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NESC Honor Awards are given each year to NASA employees, industry representatives, and other stakeholders for their efforts and achievements in engineering, leadership, teamwork, and communication. These awards formally recognize those who have made outstanding contributions to the NESC mission, demonstrate engineering and technical excellence, and foster an open environment. 

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2022 Honorees from left to right: (Front Row) Tim Wilson (NESC Director); Yuan Chen (LaRC), Elspeth Peterson (KSC), Grace Belancik (ARC), Jing Pei (LaRC), Mark Vande Hei (NESC Chief Astronaut); (Second row) James Walker (MSFC), Carlton Faller (JSC), Jason Vaughn (MSFC), Shane Cravens (Syncom Space Services, SSC), Shawn Brechbill (MSFC), Kevin Dickens (GRC); (Third row) Christopher Johnston (LaRC).  

NESC Director’s Award 
Honors individuals for defending a technical position that conflicts with a program or organization’s initial or prevailing engineering perspectives and for taking personal initiative to foster clear and open communication and resolve controversial issues. 

DANIEL L. DIETRICH – In recognition of the development and advocacy of the technical rationale to assess the safety and effectiveness of breathing systems for pilots of tactical aircraft. 

NESC Leadership Award 
Honors individuals for sustained leadership excellence demonstrated by establishing a vision, developing and managing a plan, and building consensus to proactively resolve conflicts and achieve results. 

YUAN CHEN – In recognition of outstanding leadership in  the electrical, electronic, electromechanical parts’ community and the development of recommendations on the use of commercial parts in NASA missions. 

NIKOLAUS GRAVENSTEIN – In recognition of outstanding technical leadership in support of Verification of Testing Standard for Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Partial Pressure in Extravehicular Activity Suits. 

ELSPETH M. PETERSEN – In recognition of outstanding leadership to the Spacesuit Water Membrane Evaporator Assessment Team in negotiating creative solutions and facility challenges. 

PATRICK A. SIMPKINS – In recognition of outstanding technical leadership in support of numerous NESC assessments to reduce risk to NASA’s most critical human and robotic spaceflight programs. 

NESC Engineering Excellence Award 
Honors individuals for making significant engineering contributions, developing innovative approaches, and ensuring appropriate levels of engineering rigor are applied to the resolution of technical issues in support of the NESC mission. 

KEVIN W. DICKENS – In recognition of engineering excellence and sustained commitment to the NESC Propulsion Technical Discipline Team and NASA missions. 

