North Texas

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  • 1.  Howdy Pardners!

    Posted 15 Nov, 2020 23:15

    Howdy Pardners!
    Sorry, catching up on email, postings, etc. While I was aware of the AIAA website changes, this is actually the first chance I have had to really dive into this.
    Yes, COVID sure changed things a lot.....
    !. For the last several years we were hosting almost monthly programs at UTA and UTD with SETP and SFTE that were live cast and recorded on Dana Johnson's live feed system, but alas all that ground to a halt.
    2. Our annual STEM event at The Frontiers of Flight Museum Moon Day at Dallas Love Field was also cancelled. They perhaps did something virtually but we declined to participate, in that our usual paper airplane build-and-flight-test set up and flying the F-35 simulators was not going to happen.
    3. Our annual fall Southwest Symposium hosted along with SETP and SFTE at UTA was also cancelled due to COVID. I did recently chat again with Amy Bean, who we had set up as our keynote speaker, but she declined to do her nice presentation for us as a webinar. Amy is the daughter of Fort Worth native and Apollo 12 moon walker/Skylab astronaut Alan Bean, and she does a moving presentation on the life, work, and art of her father.
    4. Section Secretary Ian Marks, while still working for Lockheed Martin, is working out of Lockheed Georgia while working on his Masters at Georgia Tech. But as always Ian is still based in Texas and in touch and supporting as needed.
    5. Section Treasurer Dana Johnson has started working directly for Lockheed Martin, though he is still currently based in Fort Worth.
    5. After 36.5 years at General Dynamics/LM Flight Test I retired to go to work with some friends at The Spaceship Company. I still have my primary residence in Keller but am working out of Mojave, CA and Spaceport, NM. So I am virtually in several places. But even before COVID, I was working X-59 out of Palmdale, CA and travelling a bit. SO with remote working challenges, then retirement, then starting up at a new job and setting up another residence during COVID, it has been a journey.
    6. Oh yes, and I just finished my term as the president of the Society of Flight Test Engineers.(SFTE) but am still on the International Board as the past president.
    SO with all that said, let's see what we can do with some virtual zoom events, though I think most people are zoomed out. We did discuss some in-person events, but tend to think that is still a little too risky for a lot of us. I did put together a webinar for SFTE with 6 presentations from around the world and that was interesting. PLUS AIAA has several big virtual symposiums coming up, too.
    Expect a resurrection of the AIAA North Texas emails with some info coming from AIAA HQ, info on the big symposiums webinars, and our recently-promoted North Texas Associate Fellows.
    Best Regards,
    James SergeantNorth Texas ​Section Chair



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    James Sergeant
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  • 2.  RE: Howdy Pardners!

    Posted 17 Nov, 2020 12:30
    Edited by Ian Marks 17 Nov, 2020 12:30
    Can confirm James' sentiment and NTX is looking forward to resuming events. 

    Best, 

    Ian Marks
    AIAA NTX Vice Chair (and Secretary)

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    Ian Marks
    Lockheed Martin Aeronautics
    ian.marks@mavs.uta.edu
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  • 3.  RE: Howdy Pardners!

    Posted 17 Nov, 2020 21:30
    ​Oops, Sorry, Ian is the Vice Chair of North Texas.

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    James Sergeant
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