VFS Technical Fellowships are granted to Society members whose career-based technical accomplishments significantly advance the interests of the vertical flight community.
2024
- Anubhav Datta
- University of Maryland
Dr. Anubhav Datta, Director of the Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center, University of Maryland. For his research and academic leadership in the rotorcraft aeromechanics discipline. Datta is an award-winning researcher and educator who has led significant contributions to the state of the art in vertical flight engineering, having educated and mentored a generation of rotary wing engineers who have gone on to successful careers in Industry, government, and academia.
- Rohit Jain
- Aerospace Engineer
- US Army Futures Command DEVCOM AvMC
Mr. Rohit Jain, Aerospace Engineer with the US Army Futures Command DEVCOM Aviation and Missile Center. For his technical expertise in rotary-wing aerodynamics, unsteady fluid dynamics, turbulence and transition models, software development, and parallel computing.
- Carl Ockier
- Senior Expert Flight Test Engineering Rotorcraft
- Airbus Helicopters
Mr. Carl Ockier, Senior Expert Flight Test Engineering Rotorcraft at Airbus Helicopters. For his record of career-based outstanding technical achievements in the fields of handling qualities, flight testing and rotorcraft evaluation.
- Christopher Silva
- Senior Technical Advisor and Technical Lead
- NASA
Mr. Christopher Silva, Senior Technical Advisor and Technical Lead, Revolutionary Vertical Lift Technology Project, NASA. For being a recognized leader in developing aircraft conceptual design methodologies, providing enabling technology towards making passenger-carrying eVTOL aircraft a reality.
2023
- Oliver Dieterich
- Senior Expert Rotorcraft Dynamics
- Airbus Helicopters
For his exceptional contributions to the field of applied dynamics and vibrations, computational and experimental dynamics, and aeromechanics.
- Prof. Joseph F. Horn
- Professor of Aerospace Engineering
- The Pennsylvania State University
For 30 years of sustained excellence and leadership in research, teaching and service to the vertical flight community, specifically in the areas of flight controls, simulation, handling qualities and aeromechanics.
- Dr. Rajneesh Singh
- Team Lead
- US Army CCDC (DEVCOM) Army Research Lab
For his body of work in advancing the vertical flight sciences with research contributions in computational aeromechanics, strategic leadership for expanding collaborations, assembling teams for transformative research, and mentoring the future workforce.
- Dr. Berend G. van der Wall
- Senior Expert Rotorcraft
- DLR - The German Aerospace Center
For advancing rotary-wing technology through technical leadership and research and progressing comprehensive simulation code capabilities, while pushing forward the understanding of unsteady airfoil aerodynamics, blade vortex interaction (BVI), the effect of higher harmonic control on BVI and vibration, using experimental and analytical approaches.
2022
- Prof. Kenneth S. Brentner
- Professor of Aerospace Engineering
- The Pennsylvania State University
For his Technical contributions over 40 years at NASA and Penn State have been of great service to the vertical fight aeroacoustics community.
Brentner is one of the foremost experts in rotorcraft noise, and his work has greatly benefited a wide spectrum of industry and government researchers seeking to understand critical issues in noise for rotorcraft.
- Dr. Ashish Bagai
- Founder and Principal
- buGi Aero, LLC.
For his seminal contributions to vertical flight over a three-decade career spanning academia, industry and the government, with profound impacts on Future Vertical Lift (FVL) and electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) developments.
- Daniel Wachspress
- Senior Associate
- Continuum Dynamics
Daniel Wachspress has conducted superior technical research, supporting advances in the understanding of rotary-wing aerodynamics and in the critical derivative applications of full-aircraft aeromechanics and acoustics, and has spearheaded the embodiment of these advanced capabilities in widely used and accessible software tools.
- Larry A. Young
- Aerospace Engineer
- NASA
Young has been the leading NASA researcher and advocate for planetary rotorcraft, resulting in the successful Ingenuity Mars Helicopter and plans for the Mars Science Helicopter.
Young has also conducted ground-breaking research on a range of advanced rotorcraft concepts, fundamental rotor aerodynamics, small and full-scale rotor testing, and development of reduced-order models with a focus on rotor wake aerodynamics interactions.
2021
- Dr. Andreas (Andy) P. F. Bernhard
- Director of Aircraft Design Engineering
- Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin Company
Bernhard’s 25+ year career in research and development in helicopter design has made notable advances in active rotor control, active vibration control, model-scale and full-scale wind tunnel testing, health and usage monitoring, and prognostics, resulting in five patents.
- Dr. D. Douglas (Doug) Boyd, Jr.
