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Alumni Updates

Alumni Updates

Alumni Updates

Notable updates from AAE graduates

Outstanding Aerospace Engineer Awards

Five AAE graduates received the honor of Outstanding Aerospace Engineer in a ceremony at the Buchanan Club at Ross-Ade Pavilion in April 2022. In the order pictured above: John Dankanich (BSAAE ’01, MSAAE’03), Audrey Powers (BSAAE’99), Christie Schroeder Iacomini (BSAAE ’93), Kimberly Hicks (BSAAE ’06) and Luiz Felipe Valentini (BSAAE ’99, MSAAE ’01) all received their recognitions in person.

Powers was recognized as a 2021 OAE awardee (see inside front cover). Sirisha Bandla (BSAAE ’11), another 2022 awardee, could not receive her award in person due to preparations for a space flight.

Distinguished Engineering Alumni

David D. Thompson (MSAAE ’89) and Mark S. Geyer (BSAAE ’82, MSAAE ’84) both were celebrated as Distinguished Engineering Alumni in 2022. The honor is reserved for those whose careers and achievements reflect favorably on Purdue University, the engineering profession or society in general..

Thompson is the first vice chief of space operations for the new U.S. Space Force, and holds the rank of general. Geyer served in many aerospace roles during his 31-year career with NASA; his family accepted his honor posthumously (See in Memoriam)

O’Hara scheduled for space launch on Soyuz

Loral O’Hara (MSAAE ’09) became the 26th person in Purdue’s Cradle of Astronauts when she completed astronaut training and became eligible for spaceflight in January 2020. At the time of publication, she is scheduled to take her first spaceflight in early 2023, aboard the Soyuz MS-23.

She joined the astronaut program in 2017, after eight years at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Massachusetts. At WHOI, she worked on the engineering and operations of human-occupied and remotely operated underwater research vehicles.

Dave selected as NASA flight director

Ronak Dave (BSAAE ’14) was recently selected as a NASA flight director. He will lead missions to the International Space Station and prepare for lunar missions for NASA’s Artemis program. Dave was a member of the AAE Young Professionals Advisory Council for the 2019-2020 academic year.

Dave is in rarefied air: NASA has only had 108 flight directors since Christopher C. Kraft Jr. became the agency’s first in 1958. Hear the interview with Dave on the "This is Purdue" podcast, or visit stories.purdue.edu/podcast.

 

 

 

 

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