2020 GRADUATE COMMENCEMENT DECEMBER 14, 2020 COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY TO OUR GRADUATES Presentation of Colors ROTC Joint Color Guard The National Anthem Your graduation from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University comes at an The AcaFellas unprecedented time in history, as the Covid-19 outbreak alters life around the world. Despite the distractions and detours of the past year, you maintained your focus and met your goal with a discipline that marks you as someone who overcomes Processional obstacles and faces the unexpected with the skill set – and mindset – to succeed. Pomp and Circumstance You have earned a college degree and our deepest respect. Macebearer Although we cannot celebrate your great accomplishment in person, know that Christopher Grant, Ph.D. we are very proud of you. The 2020 Graduating Class will hold a special place in Vice Provost for Academic Support Embry-Riddle history. Congratulations on your graduation, your accomplishments as an Embry-Riddle student and your bright future. Introduction of Platform Party Best wishes on your continued success. Go Eagles! Lon D. Moeller, J.D. Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Invocation Reverend David Keck, Ph.D. Campus Chaplain P. Barry Butler, Ph.D. Lon D. Moeller, J.D. Welcome President Sr. Vice President for Lon D. Moeller, J.D. Academic Affairs & Provost Opening of Ceremonies Philip H. Elliott, Jr., Esq., Ph.D. Honoris Causa Trustee Emeritus Remarks P. Barry Butler, Ph.D. President Introduction of Speaker Lon D. Moeller, J.D. Address Richard P. Anderson, Ph.D. Professor of Aerospace Engineering Graduation Exercise Conferring of Degrees Philip H. Elliott, Jr., Esq., Ph.D. Honoris Causa Alma Mater The AcaFellas Benediction Reverend David Keck, Ph.D. PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER Dear Graduates, Dr. Richard P. Anderson is a professor of Aerospace Engineering and Congratulations. This is a memorable day for you and a cause for pride and the Director of the Eagle Flight Research Center. He is an authority on celebration for your family. Enjoy this moment. You worked hard to earn it. flight dynamics; automatic flight controls; electric and hybrid electric propulsion; and novel vehicle concepts including fixed wing hybrid aircraft We hope you will remember Embry-Riddle as a place that supported you, and e/hVTOL urban mobility vehicles. Dr. Anderson has lead a team that challenged you and prepared you for a life of purpose and contribution. developed and flew the first manned electric gas/battery hybrid aircraft. Some say that college graduation marks a time when you take ownership of your He is the author of University patents in the area of hybrid aircraft life. The Graduating Class of 2020 stepped into that ownership with strength and propulsion and active ground noise mitigation of motors and rotors. His character. The Covid-19 pandemic brought social isolation, compromises and research in these areas include $7M in externally funded programs. disappointed expectations. You confronted challenges you never anticipated. Yet you found ways to remain connected and support each other to create a college His background includes not only engineering but also experience as experience that may have been different from – but not less than – classes who an ATP rated pilot with category and class ratings that include airplane came before you. Your grace and grit impressed those who believed in you before single and multiengine, land and sea, glider and helicopter. He holds an you came to Embry-Riddle and those who came to believe in you as Eagles. I FAA certified flight instructor, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) operator hope you leave us believing in yourselves as much as we believe in you. and airframe & powerplant certificate with inspection authorization. Dr. Anderson’s awards include the Lindbergh Electric Airplane Prize, The On behalf of the faculty and staff of the university, we were proud to serve you. Carnegie Foundation's Florida University Professor of the Year and Richard P. Anderson, Ph.D. You inspired us. Your passion and persistence in pursuing your goals gives us the University’s Researcher of the Year. He is an EAA Founders award Professor of Aerospace Engineering confidence in the future you will help create. judge and the chairman of the GAMA electric propulsion committee. Please know that Embry-Riddle will always welcome you as a Forever Eagle and wish you every success, personally and professionally. Sincerely, P. Barry Butler, Ph.D. President Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University In 2017, P. Barry Butler became the sixth president of Embry- As a strong advocate for science, technology, engineering Riddle Aeronautical University, the world’s leading institution of and mathematics (STEM) education, Butler supports a dual- higher education focusing on