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Board Members & Meetings


Current Members

EX OFFICIO MEMBER: Vice Chair, Space Studies Board

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

The aeronautics and Space Engineering Board's Executive Committee (XCOM) is a subset of the full Board, and acts on the Board's behalf between its regular meetings. The XCOM assists the chair with strategic planning, consults on Board and committee membership, and develops agendas for Board meetings.

For information about past and upcoming meetings go to the Board's meetings page
 

Biographies

Lester Lyles, USAF (RET.) (NAE), Chair, is a consultant with The Lyles Group. He retired from the U.S. Air Force (USAF) in 2003 as commander of the Air Force Material Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (AFB). General Lyles entered the USAF in 1968 as a distinguished graduate of the Air Force ROTC program. He served in various positions, including program element monitor of the Short-Range Attack Missile at USAF Headquarters (USAF/HQ), special assistant and aide-de-camp to the commander of Air Force Systems Command (AFSC), chief of the Avionics Division in the F-16 Systems Program Office, director of Tactical Aircraft Systems at AFSC headquarters, and as director of the Medium-Launch Vehicles Program and Space-Launch Systems offices. General Lyles became the AFSC headquarters assistant deputy chief of staff for requirements in 1989 and deputy chief of staff for requirements in 1990. In 1992, he became vice commander of the Ogden Air Logistics Center at Hill AFB. He served as commander of the center until 1994, when he was assigned to command the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles AFB. In 1996, General Lyles became the director of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization. In 1999, he was assigned as vice chief of staff at USAF/HQ. He served on the NASA Advisory Council (NAC), and since becoming Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board chair, is now an (ex officio) member of the NAC. His numerous awards include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Astronautics Engineer of the Year from the National Space Club, the National Black Engineer of the Year Award, Honorary Doctor of Laws from New Mexico State University, and NASA's Distinguished Public Service Medal for serving on the President's Commission on Implementing the U.S. Space Exploration Policy. In 2009, General Lyles served on the Augustine Space Committee for developing the agenda for NASA’s human space flight missions. He received his B.S. in mechanical engineering from Howard University and his M.S. in mechanical and nuclear engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology Program. He is a member of the NRC Air Force Studies Board and served as chair of the Committee on the Rationale and Goals of the U.S. Space Program and as a member of the Committee on the NASA Technology Roadmap.

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Amy L. Buhrig ,Vice Chair, is the vice president of IT Business Partners, Boeing (Retired). Amy Buhrig is responsible for coordinating all IT support to all major Boeing businesses including Boeing Commercial Airplanes and Boeing Defense, Space & Security. She was named to this position in February 2011 and reports to Kim Hammonds, Boeing’s Chief Information Officer.Buhrig was previously the vice president of Enterprise Technology Strategy for the company where she developed a companywide strategy for determining critical technologies and has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into key research and development areas to maximize yield and technology readiness throughout the company. In this role she was responsible for leading eight company-wide technology domain teams focused on next generation products and systems. These teams worked to ensure the company’s commercial, military and space businesses have the necessary technologies to compete and, when appropriate, ensure new technologies are replicated and leveraged across the company to improve quality and reduce costs.Additionally, she is the executive sponsor of the Technical Fellowship Program, which promotes technical excellence and innovation, and offers a technical career path to the company’s top scientists and engineers. She also oversees the company’s involvement with more than 200 external technical affiliations.Buhrig was also previously the director of Technology for Boeing Commercial Airplanes where was responsible for leading the definition of technology required to enable future commercial airplanes products and services, and focusing investments to reduce cost, improve value to customers, and grow the business.Before joining Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Buhrig held several positions in Boeing Research & Technology (then known as Phantom Works). She was responsible for defining the technology strategy for structural technologies, understanding companywide technology needs to leverage venture capital investments, and pursuing contracted research for the Mathematics and Computing Technology organization.Buhrig joined The Boeing Company in 1981, first working for Boeing Defense & Space, where she researched artificial intelligence techniques in support of space system operations. After earning her master’s degree in Business Administration, she worked on a number of special studies including, strategic assessments of pre-merger aerospace companies, the benefits of investing in novel design methods used on the Boeing 777 and F-22 aircraft to low-production-rate space systems, and the assessment of company strengths applicable to the commercial space market.From 1993 through 2001, Buhrig was an integral part of the team that created what became one of industry’s most innovative commercial satellite launch systems, Sea Launch. Responsible for developing the market entry strategy and leading the company’s marketing and sales efforts as vice president of Marketing and Sales for Sea Launch Company, Buhrig and her team successfully brought this unusual international venture into the commercial space marketplace.Buhrig earned her bachelor’s degree in Computing Science from Texas A&M University, and a master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Washington in Seattle. She serves as a member on the National Academics Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board.