- Senior Aerospace Engineer
- NASA Langley Research Center
Boyd is a world-class authority on aeroacoustics computational modeling for vertical lift vehicles, and his research is internationally recognized as some of the most significant in this field.
- Arnaud Le Pape
- Director of Helicopter Program
- ONERA — The French Aerospace Lab
Le Pape’s 20-year technical career has significantly advanced the state of the art in rotorcraft aeromechanics research, fostered international cooperation, and provided exemplary leadership in the planning and execution of rotorcraft research.
- Dr. Jayant Sirohi
- Professor
- University of Texas at Austin
Sirohi’s pioneering contributions over 20 years on the theory and application of smart sensors and actuators in vertical lift, and experimental research of coaxial rotor systems, have greatly expanded and enriched the body of knowledge.
2020
- Dr. Mahendra Bhagwat
- Aeromechanics and Basic Research Focus Lead
- US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC), Aviation & Missile Center (AvMC), Technology Development Directorate – Aviation (TDD-A)
For his pioneering contributions to the fundamental understanding of transient wake dynamics.
- Dr. Chengjian He
- Vice President of Research and Development
- Advanced Rotorcraft Technology, Inc.
Dr. Chengjian He is an internationally recognized authority on rotorcraft aerodynamics and modeling and simulation. Dr. He is the technical leader of the comprehensive rotorcraft modeling and simulation program, FLIGHTLAB.
- Prof. Carlos Cesnik
- Clarence “Kelly” Johnson Professor of Aerospace Engineering
- University of Michigan
Prof. Carlos Cesnik has pioneered the development of the active twist rotor, advanced the state of the art in structural health monitoring, and has made landmark contributions to the coupled aeroelasticity-flight mechanics of very flexible long endurance aircraft.
- John Schillings
- Technical Fellow for Handling Qualities
- Bell Textron, Inc.
For 40 years of contributions to rotorcraft aerodynamics, handling qualities and comprehensive flight simulation.
2019
- Dr. Brahmananda Panda
- Technical Fellow
- The Boeing Company
Dr. Brahmananda Panda recognized for advancing the state-of-art multidisciplinary rotorcraft analysis tools during his 25 year career at Boeing.
He is a Boeing Designated Expert in the area of rotorcraft aeromechanics methodology and its application to rotor dynamics, loads, vibration and stability; he is widely recognized for pioneering the development of methodology, implementing and applying multidisciplinary rotorcraft analysis tools to a variety of rotorcraft products, new hybrid concepts and development programs.
- Mark Potsdam
- Aerospace Engineer
- US Army Aviation Development Directorate
Mark Potsdamhas made numerous, substantial contributions to the development and application of computational aerodynamics to rotorcraft problems.
Among his major technical accomplishment are the development of the OVERFLOW-D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code, and his effort in coupling CFD, computational structural dynamics (CSD), and rotor trim to produce high-fidelity simulations of rotor aeromechanics. Potsdam’s pioneering work in CFD/CSD coupling for rotors is universally used by everyone who works in this field today.
- Dr. Hossein Saberi
- Executive Vice President
- Advanced Rotorcraft Technology, Inc.
Dr. Hossein Saberi is an internationally-recognized authority on rotorcraft aerodynamics, structural dynamics and flight control, whose contributions have significantly advanced the state of the art in rotorcraft technology.
He was a principal contributor to the development of the major flight control and comprehensive modeling and simulation programs FLIGHTLAB and RCAS that are widely used throughout the rotorcraft technical community for engineering design and training applications. Through his application and support of these tools, he has significantly influenced rotorcraft development programs throughout industry and government.
- Darryl Toni
- Senior Fellow
- Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin Company
For his leadership in the development of advanced composite helicopter airframe structures resulted in the flight demonstration and production of the majority of Sikorsky designs of this type over the last three decades.
The methodology Mr. Toni developed is expanding what is possible in the design, fabrication and testing of advanced helicopter airframes. He also made significant contributions to the development of sections of the ADS-89 Rotorcraft Structural Integrity Program. He currently holds 16 US patents pertaining to structural design and fabrication techniques.
2018
- Prof. James D. Baeder
- Professor
- University of Maryland
For fundamental contributions to rotorcraft aeromechanics and smart structures, and training a generation of engineers and scientists.
- Dr. Albert Brand
- Senior Technical Fellow Flight Technology
- Bell
For more than 28 years of contributions to rotor aerodynamics and flight technology.
- Dr. Vineet Sahasrabudhe
- Engineering Sciences Director
- Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin Company
For extraordinary and innovative leadership in the design, development and advancement of state-of-the-art fly-by-wire (FBW) control systems.
- Dr. Roger C. Strawn
- Computational Aeromechanics Lead
- US Army Aviation Development Directorate (ADD), AMRDEC
For major advances in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) applications to vertical flight, helping to evolve these applications from academic studies to practical design and analysis tools.
2017
- David G. Miller
- Technical Fellow
- The Boeing Company
- Thomas R. Norman
- Aerospace Engineer
- NASA Ames Research Center
- Dr. Todd R. Quackenbush
- Senior Associate
- Continuum Dynamics
- Dr. Brian E. Wake
- Research Fellow and Project Leader
- United Technologies Research Center
2016
- Prof. Olivier A. Bauchau
- University of Maryland
- Christopher L. Blanken
- US Army ADD
- Daniel I. Newman
- The Boeing Company
- Dr. Gloria K. Yamauchi
- NASA
2015
- Dr. Friedrich K. Straub
- Senior Manager of Dynamics Technology and Technical Fellow
- The Boeing Company
- Dr. Hyeonsoo Yeo
- Research Scientist
- US Army Aviation Development Directorate
- Prof. Marilyn J. Smith
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Prof. Norman Wereley
- University of Maryland
- William Welsh
- Technical Fellow, Dynamics
- Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation
2014
- Alphonse Lemanski
- Applied Research Laboratory
- Pennsylvania State University (Ret.)
- Dr. James Wang
- Vice President for Research & Technology
- AgustaWestland
- Dr. J.V.R. Prasad
- Professor
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Dr. Ram JanakiRam
- Senior Manager Flight Technology and Boeing Technical Fellow
- The Boeing Company
- Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang von Grünhagen
- Research Engineer
- DLR
2013
- Prof. Farhan Gandhi
- Rosalind and John J. Redfern Jr. ‘33 Endowed Chair in Aerospace Engineering
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
- Kenneth H. Landis
- Senior Manager, Flying Qualities
- The Boeing Company
- Jimmy Charles Narramore
- Senior Staff Engineer (Ret.)
- Bell Helicopter
- Prof. Omri Rand
- Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
2012
- Prof. Lakshmi N. Sankar
- Regents Professor & Associate Chair
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Wayne R. Mantay
- Chief, Joint Research Programs Office
- US Army Aeroflightdynamics Directorate (Ret.)
- Martin Peryea
- Vice President of Commercial Engineering, Canada
- Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc.
- Robert H. Blackwell Jr.
- Aeromechanics Technical Fellow
- Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation
2011
- Harold Rosenstein
- Chief Engineer, Advanced Mobility, Phantom Works
- The Boeing Company
For making notable and outstanding technical contributions to the vertical flight community.
- James Howlett
- Chief Handling Qualities and Control Laws
- Sikorsky Aircraft Corp
For making notable and outstanding technical contributions to the vertical flight community.
- Dr. Fereidoun Farassat
- Senior Theoretical Aeroacoustician
- NASA Langley Research Center
For making notable and outstanding technical contributions to the vertical flight community.
- David Popelka
- Manager Dyn-Aeromech & Loads
- Bell Helicopter Textron
For making notable and outstanding technical contributions to the vertical flight community.
2010
- Dr. Samuel T. Crews
- Chief Engineer, Aeromechanics Division
- Aviation Engineering Directorate, US Army AMRDEC
- Dr. David Haas
- Head, Rotorcraft Group
- Naval Surface Warfare Center at Carderock
- Dr. Karen E. Jackson
- Senior Aerospace Engineer
- NASA Langley Research Center
- Dr. Peter F. Lorber
- Flight Sciences Manager
- Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation
- Tommie L. Wood
- Director, Preliminary Design
- Bell Helicopter Textron Inc.
2009
- Robert F. Handschuh
- Drive Team Leader, Mechanical Components Staff
- US Army Research Laboratory
- Robert Moffitt
- Chief of Aerodynamics
- Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation
- David Matuska
- Manager, Engineering System Safety
- Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation
- Robert Flemming
- Chief, Icing Technology, Systems Engineering
- Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation
2008
- Dr. Edward Smith
- Professor and Director of the Vertical Lift Research Center of Excellence
- The Pennsylvania State University
- Dr. Michael S. Torok
- Chief Engineer, Heavy Lift/H-53 Programs
- Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation
- Sandra Marie Hoff
- Deputy Commander
- US Army Aviation Applied Technology Directorate
- Mark E. Dreier
- Staff Engineer/Simulation
- Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc.
- Bernd Gmelin
- Former Head of Rotorcraft Programs
- German Aerospace Center
2007
- MAJ GEN Anthony P. Fraser
- Head, Helicopter Systems Office
- Australian Defence Force
- Dr. J. Gordon Leishman
- Minta Martin Professor of Engineering
- University of Maryland
- Dr. T. Kevin O'Brien
- Senior Research Scientist
- US Army Research Laboratory
- Dr. Mark Tischler
- Army Senior Technologist
- Aeroflightdynamics Directorate, US Army Aviation & Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center
2006
- Donald S. Antilla
- Technical Fellow – Research and Engineering
- Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation
- Yoshiyuki Niwa
- Advisor
- Mitsubishi Heavy Industry, Ltd. (Ret.)
- Dr. Wayne R. Johnson
- Research Scientist
- NASA Ames Research Center
- Dr. Chee Tung
- Aeromechanics Division Chief
- NASA Ames Research Center
2005
- David O. Adams
- Test Engineering – Technical Fellow
- Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation
- Dr. Richard L. Bennett
- Staff Engineer
- Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc. (Ret.)
- Dr. Gopal H. Gaonkar
- Mechanical Engineering Dept.
- Florida Atlantic University
- Dr. Arvind K. Sinha
- Director, Wackett Aerospace Centre
- RMIT University
2004
- Philip J. Dunford
- Director Rotorcraft Engineering
- The Boeing Company
- Prof. Peretz P. Friedmann
- Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Professor
- University of Michigan
- Dr. Dewey H. Hodges
- Professor
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Bruce F. Kay
- Program Manager/Technical Fellow
- Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation
2003
- Jean-Francois Bigay
- Eurocopter
For significantly contributing to furthering the goals and objectives of the vertical flight industry.
- William G. Bousman
- US Army/ NASA Rotorcraft Division
For significantly contributing to furthering the goals and objectives of the vertical flight industry.
- Dr. Howard C. Curtiss, Jr.
- Princeton University
For significantly contributing to furthering the goals and objectives of the vertical flight industry.
- Dr. David A. Peters
- Washington University at St. Louis
For significantly contributing to furthering the goals and objectives of the vertical flight industry.
2002
- Samuel R. Hurt
- The Boeing Co.
For significant contribution to furthering the goals and objectives of the vertical flight industry.
- David L. Key
- Ret.
- US Army
For significant contribution to furthering the goals and objectives of the vertical flight industry.
- Dr. William Warmbrodt
- US Army
For significant contribution to furthering the goals and objectives of the vertical flight industry.
- Dr. Sergei Mikheyev
- President and General Designer
- Kamov Company
For significant contribution to furthering the goals and objectives of the vertical flight industry.
2001
- Prof. Norman D. Ham
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Hidehiko Obayashi
- The Advance Technology Institute of Commuter-Helicopter Ltd. ATIC
- Dr. Robert A. Ormiston
- US Army Aeroflighdynamics Directorate/ NASA Rorocraft Div.
- Terry D. Stinson
- Bell Helicopters Textron Inc.
2000
- Dr. Thomas Brooks
- NASA Langley Research Center
Significantly contributed to furthering the goals and objectives of the vertical flight industry.
- Charles J. Isabelle
Significantly contributed to furthering the goals and objectives of the vertical flight industry.
Formerly of Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.
- Takeshi Makino
- Fuji Heavy Industries
Significantly contributed to furthering the goals and objectives of the vertical flight industry.
- Dr. Hans Mark
- Office of the Secretary of Defense
Significantly contributed to furthering the goals and objectives of the vertical flight industry.
1999
- Dr. Akira Azuma
- Richard S. Stansbury
- Frank Tarzanin, Jr.
- Theodore E. Dumont
1998
- Kenneth J. Kelly
- Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.
Significantly contributed to furthering the goals and objectives of the vertical flight industry.
- Ren Pierpoint
Significantly contributed to furthering the goals and objectives of the vertical flight industry.
- Dr. Daniel P. Schrage
- Georgia Institute of Technology
Significantly contributed to furthering the goals and objectives of the vertical flight industry.
- Robert Wiesner
- Boeing- Philadelphia
Significantly contributed to furthering the goals and objectives of the vertical flight industry.
1997
- Eugene Buckley
- Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.
- Stuart D. Dodge
- Boeing- Philadelphia
Posthumously
- Dr. William H. 'Bud' Forster
- Northrop Grumman
- Albert L. Winn
- Boeing-Mesa
1996
- Carl O. Albrecht
- Boeing Defense and Space Group, Hel.Div.
For his significantly contributing to furthering the goals and objectives of the vertical flight industry.
- Dr. Inderjit Chopra
- University of Maryland
For his significantly contributing to furthering the goals and objectives of the vertical flight industry.
- Frank L. Jensen
- HAI
For his significantly contributing to furthering the goals and objectives of the vertical flight industry.
- C. Thomas Snyder
- NRTC
For his significantly contributing to furthering the goals and objectives of the vertical flight industry.
1995
- Leo Dadone
- Boeing Space and Defense Group
- Dr. John W. Leverton
- Westland Helicopters
- James J. Satterwhite
- Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.
1994
- Troy M.Gaffey
- Engineer
- Bell
For outstanding
achievement in the interests of the industry.
- Dr. Wesley L. Harris
- Associate Administrator of Aeronautics
- NASA
For outstanding
achievement in the interests of the industry.
- Nicholas D. Lappos
- Test Pilot
- Sikorsky
For outstanding
achievement in the interests of the industry.
- Marat N. Tishchenko
- Retired General Designer of Russia's premier helicopter manufacturer
For outstanding
achievement in the interests of the industry.
1993
- James Davis
- Boeing Defense & Space Group, Helicopter Div.
For signiflcantly contributing to furthering the goals and objectives of the vertical flight industry.
Dean Borgman, president of McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems, and then chairman of then American Helicopter Society (now VFS) and Edward J. Renouard, outgoing AHS president present AHS Fellow Award to James Davis.
- Nicholas C. Kailos
- AATD
For signiflcantly contributing to furthering the goals and objectives of the vertical flight industry.
Dean Borgman, president of McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems, and then chairman of then American Helicopter Society (now VFS) and Edward J. Renouard, outgoing AHS president present AHS Fellow Award to Nicholas C. Kailos.
- Fredric H. Schmitz
- NASA
For signiflcantly contributing to furthering the goals and objectives of the vertical flight industry.
Dean Borgman, president of McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems, and then chairman of then American Helicopter Society (now VFS) and Edward J. Renouard, outgoing AHS president present AHS Fellow Award to Fredric H. Schmitz.
- John Schneider
- Boeing Defense & Space Group, Helicopters Div.
For signiflcantly contributing to furthering the goals and objectives of the vertical flight industry.
Dean Borgman, president of McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems, and then chairman of then American Helicopter Society (now VFS) and Edward J. Renouard, outgoing AHS president present AHS Fellow Award to John Schneider.
1992
- Bruce B. Blake
- John (Jack) Diamond
- Kenneth C. Mard
- Dr. Michael P. Scully
1991
- Dean C. Borgman
- McDonell Douglas Helicopter Co.
- Armand L. Coppe
- Litton Precision Gear
- Bruno Lovera
- Gruppo Agusta
- Franklin D. Robinson
- Robinson Helicopter Co.
- Sergei I. Sikorsky
- Sikorsky Aircraft Division, UTC
1990
- Richard L. Ballard
- Department of Defense
- Francis X. Caradonna
- US Army
- Norman B. Hirsh
- McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Co.
- Ray D. Leoni
- Sikorsky Aircraft Div., UTC
1989
- MG Ronald K. Andreson
- US Army
- Peter J. Arcidiacono
- Sikorsky Aircraft
- Peter Wright, Sr.
- Keystone Helicopter
- Motoi Yoshiwaka
- Airlift, Japan
1986
- Philip Landi
- Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Phil Landi, Joseph Mallen and John Ward were recognized for their lifelong dedication to the vertical flight industry.
AHS (now VFS) President Robert Zincone, left, and AHS Chairman Jack Horner, right, congratulate Joseph Mallen, Boeing Vertol, Phil Landi, Port Authority of New york and New Jersey, and John Ward, ORI Inc., in the photo.
- Joseph Mallen
- Boeing Vertol
Joseph Mallen, Philip Landi and John Ward were honored with Technical Fellow award for their lifelong dedication to the vertical flight industry.
AHS (now VFS) President Robert Zincone, left, and AHS Chairman Jack Horner, right, congratulate Joseph Mallen, Boeing Vertol, Phil Landi, Port Authority of New york and New Jersey, and John Ward, ORI Inc., in the photo.
- John Ward
- ORI Inc.
John Ward, Joseph Mallen and Philip Landi, the three were honored with Technical Fellow award for their lifelong dedication to the vertical flight industry.
AHS (now VFS) President Robert Zincone, left, and AHS Chairman Jack Horner, right, congratulate Joseph Mallen, Boeing Vertol, Phil Landi, Port Authority of New york and New Jersey, and John Ward, ORI Inc., in the photo.
Cached November 5, 2024 10:48:05 PM CST