Seven graduates of the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics were honored with the School's highest honor at the 12th annual Outstanding Aerospace Engineers Award on November 5th at the Holiday Inn Select, Lafayette, IN.

Head of School, Dr. Tom Shih and Director of Development Diane Klassen visit Sikorsky Aircraft.

The School of Aeronautics and Astronautics is proud to announce the following honors garnered by our outstanding faculty.

Purdue alumnus Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, the Hero of the Hudson, was awarded the university's Neil Armstrong Medal of Excellence on November 12, making him only the second person to earn the honor. The first recipient of this honor was President Emeritus Martin Jischke.

Aeronautics and Astronautics Alumni Reception

Purdue University and The Boeing Company have enjoyed a fruitful relationship for a number of decades, leading to the realization of research laboratories, faculty initiatives and well-prepared employees for The Boeing Company. Specifically, the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics has benefited from resources, such as: the Boeing Mach 6 Wind Tunnel, Ludwig Tube, the McDonnell Douglas Composite Materials Laboratory and the Intel Design/Build/Test Laboratory.

On December 8, 2010 NASA announced selection of a team of undergraduate students from the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics of Purdue University for “zero-gravity” flight testing of their proposed experiment. This team will participate in NASA’s “Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program,” or RGSFOP, with flight tests in June, 2011. The student team, led by Sirisha Bandla, submitted their original research proposal in October, 2010 as part of Professor Steven Collicott's unique design-build-test class, AAE418 Zero-Gravity Flight Experiment.

In recognition of Prof. Palmer's many contributions and tireless dedication, two endowments have been created in his honor: The George and Patricia Palmer Undergraduate Scholarship Endowment and the George and Patricia Palmer Design Teaching Assistantship Fund.

It is with great sadness that we learned Harold Miller DeGroff, Jr. 90, Indianapolis, formerly of Connersville and West Lafayette, died on October 12, 2010 in Indianapolis. He was born on May 10, 1920 to Harold and Marjorie (Lantz) DeGroff in Troy, Ohio, and was married to the late Sarah (Sally) Meek DeGroff for more than 54 years.

On December 8, 2010 NASA announced the selection of a team of undergraduate students from the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics of Purdue University for "zero-gravity" flight testing of their proposed experiment.