2015 NASA Engineering and Safety Center Honor Awards

NESC Directors Award

Brian V. Rochon

In recognition of the tenacity and personal accountability demonstrated in the defense of his alternate opinion on the Orion Ascent Abort two test flight content reduction

NESC Leadership Award

Gregory J. Brauckmann

In recognition of outstanding technical leadership of the NASA Engineering and Safety Center Booster Interface Loads Team charged with predicting and reducing aerodynamic buffet environments on the Space Launch System

Ralph E. Lucero

In recognition of outstanding technical leadership in the field of Nondestructive Evaluation for the NASA Engineering and Safety Center Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel Liner Inspection Capability Development and Assessment

Dax Luis Rios

In recognition of outstanding technical leadership of NASA Engineering and Safety Center frangible joint testing

Regor L. Saulsberry

In recognition of outstanding technical leadership in the field of Nondestructive Evaluation for the NASA Engineering and Safety Center Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel Liner Inspection Capability Development and Assessment

Richard J. Schwartz

In recognition of outstanding leadership in planning and executing mission control coordination during the Exploration Flight Test-1 NASA Engineering and Safety Center remote thermal imaging campaign

Jeremy D. Shidner

In recognition of technical leadership and outstanding contributions to the NASA Engineering and Safety Center Exploration Systems Independent Modeling and Simulation Assessment

Joel W. Sills

In recognition of outstanding technical and management leadership key to the successful completion of the NASA Engineering and Safety Center Space Launch System and Orion Modal Test, Development Flight Instrumentation, and Dynamic Model Correlation Plan Peer Review

Steven J. Tack

In recognition of outstanding leadership in planning, rehearsing and acquiring NASA Engineering and Safety Center thermal imaging data of the Orion spacecraft during the entry phase of Exploration Flight Test-1

NESC Engineering Excellence Award

Robert J. Christie

In recognition of engineering excellence in the development and correlation of NASA Engineering and Safety Center thermal mathematical models to improve the understanding of the thermal runaway phenomena in lithium-ion batteries

Sotiris Kellas

In recognition of engineering excellence leading to advancements in testing and analysis of Orion heatshield Avcoat material in support of the NASA Engineering and Safety Center Avcoat Team

Christopher P. Kostyk

In recognition of engineering excellence for a state-of-the-art instrumentation suite for the NASA Engineering and Safety Center Frangible Joint Assessment Data Team

Erik G. Merilo

In recognition of engineering excellence for innovative analysis of Frangible Joint behavior giving NASA outstanding new evaluation tools

Craig L. Streett

In recognition of engineering excellence for computational fluid dynamics support to the NASA Engineering and Safety Center critical to mitigating aircraft damage risk during NASA Vehicle Integrated Propulsion Research III testing

Erik J. Takacs

In recognition of engineering excellence in support of the NASA Engineering and Safety Center during the assessment of anomalies experienced during the processing of the Orion Exploration Flight Test-1 heatshield

James M. Womack

In recognition of engineering excellence for statistical analysis support to the NASA Engineering and Safety Center Orion Avcoat Team leading to the identification of causes of critical issues experienced during Exploration Flight Test-1 heatshield production

NESC Administrative Excellence Award

Teresa B. Derby

In recognition of over 10 years of dedicated, sustained, and superior contributions to the success of the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) assessment teams and the NESC mission

Alfreda D. Hampton

In recognition of administrative excellence in supporting the NASA Engineering and Safety Center

Anna H. Jackson

In recognition of outstanding executive resources support to the NASA Engineering and Safety Center

Pamela A. Sparks

In recognition of over 10 years of dedicated, sustained, and superior contributions to the success of NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) assessment teams and the NESC mission

NESC Group Achievement Award

Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel Liner Inspection Capability Development and Assessment Nondestructive Evaluation Team

In recognition of outstanding contributions in the field of Nondestructive Evaluation for the NASA Engineering and Safety Center Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel Liner Inspection Capability Development and Assessment (award accepted by Ralph E. Lucero on behalf of the team)

Exploration Flight Test-1 Remote Imagery Team

In recognition of conceiving, planning, acquiring and processing unprecedented NASA Engineering and Safety Center quantitative thermal imaging data on the Orion spacecraft during Exploration Flight Test-1 hypersonic entry (award accepted by Richard J. Schwartz on behalf of the team)

Exploration Systems Development Integrated Hazard Development Process Assessment Team

In recognition of innovative NASA Engineering and Safety Center recommendations for improving the Exploration Systems Development integrated hazard identification and mitigation process (award accepted by Bohdan I. Bejmuk on behalf of the team)

Ground Operations Human Factors Task Analysis Team

In recognition of successful demonstration of a robust NASA Engineering and Safety Center task design and analysis methodology for Exploration Systems ground operations (award accepted by Damon B. Stambolian on behalf of the team)

Independent Modeling and Simulation for Commercial Crew Program Entry, Descent, and Landing

In recognition of the development and continuous improvement of NASA Engineering and Safety Center entry, descent, and landing 3- and 6-degree-of-freedom simulation capability for commercial crew vehicles and the conduct of independent entry, descent, and landing analyses (award accepted by Carlie H. Zumwalt on behalf of the team)

Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle Avcoat Testing and Analysis Support Team

In recognition of exceptional support to the NASA Engineering and Safety Center Orion Avcoat Team leading to identification of causes of critical Avcoat issues experienced during production of the Exploration Flight Test-1 heatshield (award accepted by Sotiris Kellas on behalf of the team)

NASA Standard for Fracture Control 5019A Team

In recognition of outstanding diligence and dedication to the NASA Engineering and Safety Center team demonstrated in the revision of NASA Standard 5019 “Fracture Control Requirements for Spaceflight Hardware” (award accepted by Richard W. Russell on behalf of the team)

NASA Standard 5017A Team

In recognition of outstanding work performed by the NASA Engineering and Safety Center team charged with revising NASA Standard 5017A “Design and Development Requirements for Mechanisms” (award accepted by Brandan R. Robertson on behalf of the team)

Space Launch System Booster Interface Loads Assessment Team

In recognition of compelling advancement of the state-of-the-art in launch vehicle buffet and aeroacoustic environment prediction, evaluation, and reduction (award accepted by Stephen J. Alter on behalf of the team)

Standard Check-Cases for Six-Degree-of-Freedom Flight Vehicle Simulations Assessment Team

In recognition of the development of standard check cases to significantly improve the ability to verify flight simulation tools and reduce risk for numerous NASA and industry flight projects (award accepted by Michael M. Madden on behalf of the team)