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Arnold D. Aldrich  is an aerospace consultant. He joined the NASA Space Task Group at Langley Field, Virginia, in 1959, 6 months after the award of the contract to build the Mercury Spacecraft and 4 months following the selection of the seven original astronauts. He held a number of key flight operations management positions at Langley and at the NASA Johnson Space Center during the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. Subsequently, he served as Skylab deputy program manager; Apollo Spacecraft deputy program manager during the successful Apollo Soyuz Test Project with the Soviet Union; Space Shuttle Orbiter project manager, where he oversaw 15 successful flights as well as the construction of the orbiters Discovery and Atlantis; and as Space Shuttle program manager. Following the space shuttle Challenger accident, Mr. Aldrich was appointed director of the National Space Transportation System (Space Shuttle Program) at NASA Headquarters where he led Space Shuttle Program recovery and return-to-flight efforts. He served as NASA associate administrator for aeronautics and space technology, where he oversaw NASA efforts on the National Aerospace Plane and the High Speed Civil Transport and was responsible for program and institutional activities at the NASA Langley, Lewis, Ames, and Dryden research centers. Subsequently, Mr. Aldrich was appointed NASA associate administrator for Space Systems Development, overseeing the Space Station Freedom program, development of the Space Shuttle Super Lightweight External Tank, and other space system technology initiatives, including single-stage-to-orbit concepts and feasibility. He also led political and technical initiatives with Russia, leading to the incorporation of the Russian Soyuz spacecraft as the on-orbit emergency rescue vehicle for the International Space Station (ISS). In 1994, Mr. Aldrich left NASA and joined Lockheed Missiles and Space Company in Sunnyvale, California, where he served as vice president of commercial space business development and subsequently as vice president of strategic technology planning. With the merger of Lockheed and Martin Marietta, he joined Lockheed Martin corporate headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland, where he oversaw X-33/Venturestar single-stage-to-orbit program activity. Later, he became director of program operations and pursued a broad array of initiatives to enhance program management across the Corporation. Mr. Aldrich has received numerous honors during his career, including the Presidential Rank of Distinguished Executive and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. He is an honorary fellow of the AIAA. Mr. Aldrich holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from Northeastern University.

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Ella M.Atkins is an associate professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan, where she is director of the Autonomous Aerospace Systems Laboratory. She previously served on the Aerospace Engineering faculty at University of Maryland, College Park. Dr. Atkins' research focuses on the integration of strategic and tactical planning and optimization algorithms to enable robust operation in the presence of system failures and environmental uncertainties. She has collaboratively pursued challenging autonomous flight applications for manned aircraft and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), including the Flying Fish autonomous unmanned seaplane and an emerging flexible wing platform. Dr. Atkins also studies the optimization of and safety analysis in congested airspace, with early efforts in simultaneous non-interfering terminal area airspace planning for runway-independent aircraft and small UAS safety assessment based on maintaining acceptable risk to people and property. Current research is underway to adapt lightweight aerodynamic sensors for small flapping wing micro-air vehicles and to feed back post-stall aerodynamic forces for more precise fixed-wing UAS flight control. Her research has been funded under multiple grants from NSF, NASA, DARPA, and DOD. She is author of more than 75 journal and conference publications and serves as an associate editor for the AIAA Journal of Aerospace Computing, Information, and Communication. She is a member of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Deep Space Mission System program review, for which she serves as board chair. Dr. Atkins is past chair of the AIAA Intelligent Systems Technical Committee, an associate fellow of AIAA, and a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). She is also a small, public airport owner/operator (Shamrock Field, Brooklyn, Michigan), a private pilot (Airplane, Single Engine, Land), and an Academy of Model Aeronautics pilot (radio/control). Dr. Atkins holds B.S. and M. S. degrees in aeronautics and astronautics from MIT and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in computer science and engineering from the University of Michigan. She has served on the NRC NASA Aviation Safety Program Review and the NRC Decadal Survey of Aeronautics (Panel E).

