INTERNATIONAL TEST AND EVALUATION ASSOCIATION’S 2014 AWARD RECIPIENTS RECOGNIZED
Special awards luncheon honors individuals and groups that have made significant contributions to advancing the test and evaluation (T&E) profession and the Association.

The International Test and Evaluation Association (ITEA) annually presents six (6) Professional T&E Awards to individuals and groups that have made significant contributions to advancing the test and evaluation profession. In addition, ITEA also presents the Board of Directors’ Award, the President’s Award, Energizer Award, the Chapter of Excellence Awards, and the Chapter of the Year Award to recognize individuals and Chapters for their significant contributions to the Association.

These individuals and groups were honored at the 2014 awards luncheon during the 31st Annual Symposium which was held October 6-9, 2014, at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia. For more information please visit us at www.itea.org.

ALLEN R. MATTHEWS AWARD – William E. Schane. The 2014 Allen R. Matthews Award is hereby presented to Mr. William E. Shane in recognition of his distinguished professional career of service to the T&E community.  His career spans more than 25 years of significant contributions to the T&E community, through both engineering and management. He revised the C-17 program’s engineering change process to achieve a 50% reduction in cycle time while improving process quality. His restructuring of the Space Shuttle program saved $20M. For Boeing Defense, he was responsible for 3,300 employees and 13 major test sites. He spearheaded the System of Systems Test Study as its Chief Engineer, developing strategies for network-based technologies and their associated operational test environments. He then stood up the System of Systems Test Capability and became its first leader. Mr. Schane now leads the T&E of Boeing Global Strike programs, which includes F-15, F/A-18, and weapons. He was instrumental in developing Boeing’s Product Test Life Cycle process, and played a critical role in developing the associated Test Planning and Reporting Tool. Mr. Schane has demonstrated lifelong learning and ongoing commitment to advancing T&E as evident by his volunteering to serve as Keynote Speaker, Panel Chair and Speaker at numerous events sponsored by ITEA, the Air Traffic Control Association, and the FAA Verification and Validation Conferences, as well as representing Boeing on the ICOTE Committee. ITEA is pleased to recognize Mr. William E. Shane as the well-deserved 2014 recipient of the prestigious Allen R Matthews Award.

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD – Global Reach CTF C-17 MDA AirdropTest Team. The ITEA Special Achievement Award is presented to the Global Reach Combined Test Force C-17 Airdrop Test Team, 418th Flight Test Squadron, 412th Operations Group, 412th Test Wing, Air Force Test Center, Edwards Air Force Base, California, who distinguished themselves in outstanding achievement in T&E through the successful flight test and air launch of the Extended Medium-Range Ballistic Missile (eMRBM), resulting in the Missile Defense Agency’s first operationally realistic test of the integrated regional Ballistic Missile Defense System.  The live airdrop air launch of the eMRBM culminated the efforts by multiple agencies to overcome complex technical challenges.  The Global Reach test team airdropped a platform that was 16 feet longer than aircraft limits, flew 30 knots faster than the standard airdrop configuration, and developed unique operating procedures in order to air launch the eMRBM.  Additionally, the team developed a new tow test capability, corrected critical deficiencies with avionics power supply overheating, and fixed missile recovery parachute design flaws which led to the first-ever parachute tow tests from 35,000 feet clearing the way to perform the airdrop launch of a live eMRBM.  This highly complex $464 million live ballistic missile airdrop was lauded by Vice Admiral Syring, Director of the Missile Defense Agency, as “Perfect” and “the largest and most complex operational flight test in the history of missile defense.”d.

RICHARD G. CROSS AWARD – G. Derrick Hinton. Mr. G. Derrick Hinton is presented the International Test and Evaluation Association’s 2014 Richard G. Cross Professional Award for a valuable and lasting contribution to T&E education and training.  He established and continues to lead a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) educational program in the Department of Defense Test Resources Management Center for students and trainees in test and evaluation.  This STEM program advances T&E education through direct outreach to academic institutions to identify, sponsor, and attract the best student talent to the T&E community.  Sponsorship of interns raises student awareness of T&E as a career by providing funding, mentoring, and opportunities to participate in T&E projects, and will develop young talent for T&E well into the future.

PUBLICATIONS AWARD – Michael Badger, Dennis Bushmitch, Rick Cozby, Dr. John Harwig, and Brian Hobson.The 2014 ITEA Publications Award is presented to Mr. Michael Badger, Dr. Dennis Bushmitch, Mr. Rick Cozby, Dr. John Harwig, and Mr. Brian Hobson  for their very timely article titled “Network Capability Assessment and Standardized Measures of Performance (MoP) Framework,” appearing in the December 2013 Issue 34-4 of The ITEA Journal of Test and Evaluation.  The authors discuss the Army adoption of the Agile Process to enable rapid technology insertion for the associated Network Integration Event (NIE) and development of the needed measurement framework.  This technical paper has improved and increased the T&E body of knowledge and provided a pathway for better understanding of program technical requirements and interactions, reduction in time and event costs, improved processes for tests, and facilitated traceability for evaluation execution. The dedication shown by Mr. Michael Badger, Dr. Dennis Bushmitch, Mr. Rick Cozby, Dr. John Harwig, and Mr. Brian Hobson reflects great credit on these five authors, the United States Army, MITRE Corporation, and Trideum Corporation. 

TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD – Directed Energy Sensors and Instrumentation Integration Team. The AEgis Technologies Directed Energy Sensors and Instrumentation Integration Team is the recipient of the 2014 ITEA Technical Achievement Award.  Instruments developed by the Directed Energy Sensors Team allowed measuring techniques that have never been accomplished before.  The access to the now-available information provides the potential to accelerate laser weapon system deployment through a better understanding of the capabilities and kill mechanisms that lasers bring to the battlefield.

JUNIOR ACHIEVER AWARD – Nicolas Holthaus. Mr. Nicolas Holthaus is presented the 2014 International Test and Evaluation (T&E) Association’s Junior Achiever Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions during his first four years of practicing in the T&E field within the Department of Defense. His technical achievements in helping our warfighters, who daily venture into harm’s way, is exemplified by his contributions to finding smart, innovative solutions to challenging aircraft survivability challenges. Mr. Holthaus is applauded for his tireless work on successfully testing new software for the AAR-47 warning system. His innovative, high fidelity solutions for providing thorough ground test environments for the AAR-47 sensor’s Hostile Fire Indicator software, was extraordinary. Mr. Holthaus is an inspirational team-player and served as a role model for his peers as he continually strived to excel in his duties. His exemplary performance and unswerving dedication to the needs of the fleet are hallmarks for a long career that promises to innovatively extend and expand T&E knowledge & methodologies. Mr. Holthaus’ foresight, leadership, and professionalism reflect great credit upon himself, the Naval Air Systems Command, and the Department of Defense.

ENERGIZER AWARD – Kathi Swagerty. The 2014 ITEA Energizer Award is presented to Ms. Kathi Swagerty for her dedicated effort and unwavering leadership in the advancement of the ITEA Valley of the Sun Chapter. Her efforts to support ITEA at both the National and Chapter Level have resulted in increased membership and quality workshop educational opportunities.  She is the Secretary of the Valley of the Sun Chapter in Phoenix, and the Chairperson of the ITEA National Corporate Development Committee for 2014.  It is with great pleasure that the 2014 ITEA Energizer Award is presented to Ms. Kathi Swagerty.