THE ALUMNI MAGAZINE OF EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY FALL/WINTER 2020 BREAKING BARRIERS Alumni, like Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. (’95), bring diverse backgrounds and a shared Embry-Riddle heritage to national leadership roles PAGE 12 FROM THE PRESIDENT Volume 16, No. 2 Lift, the alumni magazine of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, is published twice annually (spring/summer and fall/winter) by the division of Philanthropy & Alumni “When will you see us?” Engagement. Copyright © 2020 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University That was the theme of a silent Florida/Arizona/Worldwide 1 Aerospace Blvd. protest near the Daytona Beach Daytona Beach, FL 32114 Campus after the killing of George All rights reserved. Floyd. It is a fair question, and Senior Vice President of Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement it deserves an answer — from Marc Archambault institutions and communities, and Executive Director of Alumni Engagement Bill Thompson (’87) from each of us as individuals. PHILANTHROPY & ALUMNI COMMUNICATIONS To see the value of every person requires Executive Director of Communications a willingness to take a hard look at yourself. Anthony Brown Senior Director of Communications/Editor You then have to be willing to learn and Sara Withrow change, which should be the core values of Assistant Director of Communications any university. Melanie Stawicki Azam Assistant Director of Digital To honor George Floyd, our campuses JoAnne Bass, the first woman to serve as chief Engagement & Philanthropy joined in a virtual memorial. We followed master sergeant of the U.S. Air Force. U.S. Alan Marcos Pinto Cesar this up with two “Your Voice Matters” Zoom Army officer Valdeta Mehanja, a 2013 and 2017 Alumni Digital Engagement Coordinator Cynthia Puckett meetings. Students, staff and faculty shared graduate, completed her training to be a Black their thoughts, feelings and experiences. Hawk helicopter pilot. Featured previously in CONTRIBUTORS These were candid conversations, not Lift, veteran Reamonn Soto, a 2017 graduate, Keith Baskett (‘92) speeches, and the emphasis was on listening developed his startup as a student; he is now a Mike Cavaliere, News Manager to each other. Some personal stories were CEO and tenant in our Research Park in Daytona Michaela Jarvis painful to hear. However, I felt encouraged Beach, where he incubated a successful Lauren Johnston by the trust and mutual respect that was business. The Research Park to date has Daryl LaBello, Multimedia Producer consistent across almost four hours, which generated more than $90 million in economic David Massey, Multimedia Producer Kevin Montgomery, Archivist means we have a solid foundation to build on. impact in Florida and created 500 jobs. Ginger Pinholster, Associate Vice President Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has As the world’s leading aviation educator, for News & Research Communications launched a search for a new senior adviser, a we support an industry critical to our chief diversity and inclusion officer (CDIO). country’s economy and security. We owe EAGLE WRITERS CORPS This new position extends our commitment this industry the best minds and graduates Tristyn Bemis (‘20) Kim Sheeter to make aviation and aerospace more diverse who are prepared to contribute on day one. and inclusive. We have taken steps in the New leaders will emerge from an enriching Published by Casual Astronaut right direction, including recruiting campaigns, environment where everyone can succeed Managing Editor scholarships, mentoring programs and without compromising identity, values or Colleen Ringer awareness-raising channels and events. Our culture. They will be Eagles. Rising to this Creative Director Marc Oxborrow new CDIO will help us find new ways to challenge uplifts us all. Art Director recognize, attract, support and celebrate talent. Felicia Penza We have cause for celebration. This issue Chief Client Officer Sincerely, Paul Peterson of Lift expresses our pride in alumni who are in the vanguard of aviation and aerospace Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is leadership — including 1995 graduate Gen. P. Barry Butler, Ph.D. an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on Charles Q. Brown Jr., the first Black chief of President the basis of race, color, religion, gender, staff of the U.S. Air Force, and 2005 graduate Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University age, national origin, disability, veteran’s status or sexual orientation. Nonprofit identification: 59-0936101. Have you moved? Send address changes or unsubscribe requests to: Embry-Riddle Office of Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement, 1 Aerospace Blvd., An online resource to help Daytona Beach, FL 32114 you stay Eagle Strong during