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Brian J. Cantwell (NAE) is the Edward C. Wells Professor in the School of Engineering at Stanford University. During his tenure at Stanford, he has also served as department chair. Dr. Cantwell’s research interests have included experimental and numerical investigations of variable density and reacting flows. His research has been concentrated on studies of the mixing and combustion between a flowing oxidizer and liquid droplets entrained from the surface of a melting fuel. This research has led to the identification of a new class of very fast burning fuels for application to hybrid propulsion. In the last few years he has also studied the use of nitrous oxide as a monopropellant for small space thrusters. This work has led to a new area of interdisciplinary study that joins propulsion research with environmental biotechnology. In this research the focus is on terrestrial applications where energy is derived from waste nitrogen. Dr. Cantwell was a member and deputy chair of the AGARD Fluid Dynamics Panel for supporting the aerospace technology needs of NATO. He served as a member of an executive independent review team overseeing the development of the F119, F135, and F136 engines for the Air Force Raptor and Lighting II fighters. He was given the excellence in teaching award by the Stanford student chapter of the AIAA. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society, a fellow of the AIAA, a fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, and a member of Sigma Xi and the NAE. He is the author of four books, including a textbook on symmetry analysis published by Cambridge Press. He holds a B.A. and B.S. from Notre Dame and an M.S. and Ph.D. in aeronautics from the California Institute of Technology. Dr. Cantwell served on the NRC’s Committee on Army Basic Scientific Research and on the 2009 NAE Nominating Committee.
 

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Elizabeth R. Cantwell is director, Mission Development Engineering Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. She previously served as the deputy associate laboratory director for the National Security Directorate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Prior to joining Oak Ridge, Dr. Cantwell was the division leader for the International, Space, and Response Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Her career began in building life support systems for human spaceflight missions with the NASA. She received an M.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.B.A. in finance from Wharton School, and a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Cantwell’s has extensive NRC experience including current memberships on the Space Studies Board and the Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences Board; co-chair of the Committee on Decadal Survey on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space; and member of the Committee on NASA’s Bioastronautics Critical Path Roadmap, the Review of NASA Strategic Roadmaps: Space Station Panel, the Committee on Technology for Human/Robotic Exploration and Development of Space, and the Committee on Advanced Technology for Human Support in Space.

