ION announces annual award winners

The Institute of Navigation (ION) presented its Annual Awards during the ION International Technical Meeting (ITM) and Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications (PTTI) meeting in Reston, Virginia, Jan. 29-Feb. 1.

The ION Annual Awards Program is sponsored by The Institute of Navigation to recognize individuals making significant contributions or demonstrating outstanding performance relating to the art and science of navigation.

Zheng Yao received the Early Achievement Award for his pioneering contributions in developing new GNSS signals and multiplexing techniques; and advancing the Chinese BeiDou Navigation Satellite Systems (BDS) signal design. The Early Achievement Award is presented in recognition of outstanding contributions made early in one’s career.

Captain Gregory DuBose received the Superior Achievement Award for sustained performance in combat operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria; and assistance in the recovery of a downed B-1 crew in Montana. The Superior Achievement Award is presented to an individual demonstrating outstanding accomplishments as a practicing navigator.

William Bollwerk received the Distinguished PTTI Service Award for service to the Department of Defense and country in promoting the importance of time, and educating policymakers and mission operators to ensure understanding of time in critical operations. The Distinguished PTTI Service Award is presented to recognize outstanding contributions related to the management of PTTI systems.

Luke B. Winternitz, William A. Bamford, Samuel R. Price, J. Russell Carpenter, Anne C. Long and Mitra Farahmand received the Samuel M. Burka Award for their paper “Global Positioning System Navigation above 76,000 KM for NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission” published in the Summer 2017 issue of NAVIGATION, Journal of The Institute of Navigation, Vol. 64, No. 2, pp. 289-300. The Samuel M. Burka Award recognizes outstanding achievement in the preparation of a paper contributing to the advancement of the art and science of positioning, navigation and timing.

Professor Allison Kealy received the Captain P. V. H. Weems Award for sustained contributions to advancing the art and science of navigation, and promoting and expanding the use of PNT among worldwide science and engineering communities. The Captain P. V. H. Weems Award is presented to individuals for continuing contributions to the art and science of navigation.

David A. Turner received the Norman P. Hays Award for his role in the formation of the International Committee on GNSS (ICG) and the development of globally recognized principles of GNSS compatibility, interoperability and transparency. The Norman P. Hays Award is given in recognition of outstanding encouragement, inspiration and support contributing to the advancement of navigation.

Yang Gao received the Thomas L. Thurlow Award for significant contributions and leadership in the development and application of Precise Point Positioning (PPP) and high-precision GNSS technology. The Thomas L. Thurlow Award recognizes outstanding contributions to the science of navigation.