DRYDEN DIRECTOR NAMED FELLOW FOR ACHIEVEMENT.Byline: Daily News EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. - NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. Dryden Flight Research Center The Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC), located inside Edwards Air Force Base, is an aeronautical research center operated by NASA. On March 26, 1976 it was named in honor of the late Hugh L. director Kevin Petersen has been named a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA was founded in 1963 from the merger of four earlier societies: the American Rocket Society (ARS), founded in 1930 as the . Petersen, an aerospace engineer who has spent his entire 32-year career at Dryden, is among 30 aerospace professionals to receive the honor in 2006. Each was given the distinction of fellow by the institute in recognition of what it termed ``their notable and valuable contributions to the arts, sciences or technology thereof in aeronautics or astronautics.'' In addition to those named AIAA AIAA American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. AIAA Associate Insurance Agency Administration (LOMA insurance program) AIAA Aerospace Industries Association of America, Inc. fellows, three honorary fellowships are being awarded by the AIAA this year, including one to NASA administrator Michael Griffin. The honor was established in 1933 when Orville Wright became the AIAA's first Honorary Fellow. Petersen was nominated by the AIAA's Antelope Valley section, one of 65 regional sections in the nation. He and the other newly elected Fellows will be recognized at the AIAA's annual Aerospace Spotlight Awards Gala on April 25 in Washington, D.C. Petersen has been director of Dryden since 1999. Petersen first came to Dryden as a university cooperative education student in 1971, and joined the full-time engineering staff at Dryden in 1974 following his graduation from Iowa State University Academics ISU is best known for its degree programs in science, engineering, and agriculture. ISU is also home of the world's first electronic digital computing device, the Atanasoff–Berry Computer. . In addition to his undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering, Petersen earned a master's of science degree in control systems from UCLA in 1976. He also participated in a yearlong graduate engineering program at Stanford University in 1979. Prior to being advanced to upper management, Petersen worked as a research engineer on projects including the F-8 Digital Fly By Wire project, the Highly Maneuverable Aircraft Technology Highly Maneuverable Aircraft Technology (HiMAT) was a NASA-program to develop technologies for future fighter aircraft. Among the technologies explored were close-coupled canards, fully digital flight control (including propulsion), composite materials (graphite and program and the X-29 Forward-Swept Wing flight research program. He later served as chief of the Dynamics and Controls Branch within Dryden's Research Engineering division, and also headed the center's National AeroSpace Plane Projects Office. Petersen was honored with NASA's Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal in 1985, NASA's Exceptional Service Medal in 1987, NASA's Outstanding Leadership Medal in 2000, and NASA's Equal Employment Opportunity Medal in 2001 for his contributions to the agency. |
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