AEDC Commander announces 2014 Fellows

  • Published
  • By Raquel March
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, TENN. --  Leadership at Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) values the important contributions of its past and present personnel throughout the years and recognizes their accomplishments each year through the AEDC Fellow Program.

This year, Dr. Heard Lowry III and Michael Mills will be inducted as AEDC Fellows at the annual AEDC Fellows Banquet at the Arnold Lakeside Center on June 25 at 5:30 p.m. Dr. Mica Endsley, the U.S. Air Force Chief Scientist, will be the speaker.

The AEDC Fellow is recognized for personally making sustained, notable and valuable contributions in aerospace ground testing at AEDC.

Ross Roepke and John Sutton will be inducted as AEDC Lifetime Achievement Fellows recognizing their notable and valuable lifetime contributions to AEDC's mission.

Dr. Heard Lowry III

AEDC Fellow
Lowry was selected as an AEDC Fellow due to his contributions in advancing propulsion, aerodynamic and space test technologies critical to AEDC's test mission. His work has been evident since the beginning of his 37 years of service at AEDC.

His early work focused on molecular spectroscopy and its application in jet engine combustion to determine exhaust gas species concentrations. He worked with nitric oxide concentration measurements using an ultraviolet spectroscopic technique.

Lowry also led the development of a laser absorption spectroscopy combustion diagnostics technique for carbon monoxide.

He was instrumental in the development of such systems as the U.S. Air Force Anti-Satellite Miniature Homing Vehicle Sensor in AEDC's 7-foot vacuum chamber, the Laser-Induced Phosphorescence for flow-field velocity measurements, non-intrusive optical diagnostics for the Propulsion Wind Tunnel's (PWT) 16-foot transonic tunnel, the integrated modern optical instrumentation for wind tunnel testing, Doppler Global Velocimetry, laser vapor screen flow visualization techniques, Direct Write Scene Generator project, hardware-in-the-loop testing for the Ground-based Missile Defense program, the Short Focal Length Collimator and the Target Monitoring System.

Lowry is an Aerospace Testing Alliance (ATA) Technical Fellow and a senior engineer with the ATA Integrated Test & Evaluation Department in the Technology and Engineering Analysis Branch.

Michael Mills

AEDC Fellow
Since Mills' arrival at AEDC in 1978, he has devoted his knowledge to improving the operation of AEDC wind tunnels by resolving facility operational issues and maintaining wind tunnel flow quality. Mills has enhanced the AEDC wind tunnel operating envelopes, contributed to the requirements definition for new wind tunnels at AEDC and other government test facilities and supported more than 20 flow quality surveys and calibrations.

His wind tunnel expertise has also been provided to the nation's test community such as NASA and the Department of Defense.

He is credited with making the first practical test section air temperature measurement for the Complex's 16-foot supersonic wind tunnel.

He served as lead on multiple wind tunnel redesigns and upgrades such as the 16T turning vanes, 16T flow quality, 16T compressor calibration and stall validation tests and 4-foot transonic wind tunnel Mach capability expansion.

He mentors young, AEDC engineers and interns as well as provides instruction on wind tunnel design and operation to the testing environments beyond the Complex.
Mills is a senior engineer with the ATA Integrated Test and Evaluation Department in the Flight Systems Analysis Branch.

Ross Roepke

AEDC Lifetime Achievement Fellow
Roepke is recognized as an AEDC Lifetime Achievement Fellow for his AEDC contributions in hypersonics development during his 40-year career, from 1957 to 1997 when he retired from AEDC.

He began his AEDC career as the test facility developmental lead over the Complex's hypersonic tunnel Hotshot II and served as project engineer for the Atlas, Titan Inter-continental Ballistic Missile nose cones and Dynasoar tests.

His research in ultra-high vacuum pumps, cryogenic pumping techniques, lead detection methods and special insulation contributed to the construction of the Complex's Mark 1 vacuum chamber test facility and support of NASA's Apollo program.

Roepke was instrumental in the development of new testing capabilities for the nation including AEDC's Aeropropulsion Systems Test Facility (ASTF), NASA Langley's National Transonic Facility (NTF) and NASA Ames' National Full-Scale Aerodynamic Complex (NFAC). He served as advisor and consultant to NASA during the construction of NTF and NFAC.

Roepke's leadership as a facility planner was also beneficial to the modernization of the Complex's 16-foot transonic wind tunnel's (16T) high angle automated sting, the 16T DC power system, 16T flow quality improvement, 16T advanced instrumentation system, the 4-foot transonic wind tunnel independent drive system, the Large Rocket Motor Test Facility (J-6) and the Nuclear Effects Facility.


John Sutton

AEDC Lifetime Achievement Fellow
During a 35-year career at AEDC, Sutton's leadership commitment in acquisitions enabled the Complex to become a world class developmental testing facility.

He is recognized for his attention to detail and for providing AEDC Commanders and the personnel with expert contracting advice while overseeing contract obligations valued in the billions of dollars.

Early in his career he researched and wrote the Complex's first Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts which opened the door for many small businesses to perform work at AEDC.

He was the lead administrative contracting officer instrumental in developing processes and procedures to operate the Complex's three contractors during the late 1980s. Sutton later developed and refined the Complex's cost plus award fee evaluation process, which incentivized and rewarded the operating contractors for superior performance.

In 1995, he was appointed the Contract Management Branch Chief where he introduced and refined performance measurement processes in managing large government contracts.

Sutton also developed and implemented reforms to the operating contractors' benefit pension plans which resulted in approximately $15 million in cost savings to the Air Force and financial sustainability of the pension plan for contractor personnel.
He was also a leader in returning AEDC to a single contractor operation where the operating structure earned the Secretary of the Air Force Acquisition Excellence Award.

Sutton retired from AEDC in 2013.

The Fellows program was established in 1989 and recognizes AEDC individuals who have made exceptionally distinguished and substantial contributions to the nation's aerospace ground testing capability at the Complex.

Candidates considered for selection as an AEDC Fellow, an AEDC Craftsmen Fellow, AEDC Lifetime Achievement Fellow or AEDC Honorary Fellow are current or retired military, civilian and operating contractor and subcontractor personnel assigned or previously assigned to AEDC.

To attend the banquet, call 454-6505.