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Winners Announced for AVIATION WEEK NETWORK'S Annual Laureate Awards, Award Honors Outstanding Achievements in Aviation, Aerospace & Defense

Winners will be recognized on March 1 in Washington, DC

/EINPresswire.com/ -- NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - November 20, 2017) - Aviation Week & Space Technology announced today the winners for the 61st Annual Laureate Awards, honoring extraordinary achievements in the global aerospace arena. The winners of the 2018 Laureate Awards will be honored on March 1, 2018 at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC. At that time a Grand Laureate in each of the four categories will be named among the winners.

"These winners, selected by Aviation Week Network editors who reviewed dozens of nominations, embody the spirit of exploration, innovation and vision that will inspire others to strive for broad-reaching progress in aviation, aerospace and defense," said Aviation Week & Space Technology Editor-in-Chief Joseph C. Anselmo. "We look forward to honoring them all, and announcing the Grand Laureate winners on March 1."

The award categories are Business Aviation, Commercial, Defense and Space. In addition, Aviation Week & Space Technology will bestow two Philip J. Klass Awards for Lifetime Achievement. Four cadets and midshipmen from U.S. military academies will be recognized as Tomorrow's Leaders, honoring young men and women who have chosen career paths in the armed forces.

In addition to the Laureates Awards, Aviation Week & Space Technology will host a luncheon early in the day, honoring the "20 Twenties" in partnership with American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). This program recognizes the accomplishments and drive of 20 science, technology, engineering and math students in their 20s and currently enrolled in a master's degree or bachelor's degree program and will also be recognized at the event.

The Laureate Winners are:

DEFENSE

Best New Product: Logos Technologies Redkite

Taking a heavy sensor that could only be carried by a large aircraft and shrinking it to less than 35 lb. to fit in Class 3 tactical UAVs. Wide-area motion imagery allows moving vehicles and individuals to be tracked in city-size areas.

Dual Use: Raytheon Coyote UAV

For flying into and waiting in the eye of Hurricane Maria, allowing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to better forecast how intense the storm would be at landfall and more accurately estimate the magnitude of the storm surge.

Electronics/Avionics: U.S. Navy/Rockwell Collins Tactical Combat Training System Increment II.

This team developed the first airborne training instrumentation system with certified multi-level security that allows 5th-generation fighters to train with 4th-generation fighters while protecting sensitive data.

Operations: U.S. Missile Defense Agency/Boeing Ground-based Midcourse Defense System

After decades of development, demonstrating that the Ground-based Midcourse Defense System could do what was once called impossible --intercept a target simulating an ICBM.

Supplier Innovation: Metro Aerospace C-130 Microvanes

For commercializing Lockheed Martin-developed mircrovanes to reduce the aft-body drag on the C-130 and lower cruise fuel consumption by more than 3%. In 2017, Canada became the first -130 operator to install the devices.

Technology: Bell Helicopter V-280 Valor

A third-generation tiltrotor prototype for the U.S. Army's Joint Multi Role Technology Demonstration, the development of the V-280 Valor, Bell Helicopter was selected for the program in 2014 and completed assembly of the flying demonstrator in September.

Unmanned Systems: Kratos UTAP-22

For the tenacious development of the UTAP-22 Mako, a militarized UAV derived from the U.S. Air Force's BQM-167 aerial target drone. The highly maneuverable weapon and sensor-carrying unmanned aircraft has flown in large-scale military exercises and could soon be put into production for combat use.

Weapons: United States Special Operations Command/Dynetics GBU-69/B

Addressing an urgent warfighter need for a munition with increased lethality, reduced acoustic signature, and expanded range by fielding -- the GBU-69/B Small Glide Munition (SGM) was developed, tested and fielded in less than three years for less than $25 million.

SPACE

Launchers: SpaceX

For demonstrating potential operational reusability for orbital spaceflight for the first time since the space shuttle program.

Leadership: Peggy A. Whitson (Ph.D.), U.S. Astronaut

In completing an extended 9.5-month stay aboard the International Space Station, Dr. Whitson set a new record for cumulative time in space (665 days) by a U.S. astronaut. She previously served as the first non-pilot and the first woman to head the Astronaut Office and was the first woman to command the ISS.

Operations: Indian Space Research Organization/Planet Labs

This organization launched a record 104 satellites in a single launch, including 88 Earth-imaging satellites for PlanetLabs to make daily global images of Earth widely available to help analyze changes over time.

Platforms: ViaSat/Boeing ViaSat-2

The entry into service of the world's highest-capacity commercial communications satellite, ViaSat-2, reducing the cost of space-based connectivity enough to make it competitive with terrestrial services.

Science: Cassini Mission/Jet-Propulsion Laboratory

The inspiring symbiosis of science and engineering in repurposing instruments for studies unimagined during the spacecraft design, resulting in the discovery of what may be the best place in the solar system to look for present-day life beyond Earth.

BUSINESS AVIATION

Best New Product: Foreflight

The expansion of its electronic flight bag's planning, briefing, filing and weather information technology to incorporate Jeppesen's worldwide library of terminal and VFR/IFR enroute charts presented on tablet devices.

