MAJ Robert Perezalemany, United States Military Academy (West Point, N.Y.)

Region IV Winners
Undergraduate Category

  • 1st Place – “Comparison of Analytical and Experimental Propeller Performance for Small Unmanned Aircraft Applications,” Noah Greeson, Dawson Manning, and Kurt Rouser, Oklahoma State University (Stillwater, Okla.)
  • 2nd Place – “Design of Aerospike Nozzles for Rotating Detonation Engines Using Computational Fluid Dynamics and Machine Learning Techniques,” Philip Wilson, Khushi Piparava, and Liwei Zhang, University of Texas Arlington (Arlington, Texas)
  • 3rd Place – “Static Calibration of Platinum-based Pressure Sensitive Paint,” Neil Sawant and Christopher Combs, University of Texas at San Antonio (San Antonio, Texas)

Masters Category

  • 1st Place – “Influence of Freestream Reynolds Number on Unsteady Reflected-Shock Boundary-Layer Interaction in Shock Tube Experiments,” Adam Bicak and Hiroshi Ozawa, University of Oklahoma (Norman, Okla.)
  • 2nd Place – “Development of a Small-Scale, Modular Kerosene-Nitrous Oxide Liquid Rocket Ground Test Rig,” Cade Christison and Kurt Rouser, Oklahoma State University (Stillwater, Okla.)
  • 3rd Place – “Convolutional Neural Network and Homogenization based Hybrid Approach for Lattice Structures,” Mohammed Abir Mahdi, Shafi Al Salman Romeo, and Wei Zhao, Oklahoma State University (Stillwater, Okla.)

Team Category

  • 1st Place – “Design and Evaluation of a Thrust Reverser for Small Unmanned Aircraft Turbojets,” Dawson Manning, Peyton Stice, Austin Rouser, Logan Rock, Sam Hjelm, Brooks Benson, and Kurt Rouser, Oklahoma State University (Stillwater, Okla.)
  • 2nd Place – “Applying Pose Estimation Techniques to Visualize Drone Trajectory in GPS-Denied Environments,” Dao Ton-Nu, Ryan Mok, Azeem Bhaiwala, Evan Sayer, Jose Rodriguez, and Adam Nokes, University of Texas at Austin (Austin, Texas)
  • 3rd Place – “Enhancing Altitude Control in Aerospace Systems,” Jackson Perrine, Alyssa Pina, Brian Davis, Daniel Bluedorn, Josh Berkman, Kaiden Kiracofe, Kelsey Sanchez, Jared Pulliam, Juancarlos Munoz, and Veronica Fujihara, New Mexico State University (Las Cruces, N.M.)

Region V Winners
Undergraduate Category

  • 1st place – “Experimental Investigation of the Impact of Propeller Configuration, Motor Noise, and Sound Reflection on Sound Pressure Level,” Olivia Hilburn and Charles Wisniewski, United States Air Force Academy (Air Force Academy, Colo.)
  • 2nd place – “Project The Belly: Long Range, Short Field, Unmanned Cargo Plane Design,” Robert Immekus, and Endrit Mehmetaj, Saint Louis University (St. Louis, Mo.)
  • 3rd place – “Preliminary Investigation of a High-Speed Formation Flight Concept,” Joseph Oczkewicz and Samuel Stanton, United State Air Force Academy (Air Force Academy, Colo.)

Masters Category

  • 1st place – “An Exploration of Supplemental Lift Device Integration and Applications in Multi-Rotor UAV’s,” Nehemiah Hofer and Mujahid Abdulrahim, University of Missouri Kansas City (Kansas City, Mo.)
  • 2nd place – “Development of an Externally-Mounted VHF Antenna Array for a Long-Endurance Medium-Scale UAS,” Matthew Turner, Samuel Ross, and Emily Arnold, University of Kansas (Lawrence, Kan.)