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Eileen M. Collins is the president of Space Presentations, LLC, and is a professional speaker and aerospace consultant. Colonel Collins began her career as a U.S. Air Force pilot, logging more than 6,751 hours in 30 different types of aircraft. She was a T-38 instructor pilot, a C-141 aircraft commander and instructor pilot, a T-41 instructor pilot, and a professor of mathematics at the U.S. Air Force Academy. In 1990 she was selected by NASA for the astronaut program. She has flown on four space shuttle flights in her career, including STS-63 Discovery, which was the first flight of the new joint Russian-American space program and the first shuttle flight to have a female pilot. STS-84 Atlantis, NASA’s sixth shuttle mission to rendezvous and dock with the Russian Space Station Mir. STS-93 Columbia, which was the first space shuttle to be commanded by a woman and was highlighted by the deployment of the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. STS-114 Discovery, which was the return-to-flight mission during which the shuttle docked with the ISS, and the crew tested and evaluated new procedures for flight safety and shuttle inspection and repair techniques. Col. Collins also worked in Orbiter engineering support and served on the astronaut support team responsible for Orbiter prelaunch checkout, final launch configuration, crew ingress/egress, and landing/recovery. She also worked in mission control as a spacecraft communicator, served as the Astronaut Office Spacecraft Systems branch chief, chief information officer, shuttle branch chief, and astronaut safety branch chief. Col. Collins retired from the Air Force in 2005 and from NASA in 2006. Col Collins has been awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Meritorious Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster, Air Force Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for service in Grenada (Operation Urgent Fury, October 1983), French Legion of Honor, NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, NASA Space Flight Medals, Free Spirit Award, and the National Space Trophy. She received an A.S. degree in mathematics and science from Corning Community College, a B.A. in mathematics and economics from Syracuse University, a M.S. in operations research from Stanford University, and a M.A. in space systems management from Webster University.

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Ravi Deo, is founder and principal of EMBR, a small business specializing in the design and manufacturing technology development of composite structures. He has worked as a program and functional manager for government sponsored projects on Cryotanks, Integrated System Health Management, Aerospace Structures, Materials, Subsystems, Avionics, Thermal Protection Systems, and software development. He has extensive experience in road mapping technologies, program planning, technical program execution, scheduling, budgeting, proposal preparation, and business management of technology development contracts. Among his significant accomplishments are the NASA funded SLI, NGLT, OSP, and High Speed Research programs where he was responsible for the development of multidisciplinary technologies. Dr. Deo is the author of over 50 technical publications and is the editor of one book. He served on the NRC Panel C: Structures and Materials of the Steering Committee on Decadal Survey of Civil Aeronautics and the Panel J: High-Energy Power and Propulsion and In-space Transportation of the Committee for the Review of NASA's Capability Roadmaps. He has also served on the Scientific Advisory Board to the Air Force Research Laboratories. He retired from his position as Director, Technology, Space Systems Market Segment at Northrop Grumman Corporation's Integrated Systems Sector in 2008.

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Vijay K. Dhir (NAE) is dean of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science. He also leads the Boiling Heat Transfer Laboratory, which is involved in the study of flow boiling, microgravity boiling, and nuclear reactor thermal hydraulics. Prior to joining UCLA, he worked for a short period in industry as an engineer. For the past 30 years he has been a consultant for numerous organizations, including GE Corporation, Rockwell International, Hughes Aircraft, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Los Alamos and Brookhaven National Laboratories. Dr. Dhir has served as vice chair and chair of the UCLA Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and as the school's associate dean for academic and faculty issues. In 2006, he was elected to NAE for his work in boiling heat transfer and nuclear reactor thermal hydraulics and safety. He is a fellow of ASME and the American Nuclear Society. Dr. Dhir has received the following awards: the 2004 Max Jakob Memorial Award, the ASME Heat Transfer Memorial Award in the science category, the Donald Q. Kern Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and the Technical Achievement Award of the Thermal Hydraulics Division of the American Nuclear Society. He was inducted into the University of Kentucky’s Engineering Hall of Distinction and was recently chosen to give the Thurston Lecture of ASME. Dr. Dhir has served as senior technical editor and associate editor for ASME’s Journal of Heat Transfer and is a former assistant editor of Applied Mechanics Review. He is author or co-author of almost 300 papers published in archival journals and proceedings of conferences. Dr. Dhir received his B.S. degree from Punjab Engineering College in Chandigarh, India, his M.T. degree from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, India, and his Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky. He is a member of the NRC Decadal Survey on Life and Physical Sciences in Space Steering Committee.

