Coming to the Festival

Aeronautics

Tom Benson, Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio
Tom is a senior research engineer, who for thirty-five years has built, tested, verified, and applied large computer programs that model the flow of gases through high-speed airplane engine components. He is also the author of The Beginner's Guide to Aeronautics, an educational Web site that describes the math and science associated with airplanes, turbine engines, model rockets, and kites.

Glenn Brehm, Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia
Glenn has thirty-four years of experience as an aerospace technician operating and maintaining subsonic, transonic, and hypersonic wind tunnels and aero-acoustic facilities. He has tested models of aircraft, Space Shuttles, hypersonic propulsion engines, reentry vehicles, and aircraft noise–reduction concepts. He supported tests of a hypersonic scramjet engine that flew at Mach 10 and set a Guinness World Record.

Thomas Burns, Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia
Thomas works as the section head in the Fabrication Technology Development Branch where he is responsible for the development of test-article prototypes using rapid prototyping, materials casting, composite materials, and laser ablation technologies. He is a recipient of the NASA Exceptional Service Medal.

Lawrence Cooper, Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia
Larry is a quality assurance specialist and certified metallurgist who inspects materials for aircraft, spacecraft, and wind tunnel models. These materials have been used on Earth- and Mars-observing satellites, a rocket-powered aircraft designed to fly on Mars, a cryogenic wind tunnel, and models of Orion, which will return humans to the moon.

Rich Coppenbarger, Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California
Rich has been with NASA since 1988 and has undertaken a pivotal role in transferring critical technologies—developed under NASA's Airspace Systems Program—to the Federal Aviation Administration for near-term deployment. Rich has a BS in aerospace engineering from the University of Arizona and an MS in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from Stanford University.

Luci Crittenden, Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia
Luci, a senior flight operations engineer, knew from childhood that she wanted to be involved in aviation. She is an expert on guiding scientists from ideas to proof of concept in flight tests and has conducted flight operations in many states. She also has a background in flight simulation, aging aircraft, and runway friction studies.

Johnny Ellis, Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia
Johnny is a technical team lead with more than twenty-five years of experience in hypersonic aerothermodynamics, wind tunnel operations, data acquisition, and model setup. He is a recipient of the NASA Exceptional Service Medal.

Robert Everett, Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio
Bob, a senior mechanical engineering technician, has twenty-eight years of extensive experience using a variety of aerospace materials to help design and manufacture prototype and spaceflight hardware. He has a broad background working with industry, aerospace manufacturers, and academia. Bob is often consulted for his expertise in electro-discharge machining processes.

Greg Gatlin, Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia
As an aerospace engineer at Langley, Greg has conducted wind-tunnel investigations on various aircraft for twenty-five years. These investigations have included advanced fighters, the National Aero-Space Plane, and subsonic transports. He has examined the effects of engine power, high-lift systems, control surface deflections, and variations in configurations, with results often leading to improvements in vehicle designs.

Frank Jones, Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia
Frank is an aerospace engineer who manages flight and simulator services, which support lunar flight and science missions to study how atmospheric pollution contributes to climate change. Frank has helped develop technologies that reduce aviation accidents and protect today's air travelers. He also worked on an early configuration of the International Space Station.

Parimal Kopardekar, Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California
Parimal works as a principal investigator for the NextGen Airspace Systems Project. He previously conducted research and development activities in the area of air traffic management for the Federal Aviation Administration. He holds MS and PhD degrees in industrial engineering and a Bachelor of Engineering in production engineering.

Herbert Lawrence, Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio
Herb began his NASA career in 1979 in the Wood Model Shop, designing and building research hardware for aeronautics and space research projects. Since then, Herb has used carbon-fiber materials to support jet-engine development projects and various new technologies for aeronautics research projects. He is a three-time recipient of the NASA Glenn Research Center Craftsmanship Award.

Greg Poteat, Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California
Greg works in the Strategic Communications Office, where he serves as the lead in the Innovative Partnerships Office. In this role, he is responsible for coordinating the efforts of Dryden's technology transfer program, which includes identifying emerging new NASA technologies and submitting them for patent protection.

Thomas Prevot, Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California
For the past fifteen years, Tom has been engaged in research on future air transportation concepts, especially on air traffic controller and flight-crew interaction with advanced air and ground automation. He received his doctorate in aerospace engineering from the Munich University of the German Armed Forces.

Ron Reisman, Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California
Ron joined NASA in 1988 as one of the original members of the Center Tracon Automation System development team. Since the late 1990s, he has worked on traffic flow management and the Next Generation Air Traffic System research and development. He has a BA in philosophy and classical Greek and an MS in computer science.

Jim Sokolik, Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California
Jim has worked with high-altitude life-support equipment for the last twenty-five years and is considered one of the top people in his field. Born and raised on a dairy farm in Wisconsin, Jim spent eight years in the U.S. Air Force before joining the NASA ER-2 program in 1987.

Robert D. Windhorst, Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California
Robert serves as chief of the Aerospace Operations Modeling Branch, a position he has held for two years. He directs research on concepts for managing air traffic. He received his BS in mechanical engineering from the University of California–Davis and his PhD from Santa Clara University.