Twenty-three students and faculty were honored for their accomplishments in aeronautics and astronautics over the past year at a departmental dinner on May 10. Professor Edward Crawley, head of the department, presided.
The student chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics presented the department's undergraduate teaching award to technical instructor Richard (Dick) F. Perdichizzi . For the second year in a row, Professor Earll M. Murman received the undergraduate advising award.
The Yngve Raustein Award went to Namiko Yamamoto , a sophomore from Tokyo, for outstanding academic achievement in each component of Unified Engineering, for consistently and successfully bridging the two cultures of modern Japan and MIT, and for extending genuine friendship and outreach to the unified engineering community.
The Andrew Morsa Memorial Award was presented to Christopher Rakowski , a senior from North Arlington, N.J., for outstanding ingenuity and initiative in applying computers to the ARGOS imaging satellite system test bed.
Ryan K. Owen , a junior from Great Falls, Mont., received the David J. Shapiro Memorial Award for designing, building and assessing a GPS-based take-off performance estimator.
The Thomas B. Sheridan Award was presented to Jaime Devereaux , a senior from Barrington Hills, Ill., and Margarita Marinova , a junior from Toronto, for an experimental study of the impact of cognitive distraction on driving while using a cellular phone.
The Leaders for Manufacturing Prize was awarded to three students. Emily M. Craparo , a senior from Destin, Fla., and Benjamin T. Ingram , a senior from Landale, Penn., were recognized for developing a rapid, cost-effective and robust construction method for a micro-sized ornithopter wing. Mark A. Monroe , a senior from Middletown, R.I., who began graduate studies this semester, and Nathan A. Fitzgerald , a senior from Hyannis, won for demonstrating excellence in modern manufacturing processes in the fabrication and assembly of a micro gas turbine engine ejector-mixer testing apparatus.
Ingram also received the Henry Web Salisbury Award for superior academic achievement in every category of the undergraduate degree program of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics and for demonstrated excellence in theory, design and implementation covering several components of aeronautics and astronautics.
Four seniors received the United Technologies Corp. Award. Aleksandra Mozdzanowska of Drexel Hill, Penn., and Paul H. Nicholson of Amherst won for their project on the parametric study of the effect of geometric variations on flow fields in combustors. David M. Bennett of North Hampton, N.H., and Todd A. Oliver of Austin, Texas won for their project on the wing-grid, a new approach to reducing induced drag project.
The James Means Memorial Award for Excellence in Space Systems Engineering was presented to Kay U. Sullivan , a graduate student from Huntsville, Ala., who completed the S.B. in December, for providing keen and insightful analyses to develop optimum system architectures for a Mars sample return mission. This award was also presented to Marcus J. Dos Santos , a senior from Winfield, Ala., for designing and building the ARGOS imaging satellite system test bed.
The James Means Memorial Award for Excellence in Flight Vehicle Engineering was presented to Roland E. Burton , an exchange student from Altincham, Wales, for design and analysis of the flight propulsion and power system for an unmanned lighter-than-air surveillance vehicle.
Burton and Krzysztof J. Fidkowski , a junior from Macungie, Penn., received the Admiral De Florez Award for Original Thinking or Ingenuity for demonstrating original thinking in the conception and definition of their project titled "A Variable Rear Wing Control System for Road Vehicles," and for showing enormous initiative leading to an impressive demonstration of an actively controlled wing. Marianne H. Okal from Evanston, Ill., also received the De Florez award for her idea for a device that can detect excessive damage to climbing carabiners not detectable by visual examination.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on June 5, 2002.
