Congratulations to 2025 AIAA North Texas Nominees & Award Winners!
15 May 2025
UT Arlington
High School Senior Scholarship ($500)
- Sharan Sathish – Coppell High School
- Saarang Sivakumar - Lebanon Trail High School, Frisco
> Active participant in outreach events (Moon Day 2024), NASA’s HS Aerospace Scholars, Camp SOAR at Texas A&M, Aerospace Corporation’s Aerospace Academy
> Member of AIAA High School Subcommittee, Dallas Area Rocket Society (DARS), National Association of Rocketry (NAR), Tripoli Rocket Association, National Space Society, Academy of Model Aeronautics
> 1 of only 160 Jr. Level 1 High-Power Rocketry flyers in US. US Jr. Nat. Team member competing at 2025 FAI World Space Modeling Championships (WSMC) Aug. in Serbia
> 3.75 GPA, 1430 SAT, AP Scholar with distinction award, National Honor Society
> Planning to attend Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach for BSAE in fall
College Undergraduate Student Scholarship ($500)
- Ms. Deeva Khanuja, UT Arlington
> Aerospace Engineering sophomore
> AIAA Student Member
> Public Relations Officer for Aero Mavs
> Launch team member for Aero Mavs at 2024 Spaceport America Cup Competition in New Mexico
> Fluent in English, Punjabi; proficient in Hindi & Spanish
> Recognized for excellence in music and public speaking at regional and international levels.
> Passionate about community service and education, actively volunteering as a coach, teacher’s aide, and music teacher
Dr. Don Seath Award for Outstanding University Faculty
- Dr. Zhen Xue Han, UT Arlington
> AIAA advisor from 2018 to 2024
> Noted for care in course preparation, generosity with new faculty, and devotion to helping students learn
> Happy to share his course content and advise
> Consistently works patiently with students in extended office hours and takes great pleasure in seeing a student come to grips with a concept
> Voluntarily joins student-organized group study sessions prior to his exams
> Stops by the MAE student organization study room just to see how things are going and to lend assistance to those studying for other courses
> Tries new teaching methods to encourage students & keep them engaged
> 4-time winner of most valuable faculty award at the MAE Senior Banquet
> Generous with new faculty when they asking for guidance
> Primary academic advisor for BSAE students for 20 years
> Generously advises all new advisors and staff
> Devoted to his students in the classroom and the advising office
> Serves with a joyful disposition and embodies the spirit of academia
Outstanding High School Educator
- Mr. Bryan Harston, HEB ISD
- Mr. Richard Griffith, Eagle Mountain ISD
> Aerospace Engineering & Aviation teacher
> Courses introduce students to aerospace engineering and aviation which culminate in rocket design, build, and flying in national and international competitions or ability to test for FAA commercial or basic ground school drone license
> Aero 1 students learn flight fundamentals, aircraft and rocket design building a Hobby Class rocket to verify their designs then choose either the rocket or aviation track.
