AHS International, The Vertical Flight Society, today announced the 2018 individual recipients of its prestigious awards program. This year’s winners will be recognized at the Grand Awards Banquet on Wednesday, May 16, 2018, during AHS International’s 74th Annual Forum & Technology Display in Phoenix, Arizona, USA.

• Ms. Susan A. Gorton, Revolutionary Vertical Lift Technology Project Manager, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) — for more than 30 years of vertical flight research and outstanding leadership, including an unprecedented 12 years heading NASA’s vertical lift research. Ms. Gorton has also led collaboration and partnerships with industry, academia, the US Department of Defense, the Federal Aviation Administration, other research organizations and AHS International.
• Dr. William D. Lewis, Aviation Development Director, Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC), US Army — for 40 years of advancing Army Aviation technology. Through his career as an Army aviator and experimental test pilot, an instructor and educator, and chief engineer on the RAH-66 Comanche, to his leadership of the Army’s Aviation Engineering Directorate and Aviation Development Directorate, Dr. Lewis has been an advocate for advancing vertical flight technology.

• Prof. James D. Baeder, Professor at the University of Maryland — for fundamental contributions to rotorcraft aeromechanics and smart structures, and training a generation of engineers and scientists.
• Dr. Albert Brand, Senior Technical Fellow Flight Technology at Bell — for more than 28 years of contributions to rotor aerodynamics and flight technology.
• Dr. Vineet Sahasrabudhe, Engineering Sciences Director at Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin Company — for extraordinary and innovative leadership in the design, development and advancement of state-of-the-art flyby-wire (FBW) control systems.
• Dr. Roger C. Strawn, Computational Aeromechanics Lead, US Army Aviation Development Directorate (ADD), AMRDEC — for major advances in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) applications to vertical flight, helping to evolve these applications from academic studies to practical design and analysis tools.

Dr. Peter Lorber, a Technical Fellow at Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, is this year’s honored recipient of the Dr. Alexander Klemin Award, the highest honor that AHS International bestows on an individual for notable achievement in advancing the field of vertical flight aeronautics. Lorber is an internationally recognized expert in the areas of aerodynamics, experimental aerodynamics, and flow control, whose abilities have contributed immeasurably to the success of Sikorsky products for more than 30 years.

The Society’s Paul E. Haueter Award is given for an outstanding technical contribution to the field of VTOL aircraft development other than a helicopter or an operational vertical flight aircraft. The 2018 Haueter Award is being awarded to Mr. JoeBen Bevirt, the founder and chief executive officer of Joby Aviation Inc., which has successfully demonstrated the world’s first high-speed multi-passenger electric VTOL aircraft.

The François-Xavier Bagnoud Award is given to an individual Society member who is 35 years old or younger for their career-to-date outstanding contributions to vertical flight technology. This year’s winner is Dr. Eric Greenwood, NASA Langley Research Center, for his exceptional contributions to the field of helicopter noise. His development of the Fundamental Rotorcraft Acoustic Modeling from Experiments (FRAME) code has revolutionized the accuracy of empirical noise predictions, enabling real-time acoustic predictions for vehicles in free flight.

The Frederick L. Feinberg Award is presented to the pilot or crew of a vertical flight aircraft who demonstrated outstanding skills or achievement during the preceding 18 months. This year’s award is given to Mr. Prospero Alexie Uybarreta, the chief test pilot of Martin Aircraft Company Ltd. in Christchurch, New Zealand. Uybarreta flight tested (and helped develop) the unique experimental Series 1 Jetpack, exploring the unknowns of a twin ducted fan, fly-by-wire/control vane, rotary-engine-powered personal VTOL aircraft.

The John J. Schneider Historical Achievement Award is given in recognition of distinguished achievement by an individual in encouraging appreciation of, and enhancing access to, the history and legacy of vertical flight aircraft. This year’s recipient is Mr. Dan Libertino, president of the Igor I. Sikorsky Historical Archives. Since becoming president of the Archives in 2005, Libertino has expanded its work and its mission to both preserve the legacy of Igor I. Sikorsky and to communicate the history of Sikorsky and the helicopter. Major activities have included the cataloging and digitizing of the vast store of material owned by the Archives, preservation of drawings made on acidic paper dating back to the 1920s, and creation of a quarterly newsletter.

In addition, AHS International had announced in October 2017 that Dr. Inderjit Chopra, University of Maryland, had been selected for the 2018 Alexander A. Nikolsky Honorary Lectureship, entitled, “Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and Delivery Drones: Challenges & Opportunities”; this award will also be presented at the AHS Annual Awards Banquet.