Team Category

  • 1st place – “Experimental Validation of CFD on Hypersonic Turbulent Boundary Layers,” Holtman Dunham, Alexander Kennedy, Sarah Treece, and Michael Semper, United States Air Force Academy (Air Force Academy, Colo.)
  • 2nd place – “OpenUAS: An Open-Source Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Testbed Solution Under Cost Constraints,” Varad Kulkarni, Allison Howard, Sydney Turner, Mukul Kulkarni, Nisha Raj, Eric Rasmussen, Mehmet Sefer, Karanvir Singh, and Kristin Rozier, Iowa State University (Ames, Iowa)
  • 3rd place – “Noise-Free Relative Attitude Determination System for Payload Extended from Satellite Body,” Aidan Luczkow, Tanner Brummond, Steven Liu, Mark Wilbourne, Kate Kosmicki, and Robert Marshall, University of Colorado Boulder (Boulder, Colo.)

Region VI Winners
Undergraduate Category

  • 1st Place – “Apogee Altitude Control of Sounding Rockets with an Analytic Guidance Algorithm,” Kyle Woody and Conor Van Bibber, University California Berkeley (Berkeley, Calif.)
  • 2nd Place – “Implementation of Rotating Test Stand for Supersonic Wind Tunnel,” Suren Sanai and Nandeesh Hiremath, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (San Luis Obispo, Calif.)
  • 3rd Place – “Characterization of an Adamantane Thruster by a Langmuir Probe,” Cameron Coen and Autumn Zaretsky, University of Southern California (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Masters Category

  • 1st Place – “Performance Characteristics of a Low-Cost Self Contained Pressure Data Acquisition System,” Nathan Eller and Nandeesh Hiremath, California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo (San Luis Obispo, Calif.)
  • 2nd Place – “Variable-Density Gyroid Infill for Increased Strength and Stiffness of 3D Printed Components,” Isaac Wegner and Matthew Campbell, Oregon State University (Corvallis, Ore.)
  • 3rd Place – “Establishing a Class 3B Laser Particle Imaging Velocimetry System at the Cal Poly Water Tunnel and Verifying Results with a Class 4 Laser System,” Jensen Lam and Nandeesh Hiremath, California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo (San Luis Obispo, Calif.)

Team Category

  • 1st Place – “Design of a Non-Flapping Seagull-Inspired Composite Morphing Drone,” Moise Brambila, Alex Rini, Jordan Eghdamzamiri, Hariet Yousefi, Joshua Herrera, Donovan Hanna, Caleb Black, Youssef Saad, Aramar Arias-Rodas, and Peter Bishay, California State University Northridge (Northridge, Calif.)
  • 2nd Place – “Electrically-Actuated Jumping Exoskeleton For Lunar Locomotion,” Kaitlyn Kumar, Yvonne Li, Manas Shah, and Nicolas Gomez, University of Southern California (Los Angeles, Calif.)
  • 3rd Place – “Design and Aerodynamic Performance of a Morphing Aileron,” Christina Azzi, Anushka Tahiliani, and Sarah Nguyen, University of Southern California (Los Angeles, Calif.)

High School Category

  • 1st Place – “Eco-Adaptaive UAV for Sustainable Agriculture: Utilizing Deep Learning and Flora Thermography for Artificial Pollination,” Sahana Anamika, Sahithi Cherukuri, and Serena Gandhi, Santa Clara High School (Santa Clara, Calif.)
  • 2nd Place – “Enhancing Microdrone State Estimation: A Multi-Sensor Fusion Approach for Improved State Estimation in GPS Denied Environments,” Yogya Mehrotra, Dougherty Valley High School (San Ramon, Calif.)
  • 2nd Place – “Synthesis and Applications of Graphene Ink for Manufacturing in Space,” Nathan Kim, Hannah Rodda, and Melissa Kuebler, Calvary Chapel High School (Santa Ana, Calif.)