> Aero 2 students design and build an Experimental Class rocket and focus extensively on aerospace engineering while their rocket is designed to go at least 100,000 feet, eventually to exceed 328,000 feet
High School Student of the Year
- Saarang Sivakumar, Lebanon Trail High School, Frisco
- Eugenia Jin, Grapevine High School
- Awab Badawi, Trinity High School, Euless
> Junior with 3.6 GPA
> Attended Southwest Aerospace Symposium & Region V Student Conference|
> Secured a manufacturing engineering internship at Bell for senior year
> “What once felt out of reach became a tangible opportunity thanks to AIAA”
College Student of the Year
- Jon Dean, UT Arlington
- Deeva Khanuja, UT Arlington
- Kevin Debord, UT Dallas
> Established current UTD AIAA Student Chapter & Past President
> Continued to assist and advise the UTD Student Chapter as he completed his degree and internships
Dr. Jack Fairchild Award for Best AIAA North Texas College Event
- UT Arlington, 2024 Southwest Aerospace Symposium
- UT Dallas, 2025 AIAA Region IV Student Paper Competition
> 35 Undergraduate, 14 Graduate, 20 Team paper presentations with 250 attendees
> Cash prizes awarded for 1st, 2nd, 3rd in each category, 1st-place winners invited to AIAA Foundation International Student Conference at AIAA SciTech in January
Dr. Don Wilson Award for AIAA North Texas Young Professional of the Year
- Adam Concha
> Instrumental in development of the AIAA North Texas App - Luft Orgs
> Worked on App starting in fall of 2024 as a recent UTA MAE graduate
> Responsible for most of current programming of new App (registered as a real App with Apple)
AIAA North Texas Outstanding Professional Achievement
- UT Dallas AIAA Student Chapter
- Dr. Vijay Gopal, UT Arlington
> Led development of high-Reynolds number, supersonic wind tunnel designed entirely in-house
> Uniquely enables studies of flight-relevant flow conditions for both external & internal high-speed aerodynamics, with modular capabilities supporting Mach 1.5 - 3.0 & advanced optical diagnostics
> Pioneered use of femtosecond laser diagnostics in extreme environments, successfully implementing FLEET techniques in arc-jet flows - a major milestone in hypersonic ground testing
> Doctoral work included groundbreaking contributions in vortex dynamics, where he resolved a longstanding singularity issue in classical supersonic lifting line theory, an achievement recognized by a featured article in Physics of Fluids
> AIAA active Member, Session Chair 2023 25th AIAA International Space Planes & Hypersonic Systems & Technologies Conference
Outstanding AIAA Support by an AIAA North Texas Student Member
- Ben Jeffery, UT Dallas
- Kevin Debord, UT Dallas
> Established current UTD AIAA Student Chapter & Past President
> Continued to assist and advise the UTD Student Chapter as he completed his degree and internships
Outstanding AIAA Support by a North Texas Young Professional Member
- Dr. Elizabeth Ward, Bell
- Ms. Natalie Antis
> AIAA North Texas Secretary since 2023
> Past President of the AIAA UTA Student Chapter
> Participated in UTA Career Fair 17 Sept. 2024 representing her new company.
> Continues to support Moon Day STEM event every year at Frontiers of Flight Museum at Dallas Love Field in July
Outstanding AIAA Support by a North Texas Professional Member
- Dr. Dennis Finley, Lockheed Martin
- James Sergeant, GD/LM/VG Retired
- Ms. Amber Zuehl, Lockheed Martin
- Mr. Dana Johnson, Lockheed Martin
> AIAA North Texas Section Treasurer
> Initiated development of the Luft Orgs App, in development by intern volunteers
> Helped North Texas win numerous AIAA awards, 2024 Outstanding Large Section 1st place
Outstanding AIAA Support by a North Texas Company or Organization
- UT Dallas AIAA Student Chapter
- UT Arlington AIAA Student Chapter
> Hosted 2024 Southwest Aerospace Symposium providing excellent facilities & student support
> Joint Event of AIAA, SFTE, SETP
> 8 Tech Presentation, 85 Registrants from DFW, US, and Canada with Keynote Speaker Art “Turbo” Tomassetti on Mission X Mindset
Outstanding Aerospace Achievement by a North Texas Individual
- Dr. Vijay Gopal, UT Arlington
- Jon Dean, UT Arlington
> Chief Engineer 2024 Aero Mavs for Spaceport America Cup International Competition providing technical direction for UTA to design, build, and compete with a 30K' rocket
> Jon continues to provide exceptional support for the UTA Aero Mavs & AIAA events
Outstanding Aerospace Achievement by a North Texas Team
- UT Arlington AIAA Student Chapter
- UT Arlington Aero Mavs Rocket Team
- UT Dallas Design-Build-Fly Team
> 20th out of 112 International Teams from 14 countries
> Objective: to design, build, & test an airplane to execute an X-1 Supersonic Flight Test Program, including launch of an X-1 test vehicle – an autonomous glider with flashing lights.
> Only UT Austin, finishing 6th, placed above UTD from AIAA Region IV (Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico).