About Us: Gateways to Blue Skies Competition

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2023 Steering Committee

2023 Co-Chair

Steven Holz
NASA’s Langley Research Center Judge, Sponsor

2023 Co-Chair

Andrew Provenza NASA’s Glenn Research Center Judge, Sponsor

Susan BayleyLIFTE H2 Judge

Matthew BoucherNASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center Judge

Peggy CornellNASA’s Ames Research CenterJudge

Koushik DattaNASA’s Ames Research CenterJudge, Sponsor

Mani GavvalapalliU.S. Department of EnergyJudge

Devin Pugh-ThomasNASA’s Langley Research CenterJudge

Jeanne YuNASA’s Langley Research CenterJudge

Craig NickolNASA’s Langley Research CenterOnline Reviewer

Mina CappuccioNASA’s Ames Research CenterSponsor

NIA Program Team

Contact the Gateways to Blue Skies Program Team at BlueSkies@nianet.org.

Shelley Spears

Director, Education & Outreach

Stacy Dees

Program Manager

Janice Kurbjun Miller

Program Lead

Genevieve Ebarle

Program Coordinator

About Us

The National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) is a non-profit research and graduate education institute created to conduct innovative aerospace and atmospheric research, develop new technologies for the nation and help inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers.

NIA serves as a strategic partner with NASA Langley Research Center and the aerospace community to enable research creativity and expand technology development opportunities. The Institute integrates research and graduate education while creating new government / academia / industry partnerships to solve tomorrow’s problems today.

The Gateways to Blue Skies Competition is managed by the National Institute of Aerospace on behalf of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

The Gateways to Blue Skies: Airports of Tomorrow Competition is managed by the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) on behalf of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Craig Nickol

NASA’s Langley Research Center

Mr. Craig Nickol began his career in 1994 as an aerospace engineer in the Advanced Design Branch at the Naval Air Systems Command. He led the Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA) conceptual design team starting in 1998 and served for four years as the Deputy Program Manager in the MMA program office resulting in the development and eventual production of the Navy’s P-8A Poseidon aircraft and the MQ-4C Triton UAV.

Mr. Nickol came to NASA Langley’s Systems Analysis Branch in 2003 as the leader of the Conceptual Design Shop tool development effort under the Vehicle Systems Program. Subsequently, he performed design studies for HALE UAVs, advanced subsonic commercial transports, and X-Plane demonstrator concepts, working with DARPA and industry on a variety of design and development efforts. He served as the X-59 Low Boom Flight Demonstrator Project Manager from 2017-2022, and is currently serving as the Senior Technical Advisor for the Integrated Aviation Systems Program. Mr. Nickol received his undergraduate degree in Fluid and Thermal Engineering Science from Case Western Reserve University in 1992 and a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Virginia in 1994. Mr. Nickol is an AIAA Associate Fellow.

Mina Cappuccio

NASA’s Ames Research Center

Mina Cuppuccio’s bio coming soon!

Jeanne Yu

NASA’s Ames Research Center

Jeanne Yu’s bio coming soon!

Peggy Cornell

NASA’s Glenn Research Center

Peggy Cornell is the Deputy Project Manager for NASA’s Commercial Supersonic Technology Project. Throughout her career of hands-on experience with jet engines, test engineering expertise in the effort to power space missions reliably, and leadership roles in aeronautics, she has demonstrated exceptional and sustained contributions to aeronautics and space.

Peggy has over 28 years of experience at NASA as a technician, engineer, and project manager. She’s worked with multi-disciplinary, multi-project, multi-Center teams at the program, project and subproject levels. She started her career as a Mechanical Engineering Technician supporting various aeronautics testing facilities. After earning her BS in Physics, she spent a decade as a Technical Lead and engineer testing Stirling power convertors and researching multilayer insulation for radioisotope power systems. She then went on to earn her MS in Mechanical Engineering and moved to the Aeronautics Mission Office where she has been an integral part of leadership teams supporting commercial supersonics, electrified aircraft, electric vertical takeoff/landing vehicles, unmanned aircraft systems, and other groundbreaking areas.

In parallel to her early NASA service, Peggy served her country in the USAFR as a Jet Engine Mechanic. She has always been very passionate about aviation/aeronautics and is an active volunteer for STEM, promoting activities and providing mentorship to young engineers and engineering students. Ms. Cornell has made notable advancements to aeronautics and space research through her leadership and technical contributions. These attributes have earned her the lifetime distinction award of Associate Fellow in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), and in 2021, she was elected (and holds current status as) a Regional Director in AIAA.

Matthew Boucher

NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center

Matthew Boucher is a Navigation, Guidance, and Control engineer at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center. He is currently serving as Co-Principal Investigator for the Subsonic Single Aft Engine (SUSAN) Electrofan project, which seeks to reduce aircraft emissions by 50%. His focus is on the use of distributed hybrid electric propulsion for flight control, and the joint impact of power, propulsion, and flight control on configuration design and performance. In addition, he oversees development of vehicle management, simulation, and ground control systems for the subscale SUSAN research vehicle.

