INTERNATIONAL TEST AND EVALUATION ASSOCIATION’S 2012 AWARD RECIPIENTS RECOGNIZED
Special awards luncheon honors individuals, groups, and ITEA Chapters that have made significant contributions to advancing the test and evaluation (T&E) profession.

The International Test and Evaluation Association (ITEA) annually presents six (6) Professional T&E Awards to individuals and groups that have made significant contributions to advancing the test and evaluation profession. In addition, ITEA also presents the Board of Directors’ Award, the President’s Award, Energizer Award, the Chapter of Excellence Awards, and the Chapter of the Year Award to recognize individuals and Chapters for their significant contributions to the Association.

At the 2012 awards luncheon, which was held during the 2012 Annual International Test and Evaluation Symposium at the Hyatt Regency Resort and Conference Center in Huntington Beach, California, Mr. Charles “Chas” McKee, ITEA Board Vice President, and Mr. Al Sciarretta, ITEA Awards Committee Chair, led a special ceremony recognizing the recipients of 2012 ITEA Awards. Please join ITEA and others involved in the test and evaluation industry in congratulating the following 2011 award recipients.

ALLEN R. MATTHEWS AWARD – Mr. Thomas R. Berard
The Allen R. Matthews Award was established in honor of ITEA’s founder. The award is presented to an individual for a lasting, significant contribution to the field of T&E, such as the cumulative effect of a distinguished career. It is the highest award bestowed by ITEA. For the Allen R. Matthews Award, ITEA has elected to recognize the exceptional long time dedication to the Test and Evaluation Community of Mr. Thomas R. Berard. Mr. Berard began his civil service career at the Air Force Flight Test Center in 1979. He has worked on a variety of test projects including the first flight of the B-1B, and development and acquisition of all of the technical support equipment for testing the B-2. Over the next 32 years, he was a staunch advocate for the development of test processes and state-of-the-art instrumentation to support the development of world class weapons systems. Few individuals have participated in the test and transfer of as many effective weapon systems to the inventory. He founded the Antelope Chapter of ITEA in 1995 and initiated the first ITEA Test Instrumentation Workshop in 1996. Inspired by Mr. Berard, the Test Instrumentation Workshop, during its sixteen years, has provided over $150,000 in grants and scholarships to local schools emphasizing engineering. He forged an unprecedented alliance between the Antelope Valley and China Lake ITEA Chapters and nurtured a strong commitment to the technical disciplines that support the test and training needs of Warfighters. The relationship has expanded to include the newly formed Southern Nevada Chapter. As Executive Director of White Sands Missile Range he continued his strong support of ITEA through the White Sands Chapter. A measure of his success is reflected in the number of local students who have matriculated from high school to college engineering programs. ITEA is pleased to recognize Mr. Thomas R. Berard as the well deserved 2012 recipient of the prestigious Allen R. Matthews Award.

ITEA BOARD OF DIRECTOR’S AWARD – Dr. Steven Hutchison
The Board of Directors Award, established in 1997, is presented to an individual who has contributed to the growth, development, goals, and mission of the Association. The ITEA Board of Directors Award is presented to an individual who has contributed to the growth, development, goals, and mission of the Association. The 2012 ITEA Board of Directors is please to recognize Dr. Steven J. Hutchison, for his proven leadership and guidance throughout the years to the Association  and the Board of Directors. He has championed new ideas, including a focus on the emerging areas of cyber T&E and software T&E,which have allowed ITEA to attract new members and maintain its focus on enabling the T&E workforce to face new challenges. Dr. Hutchison led the 2012 ITEA Technology Review with great success; fostered a new relationship with the University of Memphis, Systems Testing Excellence Program; and opened the door for future strategic partnering with other universities to conquer complex problems and help speed new products to market and capability to the warfighter. He has been a proponent for involvement in ITEA and has worked selflessly at furthering the mission and goals of ITEA. We will miss his presence at the ITEA Board of Directors’ meetings, but look forward to his participation with ITEA for many more years to come. Dr. Hutchison will always have the Board of Directors’ and my gratitude for all he has done.

ITEA PRESIDENT’S AWARD – Mr. Gary Bridgewater
The President’s Award was established in 1996 to give the president of ITEA the prerogative of acknowledging individuals whom he or she deems worthy of recognition. The President’s Award is reserved for an individual who selflessly steps up to assist the president in the execution of the organization’s goals and missions. Gary has selflessly devoted himself to ITEA and furthering our goals within the T&E community for many years. When we found ourselves in a gap between Executive Directors, Gary stepped up to the plate and provided the leadership and guidance for the Executive Office until we were able to fill the position. When there is a special task that must be accomplished or a need within the organization, Gary is most likely to be involved, supporting the organization with his leadership and devotion. As a long-standing member of ITEA, a Past President, and an advocate for the T&E community, I can think of no one else who is more deserving than Gary to receive this award. We appreciate your many years of faithful support and look forward to many more years to come. You will always have my gratitude for all your support.

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD – Mr. Shane Esola 
The ITEA Special Achievement Award is presented to Mr. Shane Esola for his leadership and outstanding professional and technical achievements in assessing variations during helmet ballistic testing, for spearheading development of a new headform for helmet testing, and for developing a new ballistic clay for body armor testing. The test and evaluation of helmets is a high-priority program for the U.S. Army. Mr. Esola’s analysis of variables impacting back face deformation (BFD) during ballistic testing have resulted in improved test procedures and an improved evaluation methodology for BFD measurement. He provided the leadership, vision, and technical expertise to assess the impact of variations in testing, to develop a path ahead for ensuring more repeatable test results, and to make certain that the test community had statistically rigorous results that were defensible when making armor selections. In addition, his efforts to develop a new ballistic clay will result in simplified test progression, increased standardization and repeatability, reduced costs, and overall improved quality of testing of body armor. Mr. Esola’s efforts help ensure that the finest helmets and body armor are made available to our soldiers in the field. The dedication shown by Mr. Esola reflects great credit upon himself, the Aberdeen Test Center, and the U.S. Army.