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      Honorable Mention (Group)
      Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) Propulsion Team
      The Revolutionary Vertical Lift and Technology project’s Electric Propulsion Team achieved major accomplishments – successfully completing a technical challenge to improve propulsion system component reliability by demonstrating significant improvements in 100-kilowatt electric motors. Through an integrated interdisciplinary approach including external partner collaborations, the team produced six major technological capabilities towards further development of NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility mission.
      Team Lead: Mark Valco, GRC
      View Honorable Mention Group Honorees
      Honorable Mention (Group)
      Self-Aligned Focusing Schlieren Team
      The Self-Aligned Focusing Schlieren Team developed a highly innovative and impactful Schlieren system that revolutionizes high-speed flow visualization in aeronautics research by enabling the use of a highly efficient, non-intrusive optical measurement technique in physically constrained environments. This new approach drastically improves efficiency in accurately capturing and analyzing complex, high-speed airflows around advanced aerospace vehicles in a non-intrusive manner – providing precise visualization without requiring the cumbersome alignment procedures of traditional Schlieren systems.
      Team Lead: Brett Bathel, LaRC
      View Honorable Mention Group Honorees
      Leadership and Management Excellence
      Honoree
      Anthony Nerone, GRC
      Anthony Nerone demonstrated strong leadership in formulating and leading the implementation of the Hybrid Thermally Efficient Core project. He has successfully set up a framework to establish a high-performing project team that has been an example for other Aeronautics projects. Nerone’s strong project management has led industry to accelerate the development of advanced engine technologies which have started to see infusion into products – continuing United States leadership in sustainable aviation.
      Program and Mission Support
      Honoree
      Diana Fitzgerald, LaRC (Booz Allen Hamilton)
      Diana Fitzgerald has demonstrated innovation, responsiveness, and impact in her contributions to the Transformational Tools and Technologies (TTT) project. Her creative and comprehensive approach to enhancing TTT’s communication processes has significantly improved the efficiency and effectiveness of the project’s operations, enabling ARMD to advance critical strategic capabilities and partnerships. Her dedication has garnered widespread recognition from colleagues and leadership and has had a substantial and measurable impact.
      Honoree (Group)
      Airspace Operations Safety Program (AOSP) Resource Analyst Group
      The AOSP Resource Analyst Group worked tirelessly to skillfully review and analyze the NASA Aeronautics budget – preparing programs and projects for planning, budget, and execution inputs. Their extraordinary performance in numerous AOSP activities building, tracking, and executing milestones resulted in a smooth and transparent execution of the program’s annual budget. The group has gone beyond the call of duty and their hard work and dedication is reflected in their discipline and commitment to NASA through critical, time-sensitive attention to detail and solution-focused problem solving.
      Team Leads: Michele Dodson, HQ and Jeffrey Farlin, HQ
      View Group Honorees
      Honorable Mention (Individual)
      Shannon Eichorn, GRC
      Shannon Eichorn developed and authored a compelling, creative vision for the future of aeronautics research and of NASA’s working environment. She envisioned and described a future in which NASA’s aeronautics research goals, future technologies, workforce, and capabilities are in synergy to maximize research quality and impact. Eichorn presented this vision to numerous leaders and groups at NASA, and the excitement in the room at each presentation led to engaging follow-on discussions and several workstream groups requested Eichorn to present to their full group. Her efforts inspire not only ARMD, but the entire agency.
      High Potentials
      Honoree
      Matthew Webster, LaRC
      Matthew Webster has had significant impact and contributions to meeting goals in the Convergent Aeronautics Solutions and Transformational Tools and Technologies projects. In his short time at NASA, he has rapidly demonstrated exceptional ability to adapt and apply technical expertise across multiple NASA projects to advance towards project technical goals. Webster has shown his leadership ability, providing exceptional skills at creating a healthy team environment enabling the group to successfully meet project goals.
      Honorable Mention
      Dahlia Pham, ARC
      Dhalia Pham’s contributions as a system analyst, researcher, and teammate in support of NASA’s efforts in electrified aircraft propulsion have shown an ability to creatively solve problems, analyze impacts, present results with strong communication skills, and collaborate with and mentor others. Her technical acumen and leadership ability raise the bar, making her an established leader amongst her peers.
      Strategic Partnerships
      Honoree
      Salvatore Buccellato, LaRC
      Salvatore Buccellato identified collaborative opportunities in hypersonics research that were mutually beneficial to NASA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and other non-NASA entities through his program management experience and knowledge of NASA people and capabilities. Buccellato was able to leverage NASA and non-NASA expertise and capabilities, along with DARPA funding, to further mature and advance hypersonic technologies via ground and flight tests with the goal of enabling operational flight systems. His exemplary work helped to significantly advanced hypersonic technologies and its workforce, and are expected to lead to further partnered activities for NASA.
      Pushing the Envelope
      Honoree (Group)
      Advanced Power Electronics Team, GRC
      The Advanced Power Electronics Team of the Advanced Air Transport Technology project completed an ambitious design of a prototype flight-packaged, altitude-capable electric motor drive for aviation. Their work pushed past the state of the art in flight motor drives in several areas including power density, efficiency, and power quality – and is a steppingstone towards megawatt-level, cryogenically cooled motor drives. The electric motor design underwent many successful tests and exercises, and the team’s subsequent publications and expertise help the electrified aircraft industry push past several barriers. 
      Team Leads: Matthew G. Granger, GRC
      View Group Honorees
      2024 AA Award Honorees PDF
      ARMD Associate Administrator Award
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      Last Updated Mar 06, 2025 EditorLillian GipsonContactJim Bankejim.banke@nasa.gov Related Terms
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    • By NASA
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      2024 AA Award Honorees
      2024 AA Award Honorees PDF
      ARMD Associate Administrator Awards
      Facebook logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASAes @NASA@NASAaero@NASAes Instagram logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASAes Linkedin logo @NASA Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
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      Last Updated Mar 06, 2025 EditorLillian GipsonContactJim Bankejim.banke@nasa.gov Related Terms
      Associate Administrator Awards View the full article
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