AFIT commencement ceremony celebrates 206 graduates Published April 26, 2024 By Katie Scott Air Force Institute of Technology WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio – The Air Force Institute of Technology’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management held a commencement ceremony March 21 at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force to honor 206 new graduates. Dr. William Cunningham, Operational Sciences Department head and professor of logistics and supply chain management, serves as grand marshal for the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management commencement ceremony March 21 in the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Photo Details / Download Hi-Res The Graduate School conferred 196 master’s degrees and four doctorate degrees in science, technology, engineering and math fields. In addition, one master’s student and five doctoral alumni, who graduated earlier in the academic year, returned to participate in the ceremony. The graduating class included 132 Air Force, 27 Space Force, four Army and six Marine Corps officers, as well as four enlisted Airmen and 23 civilians. Ten international students from Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Germany, Israel and Saudi Arabia received a master’s degree. Two graduates earned dual master’s degrees: Capt. Andre Romualdo in space systems and systems engineering and 1st Lt. Erica Higginbotham in aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. The ceremony’s keynote address was delivered by Dr. Mark Lewis, chief executive officer of Purdue Applied Research Institute and former Air Force chief scientist. Lewis drew upon historical precedents, discussing pivotal decisions made by engineers and procurement analysts that shaped the development and deployment of aircraft such as the B-17 and B-18 bombers prior to World War II. “These decisions matter, and each and every one of you in this room will in some way touch future decisions that will also matter and shape the future of warfare,” he said. “Those decisions will determine whether we are successful in future conflict or, even more importantly, whether we can deter future conflict.” Lewis extended his congratulations and expressed gratitude to the graduating class for its dedication to national defense. “I want to congratulate all of you on your accomplishments,” he added. “And more importantly, I want to thank you because you are dedicating yourselves, your technical skills, your talents, your analytical abilities, to the defense of freedom and the national defense of your nation – and that is a very special gift that you are giving back to your countries.” Located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, AFIT’s mission is to educate defense professionals to innovatively accomplish the deterrence and warfighting missions of the Air and Space Forces. At an awards ceremony earlier in the day, the following students were recognized for their exemplary performance: 2nd Lt. Andrew Kauffman from the Aeronautics and Astronautics Department received the Chancellor’s Award for producing the most exceptional individual master’s thesis. Army Maj. David Pert from the Engineering Physics Department received the Mervin E. Gross Award for his exceptional academic achievement and high qualities of character, initiative and leadership. The award is named in honor of Brig. Gen. Mervin E. Gross, the institute’s first commandant. Travis Grile from the Aeronautics and Astronautics Department was presented the Louis F. Polk Award. The winner of this award exhibits the highest standards of academic and professional accomplishment, and through their research, makes a significant contribution toward strengthening the nation’s industrial defense base. Capt. Carlina Ostrand from the Operational Sciences Department received the Edwin E. Aldrin Sr. Award for displaying the most exceptional leadership characteristics while in the graduate program. The award is sponsored by the Air and Space Forces Association’s Wright Memorial Chapter and named in honor of Lt. Edwin E. Aldrin Sr., a member of the institute’s first graduating class in 1920. Upon graduation, he became AFIT’s first vice commandant. Staff Sgt. Steven Torres from the Systems Engineering and Management Department earned the Secretary James G. Roche Award for demonstrating exceptional academic achievement through a combination of grade-point average and outstanding research, as well as high qualities of character, initiative, leadership and service. The award is named after Air Force Secretary James Roche, whose leadership in 2002 led to the first class of enlisted members into the Graduate School of Engineering and Management. The following students met all degree requirements and were approved for the designated degree (in bold): Doctorate of Philosophy Aeronautical Engineering Capt. Kevin DeMarco** Maj. Alexander Lesieur** Astronautical Engineering Nathan Boone Computer Engineering Maj. Joshua Lapso** Electrical Engineering Capt. Jeffery Massman Maj. Nicholas Yielding** Systems Engineering Lt. Col. Daniel Moomey** Nuclear Engineering Stephanie Neuscamman Systems Engineering Sara Shaghaghi Master of Engineering in Applied Systems Engineering 1st Lt. Stephen Brown (Space Force) Theodore Cremeans Joseph Natarian Maj. Paul Owens Ivan Sanchez Pedraza Capt. Andrew Tupper Christian Varadi (Germany) Master of Science (Aeronautical Engineering) Capt. Alexander Hansen Master of Science (Applied Mathematics) 2nd Lt. Staci Davis Master of Science (Engineering Management) Capt. Maria Hurtado (Marine Corps) Capt. Ryan LaLonde (Marine Corps) Technical Sgt. Lauren Mainolfi Capt. Aaron Neal (Marine Corps) Technical Sgt. Jesse Solorzano Staff Sgt. Steven Torres Master of Science (Space Systems) Capt. Andre Romualdo (dual degree) Capt. Brooke Wagenblast (Space Force) Master of Science (Systems Engineering) Hans Hinners Nathan Hodges Master of Science in Acquisition and Program Management Capt. Joshua Bonvissuto (Space Force) 1st Lt. Katelyn Clements Capt. John Gillispie 1st Lt. Hart Holt 1st Lt. Holden Holt Capt. Kyle Marquis Capt. Todd Millard* 2nd Lt. Anthony Neil (Space Force) Capt. Ryan Sevigny (Space Force) Capt. Michael Shutlock 2nd Lt. Jacob Thomas (Space Force) Capt. Casey Wood (Space Force) Master of Science in Aeronautical Engineering 2nd Lt. Andrew Bonavita* (Space Force) 2nd Lt. Caleb Degler 2nd Lt. John Di Lella 2nd Lt. Matthew Evans (Space Force) 1st Lt. Erica Higginbotham (dual degree) Joshua Hunter 2nd Lt. Andrew Kauffman* 2nd Lt. Shane Lindsay (Space Force) Capt. Isaiah Martinez 1st Lt. Tia Massa 1st Lt. Cameron McMahan 1st Lt. Joseph Puglisi 2nd Lt. Joseph Rogers 1st Lt. Rene Velazquez (Space Force) Capt. Adam Warren Master of Science in Applied Physics 1st Lt. Seth Bacon 2nd Lt. Noah Everett 2nd Lt. Robert Hall 2nd Lt. Seth Orson Capt. Eli Parsch Capt. Jackson Piechowski 1st Lt. Marco Pirozzoli* Capt. Kyle Roberts 1st Lt. Jacob Vande Griend Master of Science in Astronautical Engineering 2nd Lt. Audra Blazicko 1st Lt. Ansell Cabrera (Space Force) Christian Conkle Capt. Collin Dart 2nd Lt. David Garcia (Space Force) Travis M. Grile** 2nd Lt. Stephanie Halsey* (Space Force) 1st Lt. Erica Higginbotham (dual degree) 2nd Lt. Kealy Murphy (Space Force) 2nd Lt. Kaitlin Roberts Wagner (Space Force) Capt. Ryan Sargent (Space Force) 2nd Lt. Connor Slattery (Space Force) Capt. Clint Spesard Ryan Vorst Master of Science in Atmospheric Science Capt. Nathan Stanford Capt. Natalie Wirth Capt. Scott Wolff Master of Science in Computer Engineering 2nd Lt. Dawson Friesenhahn* (Space Force) 1st Lt. Ludvig Oliver 2nd Lt. Sean Quiterio (Space Force) Capt. Charles Rockett Travis York Master of Science in Computer Science Maj. Anthony Brunson Allen Dukes 2nd Lt. Christian Grauberger Capt. Petersen Hansen Capt. Michael Hastriter, Jr. 2nd Lt. Takashi Joubert 1st Lt. Joshua Krutz (Space Force) 1st Lt. Luke McFadden Capt. Dang-Khoa Nguyen 1st Lt. Kevin Patterson Blake Perkins 2nd Lt. Tanner Todd Capt. Jim Wang Capt. Jordan Williamson Technical Sgt. Mason Wright Master of Science in Cost Analysis Capt. Dustin Brewer* Capt. Ryan Candella 1st Lt. Andrew Chung Capt. Carla Cisneros 1st Lt. Collin Gwaltney (Space Force) 2nd Lt. Ryan Jansen Capt. Bryan Palmer 1st Lt. Izel Reyes Capt. Shane Scantling 2nd Lt. David Smith 1st Lt. Dawson Vasconi Bradley Vuu Master of Science in Cyber Operations Capt. Courtney Fleming* Capt. Jeffery Knight* Capt. Aaron Morath 2nd Lt. Lauren Puseman Master of Science in Data Science 2nd Lt. Madison Hofmann 2nd Lt. Paige Luebbering 2nd Lt. Taylor Markham 2nd Lt. Alexander Milham* 2nd Lt. Sung O 2nd Lt. Connor Oswald 2nd Lt. Victor Rae Capt. Jung Yae Master of Science in Electrical Engineering Sean Abrahamson 2nd Lt. Jason Burdette (Space Force) Capt. Benjamin Fingerie Capt. Moriel Gindi* (Israel) Stephen Gould 2nd Lt. Zachary Legg Capt. Kurt Meier Capt. Nat Thomason (Australia) Capt. Alexander Weber Master of Science in Engineering Management Capt. Juan Alb Capt. Al-Jhon Barrogo 2nd Lt. Michael Berg Capt. Timothy DeJong Capt. John Diskin (Marine Corps) Capt. Bethany Dorian* Capt. Victoria Groleau Capt. Wei Guan Capt. Alan Heng 2nd Lt. William Hunter* Capt. Ryan Jakovich Capt. Kristina Johnson Capt. Zachary Johnson (Marine Corps) Capt. Sean McCarty Maj. Christopher Morales* Capt. Benjamin Rieben Capt. Peter Spinks (Marine Corps) 2nd Lt. Evan Ward Capt. Richard Wilkens Master of Science in Logistics Capt. Taylor Vonasek Master of Science in Logistics and Supply Chain Management Capt. Abdulaziz Aljalahma (Bahrain) Maj. Abdulmajeed Alkthiri (Saudi Arabia) Capt. Muath Almaiman (Saudi Arabia) Capt. Nasser Alrashed (Saudi Arabia) Maj. Saleh Alshuhri (Saudi Arabia) Capt. Kateyn Barton Capt. Rodrigo Campos de Moura (Brazil) Maj. Clay Chaffin* Capt. Eric Draudt Capt. Carlina Ostrand Capt. Gregory Picardi Capt. Daniel Straw Master of Science in Materials Science Capt. Vivian Hedberg Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering 2nd Lt. Brayden Buckley Matthew Earl Maj. Tyler Halbert (Army) 2nd Lt. Lucas Heaton Maj. David Pert* (Army) Maj. Ian Poropat (Army) 2nd Lt. Dustin Rodgers Capt. Caleb Sapp Christopher Smith Capt. Matthew Stone Master of Science in Operations Research 2nd Lt. Merrick Bedford Capt. Jacob Bryant* Maj. Ori Chachmo* (Israel) 2nd Lt. Maria Chedzoy 2nd Lt. William Clay Joshua Combs 2nd Lt. Grant Engel 2nd Lt. Colin Foley 2nd Lt. Noah Fox 2nd Lt. Layton Hedge 2nd Lt. Michael Kaminski 2nd Lt. Phillip Koenig Maj. Daniel Krizan (Army) Capt. Jacob Lang 2nd Lt. Kathleen MacLean Samantha O’Rourke 2nd Lt. Jacob Pike 2nd Lt. George Valaika 2nd Lt. Ebony Williams Capt. Luke Wunderlich (Space Force) Master of Science in Systems Engineering Maj. Ryan Berndt (Space Force) Capt. Aaron Gettemy* (Space Force) Capt. Justin Moore 1st Lt. Brandyn Newsome 1st Lt. Ian Oberndorfer Capt. Elizabeth Pennington* Maj. Cole Piper Capt. Andre Romualdo (dual degree) Capt. Stephanie Slimp Maj. Kurt Spranger (Space Force) Capt. Emily Tritschler *Distinguished Graduate **Returned to walk