On behalf of the 2021 AeroAstro Awards and Recognition Program, we would like to recognize our graduate student leaders!
Graduate Student Ambassadors
Amelia Bruno
Annick Dewald
Kevin Doherty
Max Li
Andriana Mitchell
Hannah Munguia-Flores
Hannah Tomio
Laurens Voet
Carter Waligura
Jerrod Wigmore
Syed Shayan Zahid
MIT AeroAfro Leaders
Arthur Brown
Cory Frontin
Cadence Payne
Chelsea Onyeador
Special recognition from their peers goes to:
Cadence Payne is recognized for her leadership in organizing several AeroAfro virtual social gatherings, coffee chats with prospective AeroAstro graduate students, one-on-one student mentorship meetings with some of the current first-year students.
Chelsea Onyeador, for her contributions that include advocacy work across campus, such as the Black Lives Matter Petition Support with the Black Graduate Students’ Association (BGSA).
MIT dREFS
Mycal Tucker
Victoria Preston
Shayan Zahid
Special recognition from their peers goes to:
Aaron Baumgarten, for his commitment to embody the values we all wish to emulate.
Paula do Vale Pereira, for her organizational experience and the leadership she brings to the organization.
GA^3 Executive Committee
Jon MacArthur
Andrew Cummings
Cadence Payne
Will Parker
Axel Garcia
Regina Apodaca
Chelsea Onyeador
Mary Dahl
Hannah Tomio
Andrew Fishberg
Ara Mahseredjian
Charles Dawson
Elwyn Sirieys
Harsh Bhundiya
Alex Cabrales
Joey Murphy
Past GA^3 executive board:
Co-Presidents Adriana Mitchell and Prashanth Prakash, Vice President Lena Downes
Web Master & Social Media Chair Chelsea Onyeador, and Advocate for Gender Minorities Annick Dewald.
Graduate Women in Aerospace Engineering (GWAE) Executive Leaders
Paula do Vale Pereira
Rosemary Davidson
Katie Carroll
Lena Downes
Chloe Gentgen
China Hagstrom
Rachel Morgan
Hannah Tomio
Cassandre Pradon
Maria Regina Apodaca Moreno
Annick Dewald
Amelia Gagnon
Jenny Gubner
Lucy Halperin
Golda Nguyen
The GWAE Executive leadership, along with others, have recognized two of their peers for their outstanding leadership.
Annick DeWald and Sydney Dolan, for their advocacy on behalf of gender minorities and students on LGBTQ issues.
Undergraduate Student Leadership Awards:
Admiral Luis de Florez Award: Savva Morozov ‘22
General James H. Doolittle Prize: Robert Cato ’23
James Means Memorial Award: Julia Gaubatz ‘21
Andrew J. Morsa Prize Award: Ethan Rolland ‘21
Thomas B. Sheridan Award: Ethan Rolland ’21
Henry Webb Salisbury Award: Given for superior academic performance by a Course XVI graduating senior(s). Criteria to be considered include GPA, performance in other curricular and extra-curricular activities, and feedback from faculty and advisors.
James Abel ‘21
Claire Buffington ‘21
Ngoc La ‘21
Dongjoon Lee ‘21
Dominic Maggio ‘21
Alex Meredith ‘21
Christopher Womack ‘21
Graduate Teaching Assistantship Award
Mary M. Dahl ‘G.
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Professor of The Year Award: Raúl Radovitzky
AIAA Graduate Teaching Assistant Award:
AIAA Graduate Teaching Assistant Award in an Undergraduate Subject (Unified Thermodynamics & Propulsion): Shun Zhang, Graduate Student
AeroAstro Community Awards
The Wings Award:
Recognizes an individual support member in AeroAstro for excellence.
Winner: Karen Bruce, Infrastructure Assistant
“She has been an instrumental source of support throughout our entire experience working with her since she came on board in the department, and her efficiency, attention to detail, and high level of skill in developing coherent organized systems and processes have stood out this year in particular.”
Winner: Esther Allen, Administrative Assistant
“She is the best admin we have had in the last 6 years (and we have had many), always available for anything, always in good mood, very open, and even trying to participate in our lab discussions. She's just the best!”
The Spirit XVI Award:
Recognizes sustained excellence by a member of the staff or a team of staff members in AeroAstro, whose work, commitment, and enthusiasm contribute significantly to the achievement of the mission of the Department.
Winner: Hannah Ovaska, Human Resources Administrator
“She delivers with excellence and her positive attitude has helped the Department in the midst of these difficult times. Her leadership of the culture discussions is outstanding.”
The Upstander Award:
Recognizes a student, staff, faculty, postdoc, or researcher who speaks or acts in support of an individual cause that aligns with our values of leading through excellence in research & education; creates an inclusive environment; and/or fosters ethics, integrity, and success.
Winner: Denise A. Phillips, Diversity Officer
“She personifies the expertise and sensitivity to listen to the differing points of view, individual concerns, and perspectives of department faculty, staff, and students. She then works to engage in productive conversations in an approachable, non-judgmental environment. In the short time she has worked in Aero Astro (and new to MIT), she has orchestrated outreach to many other departments, connecting to many other initiatives and organizations within and beyond MIT. Another of her priorities is her focus on student advocacy and success. With never-ending support, she has worked to give voice within the department to groups such as AeroAfro, and LBGTQIA.”
