2024 GALCIT Awards Announced
The Graduate Aerospace Laboratories at Caltech (GALCIT) announces its annual awards for graduate students.
Descriptions of the awards are included below.
The William F. Ballhaus Prize
The William F. Ballhaus Prize is awarded for an outstanding doctoral dissertation in Aeronautics. This year's awardees are Salvador Gomez and Benjamin Riviere.
The Charles Babcock Memorial Award
The Charles Babcock Memorial Award is given to the graduate student whose achievements in teaching (or other assistance to students) have made a significant contribution to the Aeronautics program. This year's awardees are Eric Ballouz and Maria Kechri.
The Rolf D. Buhler Memorial Award in Aeronautics
The Rolf D. Buhler Memorial Award in Aeronautics is presented to a student in the Aeronautics Master's Program whose academic performance was exemplary and who shows high potential for future achievements at Caltech. This year's awardee is Erina Yamaguchi.
The Richard Bruce Chapman Memorial Award
The award is given to an EAS graduate student in hydrodynamics who has distinguished himself or herself in research. This year's awardees are Peter Gunnarson and Matthew Yao.
The Donald Coles Prize
The Donald Coles Prize is awarded to the graduating Ph.D. student in Aeronautics whose thesis displays the best design of an experiment or the best design for a piece of experimental equipment. This year's awardee is Wesley Yu.
The Hans G. Hornung Prize
The Hans G. Hornung Prize is given for the best oral PhD defense presentation by a student advised by Aeronautics faculty. The committee to determine the prize winner was made up of current Aeronautics students who attended all the talks in order to make their recommendation. This year's awardee is Alexander Wen.
The Kalam Prize for Aerospace Engineering
The Kalam Prize for Aerospace Engineering is awarded to a student in the Aerospace engineering Master's Program whose academic performance was exemplary and who shows high potential for future achievements at Caltech. This year's awardees are William Feasey and Tara Venkatadri.
The Ernest E. Sechler Memorial Award in Aeronautics
The Ernest E. Sechler Memorial Award in Aeronautics is given to the graduate student who has made the most significant contribution to the GALCIT teaching and research effort this year. The award was established in 1980 to honor Ernie Sechler who was the first graduate of GALCIT and a faculty member for 46 years. This year's awardees are Sean Mendoza and James Ragan.