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Earl H. Dowell, (NAE) is the William Holland Hall Professor and Dean Emeritus in the Edmund T. Pratt, Jr. School of Engineering at Duke University. He is a consultant to government, industry, and universities in science and technology policy and engineering education as well as on the topics of his research—aeroelasticity, nonsteady aerodynamics, and nonlinear dynamics. Currently he serves on boards of visitors at Carnegie Mellon University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Princeton University, University of Illinois, and the University of Rochester. Before serving as dean of the School of Engineering at Duke, he taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Princeton. He has also worked with the Boeing Company. He is the author of more than 200 research articles and four books. Dr. Dowell is an elected member of NAE, an honorary fellow of AIAA, and a fellow of the American Academy of Mechanics (AAM) and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). He served as vice president for publications for AIAA and as a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the AIAA, the U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, the Air Force Studies Board, and the AGARD (NATO) advisory panel for aerospace engineering. Dr. Dowell has also served as president of AAM, chair of the U.S. National Committee on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, and chair of the National Council of Deans of Engineering. From AIAA he has received the Structure, Structural Dynamics and Materials Award, the Von Karman Lectureship, and the Crichlow Prize; from the ASME he has received the Spirit of St. Louis Medal and the Den Hartog Award; and he has also received the Guggenheim Medal, which is awarded jointly by the AIAA, ASME, AHS and SAE. Dr. Dowell received his B.S. degree from the University of Illinois and his S.M. and Sc.D. degrees from MIT. Dr. Dowell has served on 22 different NRC studies and activities and is currently a member of the Board on Army Science and Technology and the Panel on Air and Ground Vehicle Technology, and he chairs the Aerospace Engineering Section if the NAE. 

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Peretz P. Friedmann is the François-Xavier Bagnoud Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is also the associate director of the Vertical Lift Research Center of Excellence, which is a partnership between Georgia Tech (lead university), University of Michigan, Washington University in St. Louis, and Utah State University. Prior to entering the academia, Dr. Friedmann worked in Israel Aircraft Industries and was a research assistant at the Aeroelastic and Structures Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He previously served as professor in the mechanical and aerospace engineering department of the University of California, Los Angeles, where he has also served as the chair of the department. Dr. Friedmann has been engaged in research on rotary-wing and fixed wing aeroelasticity, active control of vibration and noise using on blade control, hypersonic aeroelasticity and aerothermoelasticity, structural optimization with aeroelastic constraints, flutter suppression, structural dynamics, and jet engine aeroelasticity. He has also served on a number of national award boards and review committees engaged in review of research funding as well as on the visiting committee for the aeronautics and astronautics department at MIT. He has consulted for Boeing Helicopters and Augusta-Westland. He has published more than 320 journal and conference papers. His accomplishments have been recognized by several awards, including the 2013 AHS Alexander A. Nikolsky Honorary Lectureship; the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Ashley Award for Aeroelasticity; the AIAA Dryden Lectureship in Research; the ASME Spirit of St. Louis Medal; the AIAA Structures, Structural Dynamics and Materials Award; the AIAA SDM Lecture Award; and the ASME/Boeing Structures and Materials Award. He is currently the editor-in-chief of the AIAA Journal and he is a fellow of AIAA and the American Helicopter Society. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in aeronautical engineering from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and his Sc.D. in aeronautics and astronautics from MIT.

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David Goldston is a visiting lecturer in Center for the Environment at Harvard University. Prior to joining the Center, he was a visiting lecturer in the in the Science, Technology and Environmental Policy Program at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He also writes the monthly column "Party of One" on Congress and science policy for Nature, and he is serving on a number of panels preparing reports on science policy issues, including a study by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences on grantmaking and a study by the American Physical Society on energy efficiency. Mr. Goldston was chief of staff of the U.S. House Committee on Science (2001-2006) where he oversaw a committee that has jurisdiction over most of the federal civilian research and development budget, including programs run by NASA, NSF, DOE, DOC, and EPA. Prior to becoming staff director, Mr. Goldston was legislative director for Congressman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), who became chair of the Science Committee in January, 2001. As legislative director, Mr. Goldston was Congressman Boehlert’s top environmental aide and also oversaw the legislative and press operations of the office. Mr. Goldston came to Capitol Hill in 1983 as Boehlert’s press secretary. From 1985 to 1994, he served on the Science Committee as the special assistant on the Subcommittee on Science, Research and Technology where he oversaw the programs of NSF and NIST. In 1994 and 1995, Mr. Goldston was project director at the Council on Competitiveness, a private sector group with members from industry, labor and academia. He directed work on the report, Endless Frontier, Limited Resources: U.S. R&D Policy for Competitiveness.

