2022 Engineer of the Year Nominations

Hampton Roads Chapter of the VFS Engineer of the Year 2022

The Hampton Roads Chapter of the Vertical Flight Society (HRC of the VFS) is looking to recognize Hampton Roads Area individuals for their contributions to the rotary-wing engineering profession, significant technical accomplishments, and community involvement. As such, the HRC of the VFS is soliciting nominations for the Engineer of the Year (EOY) award. The HRC of the VFS offers two EOY awards:

· The John White Award – for recognition of the nominee’s career

· The Bob Huston Award – for recognition in the early phase of the nominee’s career

Applications must be received by July 15th, 2022. More details on qualifications and nomination instructions can be found here.

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2022 VFS HRC Scholarship Winners

 

The Robert Powell Scholarship 

The Robert Powell Scholarship was established to honor the long-time treasurer of the Hampton Roads Chapter whose stewardship of the chapter’s financial assets originally enabled the chapter’s STEM outreach program, including its scholarship fund. The 2022 Robert Powell scholarship has been awarded to Leo Annett, the son of Mary and Martin Annett. Leo attends a York County Public School and is an exemplary scholar and leader. He has earned an excellent SAT score and GPA, while also continuing to work and volunteer. His documented perseverance has earned Leo the Robert Powell Scholarship for 2022. Leo plans to pursue a degree in Computer Science.  

The Edward ‘Ed’ Austin Scholarship 

This Edward ‘Ed’ Austin Scholarship was established to honor Ed’s many years as a chapter board member in various positions from treasurer to education director. In his retirement, Ed continued to support the chapter through staffing multiple events, encouraged the public outreach of our chapter by maintaining our website, and was a huge and continued proponent of our STEM outreach program including the scholarship program. The inaugural Edward ‘Ed’ Austin scholarship has been awarded to Juan Martinez-Medina, the son of Ana and Pedro Martinez. Juan attends a Chesapeake Public School and is an exemplary scholar who’s achieved much despite adversity. Juan intends to pursue a degree in computer engineering, where his impressive work ethic will pay off in spades. 

The Christopher Gavora Scholarship 

The Christopher Gavora Scholarship was established to honor the son of COL William Gavora, former Commander of the Aviation Applied Technology Directorate.  Chris was killed in a tragic high school baseball practice accident shortly after his family relocated from Hampton Roads to Texas.  The 2022 Christopher Gavora Scholarship has been awarded to Logan Richardson, a student in the York County Public School system.  Logan, the son of Channing and Don Richardson, is a proven scholar and school leader. As captain of 3 varsity teams, Logan has proven his leadership, while maintaining exemplary grades and scoring very well on the SAT. Logan plans to pursue a degree in Electrical Engineering. 

 

 

2022 TSEF Award Winners Announced

As it has for many years in the past, this year the VFS Hampton Roads Chapter presented multiple special awards at the Tidewater Science & Engineering Fair (TSEF). The Junior Division (Middle School) award winners received $200 for first place, and $100 for second place. The Senior Division (High School) award winners received $250 for first place, and $200 for second place. These awards are given to the students with the best projects supporting “the multidisciplinary fields of vertical flight, traditional rotorcraft platforms disciplines, and related support industries.”  The winners were judged to be the best versed with their work and performed the most unique experiments. Their teachers have also received a $100 award for supporting the STEM community and leading their students to these great achievements. Finally, the Tidewater Science Congress was also gifted $1000 to continue TSEF and help continue it well into the future. 

The Junior Division first place award winner was Nathan Shaw for his work on optical sensor performance under degraded visual environments. The second-place award winner was Gavin Fitzgerald, who investigated the performance effects of linear magnetic actuator arrangement. 

The Senior Division first place award winner was Erin Jones for her work studying the long-term effects of cognitive training. Her work investigated whether mental training tasks could improve cognitive performance in high schoolers. This work could lead to improved training for pilot focus and performance. Second place award winner in the senior division was Jack Shoemaker who investigated machine learning in weather forecasting. 

The awards were presented by the Chapter’s Education Director Dr. James Stephenson. 

Penn State Rotary Wing Short Course

The 52nd Annual Pennylvania State University Comprehensive Short Course in Rotary Wing Technology will be held August 5 – 9, 2019, in State College, Pennsylvania.  It is a 5-day course covering aerodynamics, dynamics, stability and control, structures, acoustics, propulsion and drive trains of vertical flight vehicles. Many chapter members have attended over the years and have found the course to be excellent.

If you are interested in more information click here.

Luncheon meeting of AATD Retirees, Monday, May 6

Actually, any men or women who worked  for TECOM, USAAMRDL, AVLABS, ATL or AATD or even had close associations with these organizations (like NASA or industry) are welcome to attend.  The luncheons are held most first Mondays of the month, gathering around 11:15 a.m. at the Yorktown Pub, 540 Water Street, within sight of the Coleman Bridge.