Customer Service: MedAire

Offering the best anytime emergency response, evaluation, guidance and facilitation for individuals with medical or security issues anywhere globally, either terrestrially or while airborne, its centers in Phoenix (AZ), Frankfurt (Germany) and Beijing (China) have fielded more than 600 calls daily.

Electronics/Avionics: Dassault/Elbit FalconEye

For creating, certifying and installing FalconEye, the world's first head-up display system that combines high-resolution synthetic vision with enhanced infrared vision and low-light video imaging, providing pilots clear visual guidance into remote airports, even during degraded visibility conditions.

Leadership: Edward M. Bolen, President & CEO, National Business Aviation Association (NBAA)

In this role, Mr. Bolen created a broad coalition to represent the business aviation community's interests in a unified and forceful opposition to the transfer of federal control of the U.S. air traffic management system to a semi-private entity.

Platforms: Pilatus PC-24 Versatile Jet

The PC-24, a pressurized, twin turbofan aircraft, is able to operate from unpaved landing strips as well as paved runways less than 3,000 feet long. The aircraft features integrated avionics, a flat-floor cabin, quick change seats and an oversize cargo door to provide operators with unsurpassed flexibility.

Technology: Tamarack Aerospace Atlas Active Winglet System

For developing the first drag-reducing winglet system that incorporates active load alleviation, allowing winglets to be installed without having to reinforce the original wing structure. The Active Winglet is approved for retrofit to all Cessna CitationJet models, with more types to come.

COMMERCIAL

Best New Product: Metamaterial Technologies MetaAir Laser Strike Protection

A flexible optical filter applied to the inner surface of cockpit windows to block laser strikes without interfering with visibility. MTI partnered with Airbus to develop and commercialize this technology.

Leadership: Tom Gentile, President & CEO, Spirit AeroSystems

For leading the turnaround of the aerospace industry's leading aersostructures provider and securing a long-term master contract with Boeing that is critical to the long-term viability of both companies, which will partner on additive manufacturing and other advanced processes

MRO: Delta TechOps

Delta TechOps avoided more than 1,000 potential engine events over the past year by implementing an innovative approach to asset monitoring and operations via data tools.

Platforms: 737 Max

Successfully introducing the first version of the 737MAX (737-8) into service, while simultaneously developing and flight testing the 737-9 and starting assembly of the 737-7. Amid production rate increases, Boeing's Renton-based 737 team introduced the first MAX into the line without incurring delays or interruption.

Safety: Commercial Safety Aviation Safety Team/Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing Initiative

An unparalleled collaboration between government and industry to improve aviation safety. Having exceeded its first 10-year goal and reduced U.S. commercial aviation fatality risk by 83%, CAST now aims to reduce the remaining risk of 50% by 2025, leveraging industry data and analytical tools from ASIAS.

Supplier Innovation: Norsk Titanium/Boeing

For qualifying the first additively manufactured structural titanium parts for a commercial aircraft. Titanium fittings produced using Norsk's "wire-in-arc" Rapid Plasma Deposition process are FAA-approved and being installed in Boeing 787s.

Technology: Airbus

The BLADE project, Breakthrough Laminar Aircraft Demonstrator in Europe, is tasked with proving the viability of introducing laminar flow technology to commercial aviation. It aims to improve aviation's environmental footprint, bringing with it a 50% reduction of wing friction drag and up to 5% lower CO2 emissions.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT

Dr. John S. Lanford, Chairman and CEO, Aurora Flight Sciences

John Langford's achievements range from leading the MIT Daedalus team that set human-powered flight records in 1988 to building Aurora Flight Sciences, the company he founded in 1989, into a world leader in autonomous flight. In 2017, Boeing moved to acquire Aurora for its expertise and Dr. Langford was named the next chairman of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Bruce Whitman, Chairman, President and CEO, FlightSafety International

Bruce Whitman is being honored for providing clear direction, support and management for his aviation training and simulator manufacturing company for over 50 years and by doing so helping to ensure the safety of thousands of air crews and passengers every day.

ABOUT AVIATION WEEK NETWORK

Aviation Week Network is the largest multimedia information and services provider for the global aviation, aerospace and defense industries that has a database of 1.2 million professionals around the world. Industry professionals rely on Aviation Week Network for analysis, marketing and intelligence. Customers include the world's leading manufacturers, suppliers, airlines, business aviation operators, militaries, governments and other organizations that serve this global market. The product portfolio includes Air Transport World, Aviation Week & Space Technology, AC-U-KWIK, Aircraft Blue Book, Airportdata.com, Air Charter Guide, AviationWeek.com, Aviation Week Intelligence Network, Business & Commercial Aviation, ShowNews, SpeedNews, Fleet and MRO forecasts, global maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) tradeshows and aerospace & defense conferences.

ABOUT INFORMA

Aviation Week Network is part of Informa, the international business intelligence, academic publishing, knowledge and events group. Informa serves commercial, professional and academic communities, helping them connect and learn, and creating and providing access to content and intelligence that helps people and businesses work smarter and make better decisions faster.

Informa has over 7,500 colleagues in more than 20 countries and a presence in all major geographies. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a member of the FTSE 100.

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