AFRL Materials and Manufacturing Directorate celebrates annual awards recipients

Mary Pacinda, Air Force Research Laboratory Published Jan 28, 2021

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFRL) – The Air Force Research Laboratory’s Materials and Manufacturing Directorate recently held their 68th Annual Awards Ceremony to honor its top achievers. Masters of ceremony were Dr. Jonathan Spowart from the Materials Integrity Branch and Mr. Keith Slinker from the Composite Branch.

Unlike previous ceremonies, this year’s was “virtual” because of the pandemic. Recipients were not actually present to claim their awards. Instead, a studio-type setup was used, with only the masters of ceremony and the technical crew present. Instead of gathering in an auditorium or a meeting room, the audience used virtual platforms to remotely watch the event.

The awards and recipients were:

Director’s Award (Senior Individual): Dr. Dan Berrigan
Director’s Award (Junior Individual): Dr. Jeremy Ward
Director’s Award (Team): COVID Decontamination Team – Michelle Barga, Dr. Caitlin Bojanowski, Corey Boltz, Diane Buhrmaster, Dr. Wendy Goodson, Iman Eizadynejad, Bill Hoogsteden, Brett Jordan, Dr. Chia-Suei Hung, Rachel Krabacher, Michael Manders and Edward White
R. Lee Kennard S&T Manufacturing Heritage Award: John Blevins
Vincent J. Russo Award for Leadership Excellence: Dr. Wendy Goodson
Company Grade Officer: Lt. Cristian Hernandez Riviera
Field Grade Officer: Lt. Col. Brian Hans
International Award: Corrosion, Elastomers, and Coatings Team – Diane Buhrmaster, Dr. Matthew Hartshorne, Nader Hendizadeh, Bill Hoogsteden, Dr. Chad Hunter, Gina Tollefson, Thaddeus Williams and Dr. Nicholas Wilson
Supervisor Excellence Award: Alan Albert
Mission Support Award (Individual): Cassie Spreher
Mission Support Award (Team): IT Support Team – Brian Bott, Randall Mintz, Steven Mahurin, Brian Griffith, Mary Beth Holt, Chad Murphy, Holly Smith and Kristin Steel
Charles J. Cleary Scientific Award: Inverse Design of Broadband Highly Reflective Metasurfaces using Neural Networks – Dr. Eric Harper, Dr. Jonathan Vernon and Dr. Matthew Mills
Engineering Expertise Award: for the Development of M&P Solution for Manufacturing-Induced Deficiency in Multifunctional Composite Structures – Kevin Tienda, Kara Storage and Dr. Dean Foster
Program Management Award: Dr. Claretta Sullivan
Dr. Katie E.G. Thorp Inspiration Award: Dr. Joy Haley

For the first time ever, there was a tie for the Robert T. Schwartz Engineering Achievement Award. The recipients:

For the additive manufacturing of high performance thermosets: Dr. Hilmar Koerner
For the development of novel C-130 propeller inspection equipment: Ryan Mooers, Ken LaCivita, Lucas Abrahamson, Brian Shivers, John Brausch, Capt Lee Morris and Charlie Buynak

Timothy Sakulich, Director of the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, concluded the ceremony by reflecting on the new and unique challenges that everyone has faced in 2020, both in schools and in the workplace. He thanked the team who had managed to organize a remote award ceremony, thereby ensuring the continuation of the directorate’s tradition of annually honoring its members’ achievements in science and technology.

To create the virtual event, a studio-like setting was created for the awards ceremony. From left to right are Timothy Sakulich, Dr. Jonathan Spowart, Keith Slinker and Col. Michael Warner. (U.S. Air Force photo/Spencer Deer)