Air Force Institute of Technology Civilian Institute electrical engineering graduate student, 2nd Lt. Matt LaRosa, Duke University, North Carolina was featured in July 2024 for his cutting-edge research project studying the agility, robustness and energy-efficiency of insect flight with Georgia Tech University.  (contributed photo)

The Air Force Institute of Technology’s students, faculty and staff celebrated many significant milestones throughout 2024.  After more than a century of education excellence, AFIT’s current vision of leading defense-focused education, research and consultation to accelerate military superiority across all domains continues to be accomplished through its five schools:  the Civil Engineer School, the Graduate School of Engineering and Management, the School of Strategic Force Studies, and the School of Systems and Logistics and Civilian Institution Programs Office.

AFIT’s Civilian Institution (CI) Programs

AFIT CI electrical engineering graduate student, 2nd Lt. Matt LaRosa, Duke University, North Carolina was featured in July 2024 for his cutting-edge research project studying the agility, robustness and energy-efficiency of insect flight with Georgia Institute of Technology. 

Second Lieutenant LaRosa’s thesis research is part of a Multidisciplinary University Research Initiatives Program led by Dr. Simon Sponberg, Dunn Family associate professor of physics and biological sciences at Georgia Tech, researching the intricate interplay between insect perception and action in complex environments.  The research provides insights into how biological systems can inform technological innovation, particularly in the realms of autonomous robotics and sensor fusion. As well as developing a better understanding of how humans can efficiently and reliably process vast amounts of complex information for rapid decision making.

Maj. Viviana de Assis, DO, AFIT CI Programs medical fellow, was awarded the 2023 Gottesfeld-Hohler Benacerraf Visiting Ultrasound Fellowship. She was one of only two recipients of this prestigious award in the United States.  The fellowship, named in honor of Dr. Beryl Rica Benacerraf, a pioneer in the field of obstetrical and gynecologic ultrasound, aims to expand the ultrasound training of physicians dedicated to the highest quality imaging in women’s health care.

The fellowship will enable de Assis to further her education in fetal echocardiography. She will spend one month at Eastern Virginia Medical School, learning from world-renowned fetal echocardiography specialists Drs. Alfred Abuhamad and Elena Sinkovskaya, to perform and interpret diagnostic ultrasounds and ultrasound-guided procedures.  De Assis emphasizes the importance of this training, especially as a military doctor where access to specialties can be more limited than in civilian hospitals. 

“If I can help catch an abnormal heart in a patient I may be able to spare that baby's life because we will do the right thing when the baby is born,” she said.

“The biggest fear that I have in my career is missing a diagnosis and it not being recognized until after birth. That could put the baby in danger as well as complicate the work of pediatric colleagues as they try to figure out what's going on. So any opportunity that I can take to make myself better for my patients is important to me.”

The Air Force Institute of Technology, or AFIT, located at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the Department of the Air Force’s leader for advanced, multi-disciplinary academic education, as well as its institution for initial technical and professional continuing education.  AFIT is committed to providing defense-focused graduate education and related research, and operationally-relevant initial skills training and professional continuing education to sustain the technological supremacy of America's air, space, and cyber forces. 

For more information about AFIT degree programs, research collaborations or continuing education courses, please visit the AFIT webpage https://www.afit.edu/ or contact Ms. Jaclyn Knapp at Jaclyn.Knapp.2@us.af.mil 

The Air Force Institute of Technology’s Civilian Institution Directorate, or CI is integral to meeting the Air Force’s broad educational requirements.  AFIT CI is responsible for facilitating placement of selected Air Force Officers, Enlisted members and Civilians at accredited civilian universities, hospitals and leading industries in order to pursue advanced degrees and non-degree experiential programs.  CI supports more than 2,600 students at more than 350 locations around the globe.

Maj. Viviana de Assis, DO, Air Force Institute of Technology CI Programs medical fellow was awarded the 2023 Gottesfeld-Hohler Benacerraf Visiting Ultrasound Fellowship. She was one of only two recipients of this prestigious award in the United States. (Contributed Photo)