Winner: Regina Apodaca, Graduate Student at the Space Enabled Group
“She strongly advocates for a better culture in the department. She has led the efforts of many CALL events, has led the "Is it just me?" events, and is now leading an initiative to improve the mental health of students in the department. Through all these initiatives, she is doing all she can to ensure students feel welcome, don't become the receivers of micro-aggressions, and are encouraged to look for help when they need it. She is part of GA^3, GWAE, and dREFS and greatly uses her roles in these groups to bring attention to important issues and stand up for people who wouldn't speak up otherwise.”
Vickie Kerrebrock Undergraduate Award:
Winner: Devin Johnson ‘22
“He hit the ground running to work with Course 16 instructors who wanted to move their courses from Stellar - or similar teaching platforms - to the Canvas platform. He did so with enthusiasm, professionalism, and dedication to the AeroAstro community. His support to the “development of effective and engaging learning experiences on the Canvas platform for his peers, whose lives were abruptly interrupted at the beginning of the spring 2020 term. He also supported AeroAstro professors in their teaching during a very difficult period.”
Vickie Kerrebrock Graduate Student Award:
Winner: Chelsea Onyeador, Graduate Student, Hypersonics Research Lab
“She is a student that has worked hard to promote diversity and social justice as part of multiple student groups, both at the department level but also at the institutional level. She was the co-president of BGSA in a very difficult year and single-handedly wrote the recommendations for the institution heads. She brought to light the importance of addressing our members' intersectionality and made important suggestions on how to make this group more inclusive.“
Vickie Kerrebrock Staff Award:
Winner: Beth Marois, Graduate Program Administrator
“She has worked tirelessly over the past year to help build a sense of community in the department. She has played a vital role in connecting and informing graduate students during a very difficult situation, where many students have been working remotely and even from different countries. She is always available and holds office hours every week. I have met with her several times over Zoom, where she has provided some very helpful guidance about the graduate program and settling in at AeroAstro. I think she deserves to be recognized for the crucial role she has played.”
Vickie Kerrebrock Research/Postdoc Award:
Winner: Maha Haji, Postdoctoral Associate
“She has done a fantastic job way above and beyond her duties as a postdoc. Besides the great job she has done creating community in the ESL, she was a founder/co-founder of our new Researchers and Postdocs Association of Aeronautics and Astronautics (RPA3). This is the first time that non-faculty research staff and postdocs have had a combined voice in the department and it has given them a community and opportunity to exchange their views, needs, and hopes, especially during this COVID-19 pandemic. She is a great scholar, person, and team member and so many students in 888, ESL, and RPA3 have benefited over the last two years from her kindness, tireless efforts, and wisdom.”
Vickie Kerrebrock Faculty Award:
Winner: Prof. Hamsa Balakrishnan
“She has worked to clarify many of our previous processes such as TA allocations, fellowship allocations, and early graduate admissions that were previously confusing and somewhat ad hoc. Giving us all a clear sense of transparency and expectations helps foster a sense of community. More importantly, she has been very creative in finding new ways to make the department a better and more inclusive place. Her concept of transitional funding for graduate students led the Institute and provides a much-needed sense of a safety net for our graduate students. Her work to eliminate the GRE from graduate admissions has been enthusiastically received by many of us. She has been a critical member of the DI&I committee, and much of our work such as the strategic plan and the annual report could not have happened without her tireless efforts. I also think that her style of operation has made the department a happier and healthier place. She works well with staff, students, and faculty. She makes everyone feel valued and respected, and sets an example for all of us.”
Special Thanks To the Awards & Recognition Committee:
Denise A. Phillips, Chair
Paula do Vale Pereira, Selection Committee Member
Edward Greitzer, Selection Committee Member
Joyce Light
Rebecca Masterson
Hannah Ovaska, Selection Committee Member
Brían O’Conaill
Beata Shuster
Marie Stuppard
Syed Shayan Zahid
Postdoctoral/Researcher Recognition
This year, we honored those postdocs and researchers whose appointments concluded in 2020 and early 2021, for their research and contributions to our community.
Dr. Kayla Bicol, MIT Mapping Lab
Dr. Anirban Chaudhuri, Aerospace Computational Design Laboratory (ACDL)
Dr. Guillaume Chossière, Laboratory for Aviation and the Environment (LAE)
Dr. Bianca Giovanardi, Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN)
Dr. David Gondelach, Astrodynamics, Space Robotics, and Controls Laboratory (ARCLab)/Space Systems Laboratory (SSL)
Prof. David Hall, Gas Turbine Laboratory (GTL)
Dr. Sebastien Mannai, Gas Turbine Laboratory (GTL)
Dr. Xinchen Ni, necstlab
Prof. Elaine Petro, Space Propulsion Lab (SPL)
Dr. Paul Stegall, Human Systems Lab (HSL)
Prof. Vasileios Tzoumas, Sensing, Perception, Autonomy, and Robot Kinetics (SPARK) Lab
Dr. Yu Wan, Gas Turbine Laboratory (GTL)
Prof. Jakob Zech, Aerospace Computational Design Lab (ACDL)
