(EDITOR'S NOTE: This article incorporates a correction published on June 11, 1997).
Eighteen students and faculty were honored for their accomplishments in aeronautics and astronautics over the past year at the department's awards dinner on May 6.
The student chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) presented the department's undergraduate teaching award to Professor S. Mark Spearing, who also received the award in 1995. Professor Ian Waitz received the chapter's departmental advising award.
The David J. Shapiro Memorial Award was given to Sabrina D. Almeida, a sophomore from Bethesda, MD, and Phillip E. Reich, a sophomore from El Cajon, CA, "for support and enhancement of their scientific/technical studies" in 97-98 at the Ecole Nationale Superieure de l'Aero-nautique et de l'Espace (Sup'Aero), Toulouse, France, and Imperial College, London, respectively.
The Yngve K. Raustein Memorial Award was presented to Keith Amonlirdviman, a freshman from Chicago, "for his willingness to take on the challenge of pursuing Unified Engineering during his freshman year, and for his outstanding performance." The Unified Engineering Award was given to Raymond J. Sedwick, a graduate student from Chicora, PA, for "outstanding devotion to and leadership of the team of student assistants in Unified Engineering."
Jaime Amaya, a junior from San Juan, TX, received the Andrew G. Morsa Award, given to undergraduate students "for demonstration of ingenuity and initiative in the application of computers to the field of aeronautics and astronautics."
The Leaders for Manufacturing Award, established in 1991 by Professor Emeritus Eugene Covert to recognize student participation in one of several activities associated with manufacturing, was given to Marcus Ottaviano, a senior from King of Prussia, PA, and Jimmy Yeh, a senior from San Leandro, CA, for their excellent manufacturing skills.
The Admiral Luis De Florez Prize, established to encourage undergraduates in the School of Engineering to be imaginative and creative, was shared by seniors Christian L. Anderson of Cody, WY, and Rodgerick L. Newhouse of Mt. Morris, MI, for originality and ingenuity in their (required) experimental project. In January, Mr. Anderson also received the John F. McCarthy Jr. Memorial Scholarship.
The James Means Memorial Award for excellence in flight vehicle engineering was given to Mr. Newhouse "for excellence in the architecture and design of the payload and guidance avionics systems for a ship-borne unmanned surveillance vehicle."
The Means award for excellence in space systems engineering went to seniors Staci N. Jenkins of Pasadena, MD; Heather Noyes of Framingham, MA, and Gregory G. Richardson of Natick, MA, "for significant leadership in helping the undergraduate space systems engineering class to converge on a design for a mission to search for evidence of life on Mars."
Mr. Richardson won the Henry Webb Salisbury Award "for achieving academic excellence in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics." In January, he was also awarded the General James H. Doolittle Scholarship.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on June 4, 1997.