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R. John Hansman Jr. is a professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he is head of the Humans and Automation Division. He is also director of the International Center for Air Transportation. In addition to teaching, Dr. Hansman conducts research in several areas related to air transportation, flight vehicle operations and safety. His current research activities focus on information technology applied to air transportation systems, air traffic control, integrated human-automation systems, advanced vehicles, and advanced cockpit information systems. He is also an internationally recognized expert in aviation meteorological hazards such as icing and windshear. Dr. Hansman served on the NRC Committee to Identify Potential Breakthrough Technologies and Assess Long-Term R&D Goals in Aeronautics and Space Transportation Technology and the Committee on the Effects of Aircraft-Pilot Coupling on Flight Safety.

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Richard Kohrs has over 50 years of experience in systems engineering and integration of NASA Apollo, Shuttle, Space Station, and Commercial Programs. He retired from NASA as director of Space Station Freedom where he had overall responsibility for development and operation of the program. He was deputy director for the space shuttle program where he managed the daily engineering processing, and operations activities. Earlier he led the systems integration of the Shuttle Program, with responsibility for vehicle integration of Orbiter, Main Engines, External Tank, Solid Rocket Boosters, and the Ground System. After retirement from NASA he served as vice president of International Activities for ANSER and director of International Aerospace Cooperation for ANSER. From 1997 to 2005, he served as chief engineer of Kistler Aerospace with overall responsibility for technical integration of the seven major subcontractors and systems engineering and integration of the Kistler reusable launch vehicle. From 2006 to 2007, he served as program manager of SAGES (Shuttle/Apollo Generation Expert Services) for SAIC. This activity provides the NASA Constellation Program access to retired senior personnel from Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Shuttle Programs.

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Ivett A. Leyva is a senior aerospace engineer in the Aerophysics Branch of the Space and Missile Propulsion Division of the Air Force Research Laboratory. There she focuses on the design of liquid rocket engines. She is an experimentalist, and currently studies the effects of acoustic fields on coaxial jets. She also works in the area of hypersonic boundary layer transition. Previously, she was a senior aerodynamicist at Microcosm, Inc. where she was responsible for the development of ablative chambers and also performed numerical/analytical studies of Microcosm’s launch vehicles’ subcomponents. Prior to Microcosm she was employed at General Electric’s (GE’s) Global Research Center where she led the design, development, and testing of several pulse detonation concepts. There, she coordinated joint projects with scientists from the former Soviet Union. Dr. Leyva holds several patents in the U.S. and Europe in the area of propulsion. She served on the NRC Committee on Air Force/Department of Defense Aerospace Propulsion and the Steering Committee on Decadal Survey of Civil Aeronautics.

