AEDC Hypersonic Analysis and Evaluation Team wins Air Force award

  • Published
  • By Raquel March
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, TENN. --  The AEDC Hypersonic Analysis and Evaluation Team recently received the Air Force Analytic Team of the Year Award for 2016.

The award recognizes the team's efforts in enhancing ground test capabilities and advancing the progress of multiple national defense weapon system development programs from Jan. 1, 2015, through Dec. 31, 2015.

The citation accompanying the award reported, "In developing and applying a revolutionary Mach sweep analytical technique to quantify hypersonic inlet performance, the team slashed the required testing by 40 percent."

The award also cited that the team developed an application of a new viscous-flow analytic process that was crucial to driving down developmental risk on a $75 million hypersonic weapon system demonstration for the Defense Advanced Research Program Agency test.

Throughout the year the team streamlined a missile development effort by creating an analysis method using missile fin symmetry to increase ground test execution efficiency by 300 percent. This method saved the program more than $150,000, which was noted in the award.

The team includes leads Ben Mills and Calain Schuman; members Sarah Caskey, Joe Giuffrida, John Hopf, Andrew Hughes, Kyle Monsma, Rebecca Rought and Joshua Webb; and Christopher Chinske from the 412 Test Wing, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.

-AEDC-