NASA RESEARCHER TO LEAD INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE ORGANIZATION

NASA Langley Research Center engineer Jerry Hefner has been elected program committee chair of the International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences (ICAS).

Hefner was nominated by ICAS' past presidents and executive committee and elected by the ICAS general assembly at the 2002 ICAS Congress in Toronto, Canada. After serving a two-year term as program committee chair – which is considered president-elect – he will serve as president from 2004-2006.

ICAS was founded in 1957 and is comprised of the major aeronautical and aerospace societies from 32 member countries, including the United States' member society, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Its primary objective is to organize and conduct a major international congress every two years to disseminate and exchange aeronautical science and technology information among scientists, engineers and management throughout the world.

"ICAS provides one of the premier – if not the premier – international aviation conferences, where the world shares interests, ideas, and progress," Hefner said. "It is supported by industry, academia and government leaders throughout the world."

As program committee chair, Hefner will lead the 65 members of the international program committee in developing the program for the ICAS Congress in 2004 in Yokohama, Japan. Following the Congress in Japan, he will serve as the President leading to the 2006 ICAS Congress, which will take place in Hamburg, Germany.

Hefner has worked at Langley for 36 years in the areas of fluid mechanics, aerodynamics, aerothermodynamics, aeroacoustics and systems analysis. He is currently assigned to Langley's General Aviation Program Office as manager of the Small Aircraft Transportation System's Transportation System Analysis and Assessment Element.

For more information about ICAS, visit the following URL:

http://www.icas.org/

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