Six faculty members from the Air Force Institute of Technology were selected as the 2018 Air Education and Training Command award nominees for the following annual awards sponsored by the Air Force’s civil engineer office:
 

Civil Engineer School faculty members Mr. Timothy Fuller, Capt. Paul Weskalnies, and Mr. Rick Kappel are the AETC award nominees for the Major General Augustus M. Minton Award for their article titled “Transforming learning with virtual reality” published in Air Force Civil Engineer Magazine, volume 26, number 2, summer 2018.  The award is named after Maj. Gen. Minton who served as the Director of Civil Engineering from 1957 - 1963.
 

Maj Steven Schuldt, Assistant Professor of Engineering Management in the Graduate School of Engineering and Management, is the AETC award nominee for the Major General L. Dean Fox Award presented annually to an outstanding civil engineering senior military manager for the Air Force.  The award is named after Maj. Gen. Fox who served as the Air Force Civil Engineer from 2003 – 2006.  During the award period, Maj Schuldt led a 41 member flight and executed 68 construction projects totaling $192M; led PACAF's largest airfield construction program of 33 projects worth $160M; and piloted?the first RADR equipment beddown in AOR.
 

Capt Jesse Lantz, an instructor in The Civil Engineer School, is the AETC award nominee for the Major General Eugene A. Lupia Award presented to annually to an outstanding civil engineering military manager for the Air Force.  The award is named after Maj. Gen. Lupia who served as the Air Force Civil Engineer from 1995 – 1999.  During the award period, Capt Lantz was the AF lead for the Joint Engineer Operations course where he oversaw doctrine, planning, and threat practicums; was the top-pick for CCDR's #1 construction priority; drove $32M APOD beddown; identified corrective actions for a $6.7M runway repair project; and oversaw the first ever Kuwait RADR exercise.
 

Maj Monica Pickenpaugh, a civilian institution PhD student at the University of Arizona, is the AETC award nominee for the National Society of Professional Engineers, Military Federal Engineer of the Year.   The Federal Engineer of the Year Award, sponsored by the Professional Engineers in Government, honors engineers employed by a federal agency that employs at least 50 engineers worldwide.  Prior to attending University of Arizona, Major Pickenpaugh executed $1.1B in planning design and construction management supporting the Air Force’s contingency overseas program to ensure a secure transition in Afghanistan and Kuwait.