Posted Friday, March 27, 2009
Two hundred thirty nine 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 March 2009 graduation ceremony Thursday at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. The graduating class was awarded 233 master’s degrees and eight doctorates (two students were awarded dual master’s degrees). Fifteen students who completed graduation requirements in previous terms also returned to participate in the commencement ceremony.
Lt. Gen. Terry L. Gabreski, Vice Commander, Air Force Materiel Command, delivered the commencement address. Once Gen. Gabreski offered her final congratulations and AFIT Commandant Brig. Gen. Paula G. Thornhill passed out diplomas to the master’s students, the ceremony highlighted the dissertations of the doctoral students during the hooding process:
Flexible Twist for Pitch Control in a High Altitude Long Endurance Aircraft with Nonlinear Response, By Lt. Col. Vanessa L. Bond, Advisor: Dr. Robert A. Canfield
A Framework for Analyzing Biometric Template Aging and Renewal Prediction, By LCDR John W. Carls, USN, Advisor: Dr. Richard A. Raines
Atmospheric-Turbulence-Effects Correction Factors for the Laser Range Equation, By LTC Walter P. Cole, USA, Advisor: Dr. Michael A. Marciniak
Hypermixer Pylon Fuel Injection for a Scramjet Combustor, By Maj. Jason C. Doster, Advisor: Dr. Paul I. King
Frequency Diversity for Improving Synthetic Aperture Radar Imaging, By Maj. Jawad Farooq, Advisor: Maj. Michael A. Saville
Interoperability Measurement, By Lt. Col. (sel) Thomas C. Ford, Advisor: Dr. John Colombi
The Effective Potential Energy Surfaces of the Nonadiabatic Collision, By Capt. Matthew B. Garvin, Advisor: Dr. David E. Weeks
Direct Initiation of Multiple Tubes by Detonation Branching in a Pulsed Detonation Engine, By Maj. David R. Hopper, Advisor: Dr. Paul King
Electronic State Distributions for Pulsed Laser Deposition of Yttrium Barium Copper Oxide, By Lt. Col. Patrick D. Kee, Advisor: Dr. Glen P. Perram
A Taxonomy for and Analysis of Anonymous Communications Networks, By Douglas J. Kelly, Advisor: Dr. Richard A. Raines
Characterizing and Detecting Unrevealed Elements of Network Systems, By Lt. Col. James A. Leinart, Advisor: Dr. Richard F. Deckro
Statistical Processing Methods for Polarimetric Imagery, By Daniel A. LeMaster, Advisor: Dr. Stephen C. Cain
Integrated Approach to Airborne Laser Communication, By Lt. Col. James A. Louthain, Advisor: Maj. Jason D. Schmidt
Extension of Viscoplasticity Based on Overstress to Capture the Effects of Prior Aging on the Time Dependent Deformation Behavior of a High-Temperature Polymer: Experiments and Modeling, By Amber J. W. McClung, Advisor: Dr. Marina B. Ruggles-Wrenn
Dynamic Network Formation using Ant Colony Optimization, By Maj. Steven C. Oimoen, Advisor: Dr. Gilbert L. Peterson
Multi-Class Classification for Identifying JPEG Steganography Embedding Methods, By Benjamin M. Rodriguez II, Advisor: Dr. Gilbert L. Peterson
Metamodeling Techniques to Aid in the Aggregation Process of Large Hierarchical Simulation Models, By Maj. June F. D. Rodriguez, Advisor: Dr. J. O. Miller
Nondestructive Evaluation of Aircraft Composites Using Terahertz Time Domain Spectroscopy, By Lt. Col. Christopher D. Stoik, Advisor: Lt. Col. Matthew J. Bohn
A Hybrid Template-Based Composite Classification System, By Capt. Michael A. Turnbaugh, Advisor: Dr. Kenneth W. Bauer, Jr.
Closed-Loop Adaptive Optics Control in Strong Atmospheric Turbulence, By Lt. Col. Todd M. Venema, Advisor: Dr Juan Vasquez
Air Force officers comprised the majority of the Class of March 2009; however, the Institute also graduated nine Army officers, four Navy officers, one Marine Corps officer, eight Air Force enlisted, and 16 civilians, along with 21 international students from the countries of Turkey, Australia, Argentina, and the Republic of Korea. One of the Navy students, LCDR John Carls, is the first Navy doctoral student to be hooded at AFIT and is also the first Navy doctoral student to complete the Information Assurance certificate program. 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.
Four students were recognized for their exemplary performance during their graduate studies. The Commandant’s Award was presented to Maj. Daniel Schmitt, who demonstrated the most exceptional individual master’s thesis research. In recognition of his exceptional scholarship and high qualities of character, initiative, and leadership, Lt. Col. Carlos Molina (Argentina) 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. Glen R. Shilland for demonstrating strong personal leadership and accomplishing AFIT’s education objectives in an outstanding manner. Finally, Master Sgt. Michael Fetters received the Secretary James G. Roche Award for demonstrating exceptional academic achievement through a combination of grade point average and outstanding thesis, as well as high qualities of character, initiative, leadership and service while in a master’s graduate program.
Congratulations to AFIT’s graduating class of March 2009!
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DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS AND STATISTICS (ENC) Master of ScienceCapt. Emily A. Knight Mr. Michael B. Walsh DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING (ENG) Master of Science Master of Science in Computer Engineering Master of Science in Electrical Engineering DEPARTMENT OF ENGINEERING PHYSICS (ENP) Master of Science Master of Science in Electrical Engineering Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering DEPARTMENT OF OPERATIONAL SCIENCES (ENS) Master of Science Master of Science in Logistics Management |
DEPARTMENT OF SYSTEMS AND ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT (ENV) Master of Science Master of Science in Cost Analysis Master of Science in Engineering Management Master of Science in Financial Analysis Master of Science in Information Resource Management Master of Science in Research and Development Management Master of Science in Systems Engineering DEPARTMENT OF AERONAUTICS AND ASTRONAUTICS (ENY) Master of Science Master of Science in Aeronautical Engineering Master of Science in Astronautical Engineering Doctor of Philosophy (In Absentia) Master of Science Master of Science in Aeronautical Engineering Master of Science in Computer Engineering Master of Science in Electrical Engineering Master of Science in Engineering Management Doctor of Philosophy |
* Denotes Distinguished Graduate | |