AFRL Honors Researchers with 2012 Fellows Designation

  • Published
  • By Laura Dempsey
  • AFRL Headquarters
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  Seven of the Air Force Research Laboratory's top scientists and engineers have been chosen as 2012 AFRL Fellows, the organization's most prestigious honor. The Fellows Program recognizes outstanding career accomplishments while providing support for future endeavors by awarding each honoree additional research funding of $150,000 per year for the next two years.

Dr. Jennifer Ricklin, AFRL's Chief Technologist and overseer of the Fellows Program, said, "This is AFRL's top award, given to those who've shown superior research and development expertise during their years in the lab. It's an incredible honor. This year, only 16 people were even considered for nomination, and then the nine AFRL Chief Scientists painstakingly review each nomination package. It's never an easy job - but it's inspiring to review the accomplishments of these talented and dedicated individuals."

Nominations can be submitted by any member of the AFRL workforce on behalf of a military or civilian candidate. The only restrictions are that the nominated individual must have been assigned to AFRL for the past three consecutive years, and have seven or more combined years of active federal service. Dr. Ricklin heads a committee that deliberates and scores the nominations before passing them on to AFRL Commander MGen William McCasland, who makes the final determination.

"Each year, the Fellows selection process is a tangible reminder of the quality of the AFRL workforce," said MGen McCasland. "I'm very proud such gifted and capable scientists and engineers have chosen to serve National Defense here at the Air Force Research Lab."

This year's AFRL Fellows are:

Dr. Matthew Dierking (Sensors Directorate) is an internationally recognized authority on coherent and direct detection laser radar systems. His research has resulted in a several ladar radar firsts, including the long-range airborne laser vibrometer; synthetic aperture ladar flight images; and high altitude 3-D imaging lidar.

Dr. Kent L. Miller (Air Force Office of Scientific Research) is a program manager in the Physics and Electronics Directorate, leading a basic research program in fundamental physics relevant to Space Situational Awareness. He is an internationally known authority in lower thermospheric dynamics and planetary ionospheres.

Dr. Ron Kaspi (Directed Energy), is a senior research scientist who leads a team in molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) of semiconductor structures for compact mid-infrared lasers. His research group has been recognized as an AFOSR Star Team for four consecutive three-year terms, and his research protects United States Air Force assets from surface-to-air and air-to-air infrared-tracking missiles.

Dr. Saber Hussain (711th Human Performance Wing), a senior toxicologist, is a leader in the emerging fields of nanobioeffects and nanotoxicology. He developed a state-of-the-art Nanocharacterization Laboratory for toxicology studies, the first of its kind within the Department of Defense addressing the knowledge gap with respect to the human and environmental health implications of nanomaterials.

Dr. Danhong H. Huang (Space Vehicles), is a pioneer in the research of quantum device physics. His expertise in theoretical semiconductor physics has led to breakthroughs in space sensor technologies that will reduce the size and cost of satellite sensor systems and enhance obscured target detection, continuous all weather monitoring and chemical/biological weapons detection. Dr. Huang was one of two people to develop a physical model for understanding the possible photoluminescence cooling of a lattice in semiconductors.

Dr. Rajesh R. Naik (Materials and Manufacturing Directorate) is an acknowledged leader in biomaterials research. He has made significant contributions in key areas, such as chemical sensors for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and human performance monitoring, covert taggants for tagging, tracking and locating and materials for chem-bio defense and anti-tamper. Dr. Naik has received the Air Force Outstanding Scientist Award and three consecutive AFOSR STAR team awards for Basic Research.

Mr. Edmund G. Zelnio (Sensors Directorate), is a principal research physicist, is considered the 'father' of Air Force Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) technology having served on over thirty academic and defense panels and providing technical leadership for well over $300 million of ATR research and development, guiding the transition of ATR for air-to-air, air-to-ground, and intelligence applications.