RICHARD G. CROSS AWARD – Naval Aviation Test and Evaluation University 
The Richard G. Cross Award is presented to Mr. J. James McCue in recognition of outstanding achievements in the development and administration of T&E education. The ITEA Richard G. Cross Award is presented to the Naval Aviation Test and Evaluation University (NATEU) for its outstanding achievements in test and evaluation (T&E) education. With extremely limited funding, NATEU met a compelling need by establishing a comprehensive training environment for its T&E workforce. NATEU has taken T&E performance to new levels of quality/excellence. NATEU is more than a training venue; it is a key recruiting/retention tool for a preciously scarce resource – graduate engineers. In addition to workforce-related impacts, NATEU had a direct “business case” result. It is estimated that core training alone has saved in excess of 40 hours of labor per student per year in performing their daily functions. Using average labor rates and savings of 40 hours per student, resultant total annual savings/cost avoidance is minimally estimated at $1.845M. Additionally, NATEU trained integrated test teams of over 475 government/industry participants at an estimated savings/cost avoidance of $1.06M across related naval aviation programs. With large program burn-rates between $1-10M per day, delays caused by rework for test planning, execution, evaluation, and reporting due to lack of knowledge have enormous impacts. NATEU reduces the risk of those delays and affords programs the maximum opportunity to meet T&E requirements.

PUBLICATIONS AWARD – Mr. Bernard B. “Chip” Ferguson, Dr. Michael G. Lilienthal, Mr. Christopher Yglesias, Ms. Natalie Apuzzo, and Mr. David R. Brown.
The Publications Award is presented to Mr. Bernard B. “Chip” Ferguson, Dr. Michael G. Lilienthal, Mr. Christopher Yglesias, Mr. David R. Brown, and Ms. Natalie Apuzzo for their outstanding contribution to the written body of knowledge and understanding in Test and Evaluation as the authors of “Live, Virtual, and Constructive Models and Simulations for Test and Evaluation” published as a chapter in the NASA Modeling and Simulation FlexBook.  In this chapter the authors introduce the concepts of test and evaluation as well as live-virtual-constructive simulations to high school students as part of a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) initiative. The new material represents ground breaking work, introducing practical concepts for using distributed live-virtual-constructive simulations to support the test and evaluation of complex systems and system-of-systems across the acquisition life cycle.  It is with great pleasure that the 2012 ITEA Publications Award is presented to these authors in recognition of their significant contribution to test and evaluation literature.

TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD – 413th Flight Test Squadron Instrumentation Team  
The ITEA Technical Achievement Award is presented to the 413th Flight Test Squadron (FLTS) Instrumentation Team, 46th Test Wing, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, for its outstanding service as a specialized and responsive test data acquisition team from 1 June 2011 to 31 May 2012. The 413th FLTS Instrumentation Team provided data acquisition on combined developmental and operational tests for over 60 programs resulting in enhanced capability for United States Air Force Special Operations MC-130E, MC-130H, AC-130W, AC-130U, HC/MC-130J and CV-22 aircraft. The team led data collection efforts on the $339M AC-130W Dragon Spear 30mm and small diameter bomb programs, validating the safety and effectiveness of the weapons. The team also developed cutting edge instrumentation for the $1.3M MC-130 Variable Speed Drogue Program, providing unmatched, real-time monitoring to the pilots and engineers. In support of the CV-22 Osprey Block 20 Terrain Following and Tactical Approach programs, the team designed recording capabilities that documented vital system fault information as well as critical safety parameters. The distinctive accomplishments of the 413th FLTS Instrumentation Team reflect great credit upon themselves and the United States Air Force.

JUNIOR ACHIEVER AWARD – Mr. Michael Modica  
The ITEA Junior Achiever Award is presented to Mr. Michael Modica for his exceptional achievements as a test and evaluation professional. Owing to his demonstrated outstanding dedication and initiative, Mr. Modica was selected to lead the Army Test and Evaluation Command’s System Team for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle after only four years of experience as an evaluator. This is unprecedented for an Acquisition Category I program with Office of the Secretary of Defense oversight. In addition, Mr. Modica demonstrated outstanding performance as the lead evaluator on the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected ambulance programs and the rapidly procured mine roller programs. His efforts and selfless dedication had a direct impact on Soldiers and the Army’s ability to field life saving materiel. Mr. Modica’s leadership and professionalism reflect great credit upon himself, the Army Test and Evaluation Command, and the United States Army.

ENERGIZER AWARD – Mr. Bruce Einfalt
The ITEA Energizer Award is presented to Mr. Bruce Einfalt for his dedicated effort and unwavering leadership in the establishment of the Penn State Chapter. In one year’s time, Mr. Einfalt developed the Chapter; has served as the Chapter President; and organized, promoted, and hosted the ITEA Underwater Acoustics Technologies for Test and Evaluation Workshop. His persistence, dedication, and enthusiasm for excellence help to motivate everyone who works with him. For these reasons, he has also been asked to serve as the Technical Co-Chair of the 2013 ITEA Annual Symposium. His efforts as President of the Penn State Chapter, along with his commitment, have greatly increased awareness of the larger T&E community throughout the central Pennsylvania region. Additionally, the projects he has developed have significantly expanded the Navy’s T&E capabilities for torpedo and underwater vehicle programs. It is with great pleasure that the 2012 ITEA Energizer Award is presented to Mr. Bruce Einfalt.