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Elaine S. Oran (NAE) is the Senior Scientist for Reactive Flow Physics at the US Naval Research Laboratory. As Senior Scientist, Dr. Oran's research includes development of numerical algorithms and the use of these algorithms in computerized models that describe a wide variety of complex fluid systems. These systems are used in research and applications ranging from microfluidics to astrophysics and cosmology. Her current work applies these simulation methods to design micron-sized devices for use in biosensors; design of micro-propulsion systems for use in air vehicles, space and planetary exploration; hazard reduction involved in the storage and handling of energetic materials including hydrogen fuels; basic physics of combustion processes involving flames; detonations and the transition to denotations; and explosions of supernovae. She was elected to the NAE for unifying engineering, scientific, and mathematical disciplines into a computational methodology to solve challenging aerospace combustion problems. She received an AB in Chemistry and Physics from Bryn Mawr College, an MPh in Physics from Yale, a PhD in Engineering and Applied Science from Yale, and holds honorary doctorates from Leeds University and Ecole Centrale de Lyon. She is an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics, and the American Association of Mechanical Engineers. Among her professional awards, she has received the Zeldovich Gold Medal of the Combustion Institute, the Presidential Rank Award of Distinguished Senior Professional, the Dryden Lectureship in Research of the AIAA, and the Arthur S Flemming Award. Previously she served as Editor-in-Chief of AIAA Journal, Associate Editor of the Journal of Computational Physics, Managing Editor of the journal of Shock Waves. and editorial boards of many journals. She has published and lectured extensively and coauthored the book "Numerical Simulation of Reactive Flow."

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Helen L. Reed is a professor of aerospace engineering at Texas A&M University, having served as department head from 2004 to 2008. Her prior positions include faculty appointments at Stanford University (1982-1985), Arizona State University (1985-2004), and Tohoku University in Sendai Japan (1991-1992); and appointments at Sandia National Laboratories (1983) and NASA Langley Research Center (1977-1981). She is also presently co-founding a small start-up company to build and commercialize technologies in the space sector focused on small satellites. Dr. Reed has 20 years of experience in integrating small-spacecraft research, design-build-fly, and education, with particular emphasis in spaceflight, satellite design, and autonomous rendezvous and docking (AR&D) and 36 years in boundary-layer transition and laminar flow control, and hypersonics. She has 187 journal articles and refereed conference papers (38 invited), and 130 invited talks (not including invited refereed conference papers) in these areas. She is a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), American Physical Society (APS), and American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). She was the recipient of the 2007 J. Leland "Lee" Atwood Award from the American Society for Engineering Education’s (ASEE’s) Aerospace Division and AIAA. Dr. Reed was inducted into the Academy of Engineering Excellence in 2008 and the College of Engineering “Committee of 100” in 2010 at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). She is a (Texas A&M) Presidential Professor of Teaching Excellence (as of 2013). She has served on numerous advisory boards and committees, including NASA Headquarters aeronautics advisory committees, subcommittees, and task forces; the NASA Federal Laboratory Review Task Force of the NAC; and the NATO/AGARD Fluid Dynamics Panel. She was an associate editor for Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics from 1986 to 2000 and has served on numerous AIAA committees as well as the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Executive Committee, the Society of Engineering Science board of directors; the USRA board of trustees and Space Technology Council (chair); the advisory board for National Institute of Aerospace; the National Space Grant Student Satellite Initiative (deputy co-chair), the Arizona Space Grant Consortium (associate director); the Aerospace Department Chairs’ Association (chair); and the Arizona Space Commission (governor-appointed member). Dr. Reed also served on the advisory committees for aerospace programs at New Mexico State University, the University of California, Irvine, the University of Washington, and Virginia Tech. She received her Ph.D. in engineering mechanics from Virginia Tech in 1981. She served on the NRC Aerodynamics Panel from 1990 to 1992.

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Eli Reshotko (NAE) is the Kent H. Smith Professor Emeritus of Engineering at Case Western Reserve University. His area of expertise is viscous effects in external and internal aerodynamics; two- and three-dimensional compressible boundary layers and heat transfer; stability and transition of viscous flows, both incompressible and compressible; and low-drag technology for aircraft and underwater vehicles. He has expertise in propulsion engineering, thermodynamics, aerodynamics, and aircraft propulsion. He is a fellow of the AIAA, ASME, the American Physical Society, and the American Academy of Mechanics, for which he served as president. He is co-author of more than 100 publications and is affiliated with many task forces, committees, and governing boards, and on several he served as chair. Dr. Reshotko currently serves as the NAE Section 1 liaison members chair and his NRC service includes membership on the Committee for the Evaluation of NASA's Fundamental Aeronautics Research Program, the Committee on Analysis of Air Force Engine Efficiency Improvement Options for Large Non-Fighter Aircraft, and the Committee on Assessment of Aircraft Winglets for Large Aircraft Fuel Efficiency.