aviation and aerospace. enrollment program with the Gaetz Aerospace Institute. The institute offers more than 40 university courses to students in Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University offers more than 84 Florida high schools. At the Arizona Campus, the STEM 100 bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. degree programs in its Education Center serves as a hub of enrichment for students, colleges of Arts & Sciences, Aviation, Business, Engineering, faculty, researchers and the community. and Security & Intelligence. Embry-Riddle educates more than 34,000 students annually at residential campuses in Previously, Butler was Executive Vice President and Provost of Daytona Beach, Florida, and Prescott, Arizona, through the the University of Iowa. He was responsible for more than 100 Worldwide Campus at more than 135 locations in the United academic programs in 11 colleges. For ten years, he served as States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, and through online Dean of the College of Engineering. programs. Butler is on the board of the Hoover Presidential Foundation and Under his presidency, Embry-Riddle continues to expand The Wings Club. He is a member of The Civic League of the discovery-driven degree programs and its research park is Halifax Area. He is a private and glider pilot. home to new aerospace patents, technology transfer and startups. Butler has encouraged collaboration with industry, He earned three degrees from the University of Illinois at resulting in expedited hiring initiatives with leading aviation and Urbana-Champaign: a bachelor’s in Aeronautical Engineering, a aerospace industries. He is expanding the university’s interest in master’s in Astronautical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Mechanical aviation cybersecurity, aviation data analytics and autonomous Engineering. vehicles. The university also created new partnerships to prime the aviation/aerospace pipeline. PH.D. CANDIDATES COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES COLLEGE OF AVIATION Rachelle Strong Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science Dissertation Title: Pilot Acceptance of Personal, Wearable Fatigue Monitoring Technology: An Application of The Bharvi N. Chhaya Ph.D. in Engineering Physics Ph.D. in Aviation Extended Technology Acceptance Model Dissertation Title: Scenario-Based Development and Dissertation Committee Chair: Dahai Liu, Ph.D. Verification of Domain-Specific Languages Pavel Inchin Susan K. Archer Dissertation Committee Chair: Shafagh Jafer, Ph.D. Dissertation Title: Atmospheric and Ionospheric Dissertation Title: Organizational Design of Secondary Lakshmi Vempati Responses to Acoustic and Gravity Waves Driven Aviation / Aerospace / Engineering Career Education Dissertation Title: Pilots’ Willingness to Operate by Earthquakes and Tsunamis Programs In Unmanned Aircraft System Integrated Airspace Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering Dissertation Committee Chair: Scott Winter, Ph.D. Dissertation Committee Chair: Jonathan B. Snively, Ph.D. Dissertation Committee Chair: David Esser, Ph.D. Ali Ahmed Abdulrasool Krishna Bhavithavya Kidambi Bradley S. Baugh Kenneth A. Ward Dissertation Title: Theoretical and Computational Dissertation Title: Nonlinear Estimation and Control Dissertation Title: Predicting General Aviation Dissertation Title: Safety Systems, Culture, and Analyses on Transition and Turbulence in Purely Methods for Mechanical and Aerospace Systems Under Accidents Using Machine Learning Algorithms Passengers’ Willingness to Fly in Autonomous Air Taxis Oscillating Pipe Flow Actuator Uncertainty Dissertation Committee Chair: Bruce Conway, Ph.D. Dissertation Committee Chair: Scott Winter, Ph.D. Dissertation Committee Chair: Yongho Lee, Ph.D. Dissertation Committee Chair: William MacKunis, Ph.D. Richard W. Cole Sabrina Woods Kaloki Lubekho Nabutola Dona Chathuni Piumika Kuruppuaratchi Dissertation Title: Risk Mitigation for Low Latitude Dissertation Title: Assessing if Motivation Impacts General Dissertation Title: Active Drag Reduction of Ground Dissertation Title: Setting Constraints on the Lunar GBAS Precision Approach Operations Aviation Pilots’ Persistence in Varying Weather Conditions Vehicles Using Air-jet Wheel Deflectors Sodium Exosphere: A Comprehensive Analysis of Dissertation Committee Chair: Steven Hampton, Ed.D. Dissertation Committee Chair: Scott Winter, Ph.D. Dissertation Committee Chair: Sandra Boetcher, Ph.D. Velocity Resolved Sodium Line Profile Measurements Yuan Tian Dissertation Committee Chair: Edwin Mierkiewicz, Ph.D. Jennifer M. Edwards Dissertation Title: Student Engagement in Aviation Dissertation Title: Monocular Visual-Inertial Odometry Beket Tulegenov MOOCs: Identifying Subgroups and Their Differences Using Learning-Based Methods Dissertation Title: Nonlinear Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Dissertation