Additionally, AIAA supported the 20th  PEGASUS Student Conference, 26–27 April 2024, at the Universidad Politècnica de Catalunya in Terrassa, Spain. This annual conference gives graduate students the opportunity to present their technical work. The first-, second-, and third-place winners will receive cash prizes from AIAA and the first-place winner will compete at the International Student Conference alongside the Regional Student Conference winners.

  • 1st Place –”Optimization Strategies for System Architecting Problems,” Santiago Valencia Ibanez, TU Delft
  • 2nd Place – “Experimental study of flame/wall interaction for hydrogen/air mixtures,” Malik Suryadeb, ENSMA
  • 3rd Place (tie) – “Joint analysis of Europa Clipper and JUICE missions to contain the Galilean moons’ ephemerides,” Vittorio Gargiulo, Sapienza – Università di Roma
  • 3rd Place (tie)”Impact of non-ideal fluid modeling on droplet vaporization for aerospace fuels,” Edoardo Forti, Sapienza – Università di Roma

Media Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell

About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

AIAA Announces 2023 ASCEND Guiding Coalition Comprised of Prominent Leaders Across the Aerospace Community and Adjacent Industries

June 26, 2023 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is proud to announce the 44 members of the 2023 ASCEND Guiding Coalition who represent a diverse mix of leading aerospace companies, government agencies, and academic institutions, each with a shared commitment to the mission of ASCEND to Accelerate Space Commerce, Exploration, and New Discovery.

The ASCEND Guiding Coalition is an advisory board of technology, science, engineering, and business leaders selected to help maximize ASCEND’s reach and impact, including the design and content of its centerpiece annual event. 2023 ASCEND is scheduled for 23–25 October, Caesars Forum, Las Vegas, focused on building our sustainable off-world future through collaboration.

“The members of the ASCEND Guiding Coalition bring a wealth of experience and expertise as leaders in commercial space operations, government space policy, science and technology policy, new entrepreneurial ventures, and business strategy. We are thrilled for their involvement so we can build our off-world future faster,” said Julie Van Kleeck, ASCEND Executive Producer and AIAA Space Domain Lead.

The members of the 2023 ASCEND Guiding Coalition are:

  • Sirisha Bandla, Vice President, Government Affairs, Virgin Galactic
  • Bill Beckman, Director, NASA Programs, Boeing Global Sales and Marketing
  • Tejpaul Bhatia, Chief Revenue Officer, Axiom Space
  • Robert (Bobby) D. Braun, Head, Space Exploration Sector, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
  • Tory Bruno, CEO, United Launch Alliance
  • Lt. Gen. DeAnna Burt, Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Operations, Cyber, and Nuclear, United States Space Force*
  • Steven (Bucky) J. Butow, Director, Space Portfolio, Defense Innovation Unit (DIU)*
  • Johnathon Caldwell, Vice President and General Manager, Military Space, Lockheed Martin
  • Ahsan Choudhuri, Associate Vice President for Aerospace Center and Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at El Paso
  • Carissa Christensen, CEO, BryceTech
  • Sandra Connelly, Deputy Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA*
  • Michael Costas, General Manager, Defense and Space, Bechtel Nuclear, Security & Environmental
  • Laura Crabtree, Chief Executive Officer, Epsilon3
  • Kara Cunzeman, Lead Futurist, Strategic Foresight, The Aerospace Corporation
  • Robert Curbeam, Senior Vice President, Space Capture, Maxar
  • Dan Dumbacher, Executive Director, AIAA
  • Ariel Ekblaw, Director, Space Exploration Initiative, MIT Media Lab
  • Carol Erikson, Vice President, Digital Transformation, Space Systems, Northrop Grumman*
  • Debra Facktor, Head of U.S. Space Systems, Airbus U.S. Space and Defense, Inc.
  • James Free, Associate Administrator, Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, NASA
  • Michael Gazarik, Vice President, Engineering, Ball Aerospace
  • Bill Gerstenmaier, Vice President, Build and Flight Reliability, SpaceX
  • Phillip Ingle, Manager Director, Morgan Stanley
  • Lt. Gen. Larry James, USAF (Ret.), Deputy Director, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory*
  • Steve Jurczyk, Co-Founder and CEO, Quantum Space*
  • Janet Kavandi, President, Sierra Space*
  • Joe Landon, CEO, Crescent Space
  • Sandra Magnus, Principal, Astroplanetview, LLC
  • Clare Martin, Executive Vice President, Astroscale U.S.*
  • Jim Maser, Senior Vice President, Space, Aerojet Rocketdyne
  • Rob Meyerson, CEO, Delalune Space
  • Mark Mozena, Vice President, Government Affairs, Planet Federal*
  • Todd Nygren, Senior Vice President, Engineering and Technology Group, The Aerospace Corporation
  • Shawna Pandya, Director, Space Medicine Group, International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS)
  • Lt. Gen. John Shaw, Deputy Commander, U.S. Space Command*
  • Wanda Sigur, President, Lambent Engineering LLC
  • Lauren Smith, Senior Program Manager, Satellite Servicing, Northrop Grumman
  • Melanie Stricklan, CEO & Co-Founder, Slingshot Aerospace
  • Russ Teehan, Principal Solutions Architect, Government Satellite Systems, Amazon
  • Derek Tournear, Director, Space Development Agency
  • Julie Van Kleeck, ASCEND Executive Producer and AIAA Space Domain Lead
  • Matthew C. Weinzierl, Senior Associate Dean and Chair, MBA Program; Joseph and Jacqueline Elbling Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School*
  • Vanessa Wyche, Director, NASA Johnson Space Center

Registration for 2023 ASCEND is open now. Journalists from around the world are invited to cover the event; press passes are available for credentialed media by request.

*New Members in 2023

Media Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell

About ASCEND
Powered by AIAA, ASCEND, which stands for Accelerating Space Commerce, Exploration, and New Discovery, is the world’s premier collaborative, outcomes-driven, interdisciplinary community designed to accelerate the building of our off-world future. For more information, visit ascend.events, or follow ASCEND on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.

About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

AIAA Condemns Russian Invasion of Ukraine

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 28, 2022 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) issued the following statement from AIAA Executive Director Dan Dumbacher:

“As the world’s largest professional society for aerospace engineers, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) condemns the Russian military’s recent invasion of Ukraine, a sovereign nation. AIAA is an international organization of nearly 30,000 members. The Institute represents members from both Ukraine and Russia, who make significant contributions to the aerospace profession. We are gravely concerned for the health and safety of our members, as well as for their livelihoods. We recognize the economic sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies on Russia will have an impact on organizations and companies in the aerospace industry and its supply chain. We sincerely hope these measures will influence the Russian government to change its course.

Technology and science have been advanced for decades through human collaboration and achievement by the international scientific research community. We believe international cooperation is a hallmark of our profession and our industry. Unfortunately, Russia’s consequential actions could destabilize commercial and government activity on the ground and in low Earth orbit.

AIAA is concerned about interruptions to commercial air travel and cargo transport due to the growing airspace restrictions being implemented by governments around the world. We fear these measures will cause significant negative impacts to the global aviation industry as it continues to recover from the impacts of the pandemic.

We also are concerned about how the strong and long-lasting partnership on the International Space Station (ISS) between the United States and Russia and other international partners could be hindered. It is imperative to ensure the ongoing safe operations of the ISS by its current international crew of four American astronauts, one German astronaut, and two Russian cosmonauts.

On behalf of the nearly 30,000 members of AIAA, we stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and all who are affected by this conflict. AIAA calls for an immediate and just end to the conflict and for the restoration of peace.”

Contact: Rebecca B. Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell

About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit  aiaa.org, and follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.