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Agam N. Sinha is the president of ANS Aviation International, LLC. Dr. Sinha recently retired from The MITRE Corporation where he was a senior vice president, and as general manager of the Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD). He also directed the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) federally funded research and development center (FFRDC). CAASD supports the FAA, Transportation Security Administration, and international civil aviation authorities in addressing operational and technical challenges to meet aviation’s capacity, efficiency, safety, and security needs. Dr. Sinha has more than 40 years of experience in aviation and weather systems. He serves on the board of trustees of Vaughn College of Aeronautics in New York and is on the Ph.D. in Aviation Advisory Board at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. He also served as a member of the FAA’s NextGen Advisory Committee and on the FAA RE&D Advisory Committee. He was elected to serve as the chairman of RTCA board of directors and the RTCA policy board. He was an elected member of the RTCA Policy Board, Air Traffic Management Advisory Committee, and the Air Traffic Management Steering Group. In the past, he has also served on the advisory committee of Lincoln Lab at MIT and of National Center of Atmospheric Research (Research Applications Programs). He is an associate fellow of AIAA. Dr. Sinha is the recipient of several awards and citations from the FAA and industry. He has more than 80 publications and has been an invited presenter to a wide range of organizations nationally and internationally. Dr. Sinha holds a B.Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay, India, a M.S. in management of technology from American University, and an M.S. in industrial engineering and Ph.D. in operations research from the University of Minnesota. He served was chair of the Aviation Group of the NRC’s Transportation Research Board and as chair of the Steering Committee for Oversight of FAA-Sponsored Workshops on Aviation Issues.

 

Edmond L. Soliday was employed by United Airlines for over 35 years as a pilot, human factors instructor, flight manager, and staff executive, serving the last eleven as vice president of safety, quality assurance and security. He has served on numerous aviation safety related advisory boards and commissions, and he has chaired the Commercial Aviation Safety Team, the Air Transport Association Safety Council, the Star Alliance Safety Committee, and the ATA Environmental Committee. Captain Soliday formerly served on the Executive Board of the Flight Safety Foundation. He currently serves on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Global Airline Industry Program Advisory Group and is an Indiana State Representative serving on the Transportation, Commerce, Energy, and Technology committees. Among his awards are the Bendix Trophy, the Vanguard Trophy, and the Laura Tabor Barbour International Air Safety Award. Capt. Mr. Soliday has previously served on four NRC study committees.

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John P. Stenbit (NAE) is a consultant. He has served as a member of the board of directors and advisory boards of various information technology companies and government agencies, such as the advisory board of the National Security Agency, the advisory board for MDA, the Strategic Advisory Group to STRATCOM, a trustee of MITRE, director of VIASAT, Loral, and Defense Group, Inc.. Prior to that he served as the assistant secretary of defense; chief information officer, Networks and Information Integration, Department of Defense; executive vice president of TRW; and principal deputy director of Telecommunications and Command and Control Systems, Office of the Secretary of Defense. Mr. Stenbit was a Fulbright Fellow and Aerospace Corporation Fellow at the Technische Hogeschool, Einhoven, The Netherlands. He is also a member of professional and scientific honorary societies, such as the NAE and Tau Beta Pi. He has been awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for both Outstanding and Exceptional Public Service. Mr. Stenbit holds an M.S. in electrical engineering and a B.S. in engineering, from the California Institute of Technology. Mr. Stenbit’s NRC experience includes membership on the Naval Studies Board, the Board on Manufacturing and Engineering Design and the Committee on Advancing Software-Intensive Systems Producibility.

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