AEDC's junior engineers showcase their work at Technical Excellence Poster Session

  • Published
  • By Philip Lorenz III
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. --  The Arnold Association of Professional Societies (AAPS), in conjunction with the AEDC's Technical Excellence Board (TEB), held the second annual Technical Excellence Poster Session on base Oct. 20.

The event's winners and honorable mention recipients were announced at yesterday's Technical Excellence Forum at AEDC's main auditorium.

David Schwer, an ATA engineer with the Space Group of the Space and Missiles Product Branch, took first place with his poster titled, "Airborne Sensor Testing in the AEDC 7V Chamber."

The second place winner was Chris Davis, an ATA Technology and Analysis Branch Instrumentation and Diagnostics Group engineer, with his poster titled, "Film Camera Replacement with Digital LOCAM."

Antonina York, with AEDC's Investments Branch, took third place in the contest with her poster titled "Challenges in Measuring the Value of Systems Engineering: A Literature Review and AEDC Case Study."

AEDC's engineers who received honorable mention in the Technical Excellence Poster Session included, Calain Schuman, with Air Force Analysis Branch's Flight System Analysis Group; Patrick Goulding II, NFAC test director; and Nicholas Galyen, an engineer in ATA's Technology and Analysis branch Instrumentation and Diagnostics Group.

At the recent poster session, 15 engineers from AEDC's government and contractor workforce, presented posters representing their work to those attending the event, including coworkers, a number of Air Force and ATA managers and a panel of judges.

"I presented a poster on a humidity measurement technique that I feel will benefit AEDC," said Galyen, who has been at AEDC for six years. "I helped in the technology development for this measurement technique and its applications here on base. It was my hope that this event would allow for some visibility of our measurement capabilities."

The purpose of the annual event, hosted by AEDC's Technical Excellence Seminar board, is two-fold.

"This event allows for young engineers to develop their presentation skills," Galyen said. "Also, it allows for others to see the good work that is being done here on base. All participants and attendees benefit."

Galyen said he is fortunate to work at a place like AEDC, because it provides valuable practical experience and allows him and other junior engineer to contribute something significant to the mission.

"I feel young engineers contribute a lot to AEDC," he said. "Sometimes they might provide a new or different viewpoint or approaches that can help AEDC stay current and continue to advance in its testing capabilities and expertise."

Dustin Crider, ATA's Space and Missiles test and evaluation technology project manager and the lead organizer for the Technical Excellence Poster Sessions, said Galyen is correct about the purpose behind the poster contest.

"One purpose is to foster technical excellence and presentation skills with the early career workforce," he said. "Also, it gives them an avenue to make their work more visible to the general AEDC population. It also provides an avenue to get exposure to the science and engineering going on at different parts of the center. I was impressed by the wide range of topics that we had."

Dr. Stan Powell, an AEDC Fellow (2010) and ATA's technical specialist on thermodynamics and fluid, said the poster session provides important benefits for both the junior and senior engineers at AEDC.

"For the young engineers it's a good opportunity for them to present their work to everyone so that a year from now if someone has a question about something, they'll perhaps have a point of contact," he said. "It's [also] a great opportunity for the more senior people to find out who the young people are who are working in their fields, that they might get help from and in some sense, tutor."