Two hundred forty scientists, engineers, and management specialists are the recipients of graduate and doctoral degrees from the Air Force Institute of Technology. AFIT’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management held its June 2006 graduation ceremony Tuesday at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. The graduating class was awarded 235 master’s degrees and five doctorates.
Gen. (ret.) Ronald R. Fogleman delivered the commencement address to the 224 graduates who attended the ceremony. On his final tour of duty, Gen. Fogleman served as the 15th Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. As Chief of Staff, he served as the senior uniformed officer responsible for the organization, training, and equipage of 750,000 active duty, Guard, Reserve and civilian forces serving in the United States and Overseas. As a member of the JCS, he served as a military advisor to the Secretary of Defense, the National Security Council, and the President.
“The commencement ceremony marks the culmination of a process that AFIT engages in on a daily basis,” said Brig. Gen. Mark T. Matthews, AFIT Commandant. “That is, providing our nation with the future officer, enlisted, and civilian leaders it needs to remain the most technologically advanced and dominant military force in the world today.”
The ceremony highlighted the dissertations of the three doctoral students present at the ceremony:
Analysis and Simulation of Hypervelocity Gouging Impacts, By Maj. John D. Cinnamon, Advisor: Dr. Anthony Palazotto. The Holloman Air Force Base High Speed Test Track is used to launch projectiles at very high speeds and energy to test the effects of structures upon impact. Such impact studies are important for the antiballistic missile defense, kinetic energy weapon design and space debris effects on our orbital assets. Maj. Cinnamon, under sponsorship from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, developed new track design criteria to increase its test speed from Mach 8.5 to a world-record, ten times the speed of sound (Mach 10). He performed numerous ground-breaking experimental studies that allowed him to formulate new models and simulations of the test track. The results of his research will be tested later this year in a series of critical hypervelocity tests that could enhance our ability to design next-generation weapons.
Blind Deconvolution of Anisoplanatic Images Collected by a Partially Coherent Imaging System, By Lt. Col. Adam MacDonald, Advisor: Dr. Stephen C. Cain. Lt. Col. MacDonald has conducted groundbreaking research in the field of Laser Radar Imaging under the sponsorship of the Sensors Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory. His novel methods allow the reconstruction of high quality images taken of a remote battlefield scene illuminated by a pulsed laser through a highly turbulent atmosphere. Such techniques will allow strategic and tactical commanders to gain critical high-resolution image intelligence in cases where traditional imaging systems prove inadequate.
Analysis and Control Of Unreliable, Single-Server Retrial Queues with Infinite-Capacity Orbit and Normal Queue, By Capt. Nathan P. Sherman, Advisor: Dr. Jeffrey P. Kharoufeh.Capt. Sherman’s research, sponsored by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, provides a theoretical foundation for the design, analysis, and control of failure-prone military systems that can be modeled as queueing systems. By extending basic results in retrial queueing theory, Capt. Sherman mathematically characterized congestion measures and the impact of failures on system performance. The results of his research can be used to analyze computer networks and telecommunications systems, and represent a critical advancement in prescribing guidelines for the efficient operation of such systems.
Air Force officers composed the majority of the Class of June 2006; however, the Institute also graduated fifteen Navy officers, three Marine Corps enlisted, two Marine Corps officers, two Army officers, one Air Force enlisted, and five civilians, along with one international student from Saudi Arabia. Upon graduation, most AFIT students will fill technical positions requiring advanced academic degrees in their respective fields of study from across the Department of Defense.
Two students were recognized for their exemplary performance during their graduate studies. In recognition of her exceptional scholarship and high qualities of character, initiative, and leadership, Maj. Carolyn L. Wood was the recipient of the Mervin E. Gross Award, named in honor of Brig. Gen. Mervin E. Gross, first commandant of the institute. The Edwin E. Aldrin, Sr. Award, named in honor of Lt. Edwin E. Aldrin, Sr., member of the institute’s first graduating class and father of astronaut Buzz Aldrin, was presented to Maj. Charles F. Schlegel for demonstrating strong personal leadership and accomplishing AFIT’s education objectives in an outstanding manner.
Congratulations to AFIT’s graduating class of June 2006!