Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA headquarters, will receive an honorary doctorate in engineering during Purdue’s Division IV commencement at 2 p.m. on May 11.

NASA's Bill Gerstenmaier (BSAAE '77) joined Mary Lynne Dittmar, president and CEO of The Coalition for Deep Space Exploration, and Jonathan Lunine, professor and director of the Cornell University Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Science, on a panel to discuss a variety of topics related to space exploration and policy.

In collaboration with six universities, Purdue was awarded a Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) award from the Department of Defense (DoD) to build a capability to allow scientists to predict the behavior of energetic materials using advanced machine learning tools.

Seven AAE students received the Magoon Award; and two more were honored at an April 23 luncheon.

Kolawole Ogunsina, Sylvain Renevey, and Xuan Wang were awarded the Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship.

Promotions for AAE faculty Timothee Pourpoint and Sally Bane are effective with the 2019-20 academic year.

Karen Marais, an associate professor in AAE, is part of Purdue's multidisciplinary team for the new Resilient ExtraTerrestrial Habitats institute. Shirley Dyke, a professor of mechanical and civil engineering, is principal investigator.

Purdue AAE students participated in the Boeing AerosPACE program, a multi-disciplinary, multi-university collaborative capstone. Purdue was one of seven universities included 64 students.

The 3U CubeSat is scheduled to launch April 17 on the S.S. Roger Chaffee, Northrop Grumman's recently renamed NG-11 Cygnus spacecraft. Chaffee was an AAE alum.

AAE400,"Senior Seminar," consistently offers lectures by distinguished alumni and industry and government professionals. Tom Shih, J. William Uhrig and Anastasia Vournas Head and Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, teaches the course.