Boucher is also a member of the X-59 Low Boom Flight Demonstrator Flight Dynamics, Aeroservoelasticity, and Control Room Test Teams. In those roles, his responsibilities pertain to analysis, integration, ground test, and flight test. Prior to his current assignments, Boucher was Controls & Dynamics Lead for the X-56 Multi-Utility Aeroelastic Demonstrator. He has an MS in Aeronautics & Astronautics from Purdue University and MS and BS degrees in Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is a recipient of a NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal.

Devin Pugh-Thomas

NASA’s Langley Research Center

Dr. Devin Pugh-Thomas is NASA Langley Research Center’s Integration Lead for the Convergent Aeronautics Solutions (CAS) Project. In collaboration with the CAS project management team, Dr. Pugh-Thomas provides technical and programmatic leadership to foster innovation in aeronautics. The CAS project invests in seemingly improbable ideas which have the potential to transform the aviation landscape to include safety, environmental impacts, and the global growth in air traffic.

Dr. Pugh-Thomas is an experienced NASA researcher and project manager. She began her career as a research scientist in the field of nanotechnology. Dr. Pugh-Thomas lead innovative research in quantum dots for remote sensing. She lead R&D in lidar component technologies including laser materials, detectors and advanced nonmechanical beam steering. Dr. Pugh-Thomas’ work has been supported by NASA’s Center Innovation Fund and Internal Research and Development Program. Dr. Pugh-Thomas was awarded a NASA Early Career Initiative (ECI) for her proposal, Electro-Optical Technology Development in Liquid Crystal Beam Steering (E-Optics). As E-Optics project manager, Dr. Pugh-Thomas lead a multidisciplinary team in conducting applied research on novel laser beam steering device architectures and materials for remote sensing. Prior to joining CAS, she served as deputy project manager for Langley’s GPX2 space flight project.

Dr. Pugh-Thomas holds a B.S. degree in Physics from Norfolk State University, M.S. degree in Materials Science and Engineering and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, both from the University of Virginia. She was the recipient of a NASA Graduate Student Researcher (GSRP) Fellowship, National Science Foundation (NSF) Fellowship, and National Institute Aerospace (NIA) Fellowship. Dr. Pugh-Thomas has 10 technical publications and conference proceedings. Her affiliations include Optica, the Virginia Council on Women, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

Mani Gavvalapalli

U.S. Department of Energy

Dr. Mani Gavvalapalli is the Program Manager for Carbon Capture in the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management at the Department of Energy (DOE). In this role, Dr. Gavvalapalli is responsible for planning, management, and administration of Research, Development, and Demonstration activities focused on advancing technologies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the power and industrial sectors.

Prior to joining DOE in 2021, Dr. Gavvalapalli worked as a senior scientist at NASA Research and Education Support Services (NRESS) where she managed three NASA programs that focused on developing innovative aerospace concepts and advancing space technologies that could transform future space missions and enable sustainable presence of humans on the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Dr. Gavvalapalli has also worked as a process technology development engineer at Intel Corporation where she was responsible for process development for semiconductor chip manufacturing. Dr. Gavvalapalli holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, an M.S. in Chemistry from the University of Hyderabad, India, and a B.S. (Hons.) in Chemistry from Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, India.

Susan Bayley

LIFTE H2

Susan Bayley  is the Lead, Safety Systems and Processes for LIFTE H2, a hydrogen infrastructure company. LIFTE H2 is pioneering deployment of global hydrogen infrastructure solutions that create scale in this nascent industry. In her role, Bayley leads a team responsible for safety in product design, project execution, operations and maintenance, and business operations. LIFTE H2 is a member of the Center for Hydrogen Safety (CHS) and Bayley is LIFTE’s corporate representative to the CHS.

Bayley has over 25 years in applying safety principles to engineer designs in aviation, oil and gas, and Department of Defense projects. In the aviation sector, she oversaw safety evaluations of engine test facilities and developed best practices for the maintenance of high-energy systems. In the oil and gas industry, Bayley coordinated across an Engineer, Procurement, Construction (EPC) company to ensure processes were in place for the safe design of gas processing facilities. Bayley supported the Department of Defense in Risk, Safety and Operations roles to ensure the safe and timely destruction of the nation’s chemical weapons stockpile.

Bayley holds a Bachelor degree in chemical physics from Rice University – Houston, TX and a Master of Science degree in nuclear engineering from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. She is a licensed professional engineering in the state of Wisconsin and is certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP). Bayley is also credentialed as a Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH), and Certified Hazardous Materials Manager (CHMM).

Andrew Provenza

NASA’s Glenn Research Center

Andrew Provenza is the Deputy Project Manager of Technology for NASA’s University Innovation Project. He is responsible for co-managing the projects activities as well as harnessing the university ecosystem to develop new innovative concepts towards reducing the negative effects of aviation on our Planet. Fresh new ideas will be needed, as we look out beyond our National Net Zero Carbon Emissions Goals for 2050, to reduce emissions even further – towards True Zero.

Prior to this, Andrew was a Research Engineer here at NASA Glenn working on a variety of turbomachinery research projects. Highlights include real–time aeromechanics safety monitoring and analysis for NASA and commercial customer aircraft propulsive fan research in NASA Glenn wind tunnels, and magnetic bearing research and development for ground, aero, and space applications.

Koushik Datta

NASA’s Ames Research Center

Koushik Datta’s bio coming soon!

Steven Holz

NASA’s Langley Research Center

Steven Holz’s bio coming soon!