Email: [email protected] the coronavirus pandemic. Visit: alumni.erau.edu/update-my-info PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER Fall/Winter 2020 10 24 6 5 12 IN OTHER WORDS GIVING TO EMBRY-RIDDLE 5 ‘You’ve Got to Be 22 Scholarship Twice As Good’ Matchup 12 Keith Baskett (’92) reflects on a Challenge allows family to career path that would not have double scholarship impact Breaking been available to his father ALUMNI IN ACTION Barriers WINGS OF LEGACY 24 On the Front Lines Alumni bring diverse 6 Final Flight COVID-19 crisis reveals backgrounds and a shared Remembering Riddle’s last ride Eagle character Embry-Riddle heritage to national leadership roles INDUSTRY ROUNDTABLE GLOBAL 8 Aviation in the 26 Pivot Point Shadow of COVID- 19 Worldwide Campus leverages Industry experts share how their online expertise to keep students sectors have fared in the wake of the learning during pandemic pandemic and predict what’s ahead CHECK OUT THE GLOBAL LIFT WEBSITE! 10 What’s in a Label? 28 Building a Hedge Read Lift on your Three alumni look ‘inside the box’ Against Headwinds desktop, tablet or phone. to develop the latest machine Embry-Riddle professors are lift.erau.edu learning innovations researching a revolutionary risk management solution that ALUMNI @WORK could help the airlines weather 20 Legal Eagle economic storms Constantine Marantidis (‘84) brings an engineer’s perspective to intellectual property law 2 Chatter 4 Feedback 30 Alumni News 34 Class Notes News and notes Embry-Riddle alumni A message from the Find out what your from the world of and friends offer executive director, fellow alumni are Embry-Riddle comments and opinions upcoming events and more up to now TOP LEFT: BRYON MALIK; MIDDLE: U.S. AIR FORCE/ANDY MORATAYA; TOP RIGHT: DREW ENDICOTT; BOTTOM RIGHT: DAVID MASSEY DAVID RIGHT: BOTTOM DREW ENDICOTT; RIGHT: TOP MORATAYA; AIR FORCE/ANDY MALIK; MIDDLE: U.S. BRYON LEFT: TOP ON THE COVER: Alumnus Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. (‘95) was sworn in as U.S. Air Force chief of staff in August. Photo by U.S. Air Force/Eric Dietrich. The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement. LIFT FALL/WINTER 2020 ALUMNI.ERAU.EDU 1 NEWS & NOTES FROM THE WORLD OF EMBRY-RIDDLE CHATTER ALTIMETER: Associate Professor Sirish Namilae HIGH POINTS AT is using various data sources to simulate how pedestrians move in EMBRY-RIDDLE crowds, in an effort to understand and combat the spread of illness. The Mori Hosseini Student Union at Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach Campus won the Architizer Popular Choice Award in A Mathematical Solution Architecture+Engineering. NSF grants fund pedestrian movement, The Federal Aviation disease-spread modeling to fight COVID-19 Administration selected Embry- Riddle to participate in the Unmanned Aircraft Systems ow people move through a given space with colleagues from the University of West Collegiate Training Initiative. may offer clues to how infectious Florida, Purdue University and Arizona State diseases, like COVID-19, spread. Sirish University, as well as with students from The Daytona Beach Campus Namilae, an associate professor of Embry-Riddle. women’s basketball team aerospace engineering at Embry-Riddle, The result of their research will be a was named to the Women’s H is refining research he conducted on pedestrian cyberinfrastructure, or software system, useful Basketball Coaches movement — amplifying it with new data and to such decision-makers as civil engineers, Association Academic Top 25. disease-spread modeling — to help develop aviation workers and public health professionals The squad compiled a 3.671 cumulative GPA in 2019-20. social distancing strategies as the world as they work to design the most efficient social confronts the COVID-19 pandemic. distancing guidelines. The modeling could then The Prescott Campus was “We want to get an aggregate idea of be used to inform policies designed to mitigate named No. 1 Undergraduate how people are moving,” Namilae says. local outbreaks of infectious diseases. Aerospace/Aeronautical/ “For this COVID problem, the research is “[The software] will help determine the best Astronautical Engineering even more relevant.” tactics, for example, in an airport,” Namilae says. program for non-doctorate- Namilae started researching pedestrian “How should the security queue be designed? degree-awarding institutions movement during the 2014 Ebola epidemic in How should a building be designed?” for the fourth consecutive year Africa. Last year he was awarded a $600,000 Theme parks are another example of a by U.S. News & World Report’s National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to venue where crowds mix intensely. Additions to 2021 Best Colleges guidebook. develop a cyberinfrastructure for this problem. traditional serpentine lines that reduce mixing, Assistant Professor