Congratulations to the following winners of the 2015 AFIT Faculty awards sponsored by the Wright Memorial Chapter of the Air Force Association!
General Bernard A. Schriever Award
Dr. Robert F. Mills, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, and Center Director, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering & Management
This award is given in recognition of a person who advances aerospace power, technology, doctrine, or the Air Force as a profession.
Dr. Robert Mills is a visionary leader in furthering the development of the Center for Cyberspace Research (CCR) and the Air Force Cyberspace Technical Center of Excellence (AF CyTCoE) as a National resource while skillfully managing a $4.4M Cyber Center budget. He personally advised 3 PhD and 8 MS students in the areas of electrical and computer engineering, co-authored 5 conference papers and was a guest/keynote speaker at 6 events in 2014. Along with graduate education, Dr. Mills' key leadership drove the development of basic cyberspace lesson plans to educate 40K new accessions per year via the AF's basic military training and ROTC programs. In the area of professional continuing education, the Center's Cyber 200/300 program educated 620 cyberspace professionals (military and civilian of all services and government agencies) in the DoD's only Joint-certified/accredited cyberspace professional continuing education courses. Furthermore, the AF CyTCoE developed the first-ever cyberspace course designed for a newly developed ISR-300 program, educating 110 intelligence community professionals. Dr. Mills' accomplishments over the past year have made a significant and lasting impact on the students, faculty, and staff members who served with him and under his leadership and mentorship.
Professor Ezra Kotcher Award
Lt Col Robert S. Wacker, Assistant Professor of Atmospheric Science, Department of Engineering Physics, Graduate School of Engineering & Management
This award is given in recognition of an individual who has made a significant, substantive contribution to curriculum or instruction development within AFIT.
Lt Col Robert Wacker created a new Atmospheric Science master's degree curriculum in response to a request from the Air Force Director of Weather focused on operational needs in atmospheric remote sensing, data assimilation, and numerical weather prediction. He crafted requirements and objectives for four new courses and a capstone laboratory course. He matched 10 Meteorology Academic Specialty Codes to program tracks to create a pipeline covering 40 of 44 atmospheric science based master's degree weather officer billets. His coordination with the existing Applied Physics program ensured continued support for 11 Space Weather master's degree billets, enabling the Department to support 78% of all weather officer master's degree billets through in-residence programs. Additionally, Lt Col Wacker incorporated computer programming projects into the Advanced Atmospheric Dynamics course curriculum in which students manipulate actual meteorological data to illustrate equations of motion, rotational flow, wave behavior, weather system development, and energetics. He structured the Satellite Meteorology course around 6 projects using current satellite data giving students hands-on expertise in cloud detection, atmospheric motion vectors, temperature profiles, precipitation detection, and hurricane intensity estimation. Lt Col Wacker developed a shallow-fluid circulation model as a teaching tool and incorporated modern data assimilation into the Numerical Weather Prediction course, culminating in students writing their own weather prediction models. His leadership of AFIT weather research efforts paved the way for 6 weather officers to present research results at the American Meteorological Society's Annual Meeting for the first time in over 10 years. By incorporating real-time data into authentic learning experiences, Lt Col Wacker provides students with critical skills for their sponsored assignment and careers.
Colonel Charles A. Stone Award
Capt David A. Thomander, Course Director, Engineering Technical Applications, The Civil Engineer School
This award is given in recognition of an individual who has made outstanding contributions to furthering the AFIT mission. Emphasis is on new and innovative efforts or approaches involving demonstrated personal leadership.
As course director and instructor for civil engineering technical applications, Capt David Thomander increased collaboration by incorporating innovative access presence, web-streaming, instant messaging (IM), voice, video, voice messaging, desktop sharing, 2-way audio and video, DVD-production, and conferencing in his distance learning classes. He leveraged that technology to reach 114 students at 43 locations around the world, increasing course effectiveness, student comprehension, and overall class connectedness. More important, he has shown the capacity to take calculated risks to bring innovation to his classes, showing other instructors tangible benefits of using innovative approaches to teaching and increasing overall learning through better collaboration between students and instructor. Capt Thomander also embraced the challenge of creating a distance learning High Performance and Sustainable Building course, synchronizing via voice and web methods with representatives from Major Commands and Air Force Civil Engineer Center to validate the curriculum he developed. He also helped implement new practicum sessions in teaching 136 students, to include international officers from Japan, Jordan, and Egypt, which enabled students to apply their newly learned concepts and enhanced learning opportunities. His efforts ensured the delivery of innovative and sustainable construction methods to his students while focusing on efficient use of government funds. His dedication to innovation and constant improvement has impacted all facets of the courses he directs and instructs.
Gage H. Crocker Outstanding Professor Award
Mr. Jerry C. Stonecipher, Course Director, School of Systems & Logistics
The award is presented to the individual who made the most significant contribution to the AFIT mission. Evidence of excellence in teaching, curriculum development, educational innovation, consulting, research, mentoring and other achievements which enhance or contribute to maintaining the excellence of AFIT's academic programs are collectively considered in evaluating nominations for this award.
Mr. Jerry Stonecipher teaches combat logistics, life cycle logistics, acquisition, and teaming courses. During 2014, he taught 344 podium hours delivering 19 offerings of four different courses at 11 on-site locations to 374 students. He earned the best instructor and course metrics in the School of Systems and Logistics with students rating him 5.7 on a 6.0 scale for knowledge and course effectiveness. Students raved, calling him " energizing, humorous, challenging, and interactive," and writing that he shows " genuine passion." It was common to see him characterized as the " best instructor I've had."
As a curriculum developer, Mr. Stonecipher analyzed logistics field grade officer needs and then proposed development of 25 competency-focused short courses to be delivered via blended eLearning. The courses are focused toward the specific requirements of the officer's next job, and enable a student to enroll when ready for immediate on-the-job reinforcement. Since approval, he developed or co-developed courses on joint logistics planning, multi-national logistics, and US Marine Corps logistics. Each course prepares officers for an instant positive impact in joint and staff assignments. Mr. Stonecipher also created an "Opportunities Within a Multi-Generational Workforce" at SAF/AQ request. The workshop enhanced the comprehension of generational expectations and tools to influence positive behavior in the workplace for 150 students. His eight one-day offerings of the workshop were so successful in 2014 that SAF/AQ requested him to transform the workshop into a two-day formal course for 2015. As a senior faculty member within the School of Systems & Logistics, he co-led 25 joint officers and civilians with planning and execution of the Logistics Management Department's 28 professional continuing education courses, with a positive impact on 9,000 students. Mr. Jerry Stonecipher's relentless efforts in providing timely, defense-focused curriculum and instructional development have made significant, substantive contributions to AFIT's mission, the logistics and acquisition workforce, as well as to faculty development.
