Meet Virgin Galactic Astronauts Kelly Latimer & Mike “Sooch” Masucci at SWAS 28 March at UTA!
Kelly & “Sooch” have commanded numerous test and operational flights to the edge of space in the Virgin Galactic Unity SpaceShipTwo. As Society of Experimental Test Pilots (SETP) President, Kelly will be chairing the morning session as Sooch presents lessons learned from the Unity spaceflight program, including flying Sir Richard Branson to space in 2021 (see schedule below).
Register today to hear & meet these exceptional test pilots, then stay for lunch for NASA Astronaut Bob “Farmer” Hines’ keynote address, including the Artemis program that plans to take humans back to the moon.
Congrats AIAA SciTech Forum Student Paper Competition Winners from UT Arlington!
Pictured above L to R, Sandesh Amgai, Dr. Paul Davidson, and Oscar A. Valdez Loya, University of Texas at Arlington
Lockheed Martin Student Paper Award in Structures
Sponsored by Lockheed Martin
“Understanding the Influence of Boundary Condition and Crack Spacing on Impact Analysis of Composite Laminates” (AIAA-2026-1466), Oscar A. Valdez Loya and Paul Davidson, University of Texas at Arlington
https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/6.2026-1466
Harry H. and Lois G. Hilton Student Paper Award in Structures
“Buckling Optimization of Stiffness Varied Isotropic, Anisotropic, and Sandwich Panels” (AIAA-2026-0842), Sandesh Amgai and Paul Davidson, University of Texas at Arlington
https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/6.2026-0842
Tarleton State University approved as fully-chartered AIAA Student Branch
Tarleton received notification 26 January 2026 that they had been approved as a fully-chartered student branch by AIAA after successfully completing the three-year provisional charter period and meeting all student branch requirements. The milestone reflects their continued engagement, leadership, and commitment to supporting students in aerospace and related fields.
Pictured left to right are Tarleton Student Branch Vice President Marian Barrett, President Ashlan Benson, and Rocket Team Lead Jackson Tacker. Their certificate was presented by AIAA North Texas Section Chair James Sergeant, 2nd from right, along with speaker Bob Wetherall, far right, at his Hypersonic speaking event 9 February at Tarleton.
To maintain active status as a fully chartered AIAA Student Branch, branches are asked to maintain a minimum of 15 AIAA student members, and submit an Annual Student Branch Activity Report each year.
Southwest Aerospace Symposium
Saturday, 28 March 2026
UT Arlington
SEIR Engineering Bldg., Room 294
0800-1700 hrs.
Registration Now Open!
$15 Full-time Student members (AIAA, VFS, SFTE)
$20 Full-time Student nonmembers
$50 AIAA, SETP, VFS, SFTE Members
$60 Non-Members
Includes sessions, breaks, & luncheon
YOU MUST PURCHASE YOUR REGISTRATION BY 19 March at 12pm CDT.
Southwest Aerospace Symposium - SETP Online Registration
Keynote
Bob “Farmer” Hines (Colonel, U.S. Air Force), NASA Astronaut
NASA’s Manned Spaceflight Programs
Bob Hines was selected by NASA to join the 2017 Astronaut Candidate Class. He reported to the Astronaut Office in August 2017. He has served more than 23 years in the United State Air Force (USAF) as an instructor pilot, fighter pilot, and a test pilot. Before his selection in 2017, he was serving as a Research Pilot at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. He has accumulated more than 4,000 hours of flight time in 50 different types of aircraft and has flown 76 combat missions in 3 different aircraft types while supporting contingency operations around the world. Hines served as the pilot on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission to the International Space Station, which concluded on Oct. 14, 2022. The mission was the first spaceflight for Hines. He has logged 170 days in space, overseeing the arrival of crew and cargo, maintaining the space station, and conducting science experiments of various disciplines.
Schedule
0800 - Check in, Coffee & Refreshments
Morning Session
Chair - Kelly Latimer (F), USAF/NASA/VG Retired, SETP President
0830 Full Scale Stop-fold System Transition Demonstration on a High-Speed Test Track, Dr. Troy Schank, Bell
0900 Air Tractor 1002, Jim Acree (AF)
0930 UT Dallas AIAA Project Teams, Mi Vo & Mikail Naqib, UTD AIAA Student Chapter President & VP
0945 Coffee Break
1015 FAA-Sponsored Flight Test Findings on HQTE for VTOL Aircraft, Marty Shubert (F), Tiltrotor Flight Test Consulting
1045 High-Altitude Airport Operations (HAAO) certification campaign for the Global 6500 aircraft, Brian Nyaberim
1115 VSS Unity Test Program Lessons Learned, Mike Masucci (AF), Virgin Galactic
1145 CIRP: Mental Health Support for Flight Testers, James Sergeant F
1200 Luncheon & Keynote
Bob “Farmer” Hines (Colonel, U.S. Air Force) NASA Astronaut
Afternoon Session
Chair - Ryan “Cujo” Blake (AF), Lockheed Martin
1330 We Work for the Robots - Lessons from Autonomy Flight Testing, Kasey Dixon, Lockheed Martin
1400 Initial MV-75 Handling Qualities Evaluation in Vertical Motion Simulator, Ernie McGuinness (M) and Tom Berger, Bell
1430 UT Arlington AIAA & Aero Mavs
1445 Coffee Break
1515 Aerodynamics Research in North Texas at the Dawn of CFD, Dr. Dennis Finley, Lockheed Martin (retired)
1545 Strategies for Integrating Complex Aircraft Software Systems: Insights from Software Engineers at Lockheed Martin, Jennifer Klenka & Stephanie Figueroa, Lockheed Martin
1615 Risky Business: These are the Risks you are Looking For, David Hoey SM & Gerardo Sanchez M, 586th Flight Test Squadron, NM
1645 Concluding Remarks
1800 No-Host Social at TIPSY OAK, 301 East Front St, Arlington TX 76011
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