Leading materials engineer and program manager earns international award

  • Published
  • By Pete Meltzer, Jr.
  • Materials & Manufacturing Directorate
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  George F. Schmitt, Jr., of the Air Force Research Laboratory Materials and Manufacturing Directorate (AFRL/RX), has received the Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) International Award for Armaments Cooperation. 

The award is presented each year to individuals within the Command in recognition of outstanding service and exemplary achievement. Mr. Schmitt was recognized for significant, dynamic improvements to management programs, initiation of new programs, customer service excellence, and efficient use of resources.

He was also commended for his leadership role in developing collaborative and international exchange agreements, new contracts through overseas aerospace research and development offices, technical interchanges between AFRL scientists and engineers and their counterparts in other countries, and the development and implementation of improved database and tracking systems. He was further recognized for efforts in advancing "all aspects of AFRL's international enterprise." 

Mr. Schmitt has nearly 44 years experience at AFRL/RX conducting, managing, administering, and providing infrastructure support for advanced research, exploratory development, and the advanced development of aerospace materials and process technologies for future Air Force systems. 

Mr. Schmitt currently serves as AFRL/RX director of International Programs, a key leadership position involving the discovery, exploration, establishment, management, and administration of collaborative research programs. These programs involve individual researchers and research groups, as well as government-to-government agreements between the United States and other nations, including Australia, Canada, Germany, India, Israel, New Zealand, Singapore, and the United Kingdom.

As AFRL/RX director of International Programs, Mr. Schmitt has been directly involved in modifying, updating, and redesigning AFRL's international affairs programs and initiatives. "He personally redesigned the process for initiating, processing, and approving new country-to-country agreements," stated Dr. David E. Walker, AFRL/RX director. 

"At the request of AFRL, he assumed the lead role for implementing the new agreement process. He conducted working sessions and hosted educational video teleconferences to promote the adoption of the new process. 

"This new process was adopted by the AFRL Corporate Board for use across all ten AFRL technical directorates. As a result, the expected timeframe for establishing new agreements has been reduced from two years to six months," Dr. Walker said. 

"Mr. Schmitt's involvement in collaborative programs with other nations has added six new exchange agreements with Israel, five agreements with Australia, and three with Singapore. In just over six months, he initiated and won approval for an International Exchange Agreement (IEA) with India; the first agreement of this kind between the United States Air Force and India in seven years.

"He led AFRL/RX visits to Israel, organized workshops to identify potential new collaborations, and was instrumental in formulating and securing six new contracts through AFRL's European Office of Aerospace Research and Development (EOARD). He also played a key role in developing a new thrust for collaborative materials programs with the United Kingdom," Dr. Walker continued. 

"George has played a defining role as Air Force representative to The Technical Cooperative Program (TTCP) Materials Group, overseeing five technical panels and one action group for joint projects with the nations of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. He has also served as the AFRL/RX senior international focal point on the AFRL International Technology Council, providing valuable expertise and advice on international materials matters," Dr. Walker said. 

Prior to his current post, Mr. Schmitt served as chief of the Directorate's Integration and Operations Division, assistant director of the Nonmetallic Materials Division, chief of the Plans and Programs Branch, Space Survivability program manager and technical area manager, and as a materials research engineer and group leader.

Mr. Schmitt earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Louisville, and his MBA from The Ohio State University. He is a graduate of the Air War College and a recipient of numerous major awards, including the Air Force Meritorious Civilian Service Award and the Federal Laboratories Consortium Midwest Award for Technology Transfer Excellence. 

Mr. Schmitt was international president of the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE) from 1981-1982, and the first employee of the U.S. Government to ever hold that office.