2024 AeroAstro Lester D. Gardner Lecture

2024 AeroAstro Lester D. Gardner Lecture

Aviation in the Age of John Hansman

An honored tradition in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics dating back to 1959, the Gardner Lecture is made possible by a bequest of Major Lester D. Gardner (class of 1898) to sponsor an annual presentation on aeronautical history.

This year, four Course 16 alumni and leaders in their field will deliver a lecture on the recent history and state of the art in aviation, through the lens of Prof. John Hansman’s long career of influential research and mentorship:

• Amy Pritchett: Aviation Safety
• Craig Wanke: Air Traffic Systems
• John-Paul Clarke: Aircraft Operations and Reducing Noise
• Brian Yutko: Novel Sustainable Aircraft

A video recording will be published at a later date.

Speaker bios
Amy Pritchett (ScD ’97) is the Department Head of Aerospace Engineering at Penn State University. Her research focuses on the intersection of technology, humans and safety in dynamic, time-critical and safety-critical environments, including human-robot interaction in space exploration, human-autonomy teaming in aviation, novel flight deck designs, and manual control.

Craig Wanke (PhD ’93) is Chief Engineer for MITRE’s Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD) and Editor in Chief of the Journal of Air Transportation. Among his accomplishments include leading the development, field testing, and technology transfer of several capabilities now deployed as part of the FAA’s operational traffic flow management system. He is an AIAA Associate Fellow.

John-Paul Clarke (ScD ’97) is a professor of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at The University of Texas at Austin, where he holds the Ernest Cockrell Jr. Memorial Chair in Engineering. He is an expert in the development and use of stochastic models and optimization algorithms to improve the efficiency and robustness of complex systems, with a particular focus on aviation.

Brian Yutko (PhD ’14) is the Chief Executive Officer of Wisk Aero, a leader in the Advanced Air Mobility market. His focus is on electric and autonomous aviation. Prior to joining Wisk, Brian served in numerous leadership roles at Boeing and Aurora Flight Sciences, managing various rapid prototyping and autonomous technology development programs.