The Air Force Institute of Technology is very proud to announce two members of its faculty received 2007 Air Force Scientist and Engineer Awards and Air Force Science and Technology Awards. At a reception held 3 September 2008 at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Dr. Richard Raines and Dr. Gilbert Peterson accepted their respective awards.
Dr. Richard Raines’ exceptional achievements have earned him the Air Force Scientist and Engineering Educator Award for his distinguished and outstanding performance of duty while assigned as Professor and Director, Center for Cyberspace Research, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Air Force Institute of Technology, from January 2007 to December 2007. In 2007, Dr. Raines was promoted to the rank of Full Professor in recognition of his sustained excellence in teaching, research, and service as an educator. He organized and developed technically-focused, graduate-level curricula in cyber operations and research, including an “Offensive Cyber Operations” course. This course presents cutting-edge topics addressing network attack, network security, ethics, doctrine, policy, law, and network operations. As a result, his students have been requested by name for critical AF CYBER and 8 AF senior assignments. Dr. Raines also provided essential guidance in the development of AFCYBER(P)’s mission area and the cyber career field. Additionally, he is a distinguished scholar and speaker, making technical presentations at 15 events in 2007, including being an invited speaker and panelist to 1400+ attendees at the 1st AF Cyberspace Symposium. Dr Raines is often lauded by his students for innovative cyber exploitation lab exercises and he is often cited for his leadership ability to attract the brightest minds to join the fight in AF network ops and cyber.
Dr. Gilbert Peterson distinguished himself by receiving the Air Force Outstanding Scientist Award, Junior Civilian for his outstanding performance of duty while assigned as an Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Air Force Institute of Technology, from January 2007 to December 2007. In 2007, Dr. Peterson led the development of optimal power management usage strategies for autonomous vehicles resulting in increased loiter times for vehicles such as unmanned aerial vehicles and ground-based robots. His Insider Threat research was ranked seventh internationally, in the “Top 25 Radical Network Research Projects You Should Know About” in Network World, bringing positive publicity and over $1M of external funding to AFIT. He also led AFIT’s Cyber Forensics Team in the annual DoD Cyber Crime Center Challenge where they won 1st Place Grand Champion honors. Dr. Peterson is also a distinguished scholar, publishing 10 articles in 2007. Dr Peterson’s mentorship to his students has ensured highly knowledgeable and qualified leaders return to their Air Force operational roles with raised cyber awareness and AF skills.
These singularly distinctive achievements reflect great credit upon Dr. Raines and Dr Peterson. Their knowledge, innovation, and research into air and space power provides not only the solutions for today’s warfighting challenges, but tomorrow’s intellectual capital to keep our Air Force the best in the world. The Air Force Institute of Technology praises and salutes these two outstanding scientists and educators.