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Joshua Harris working with aerospace equipment.
Joshua Harris is the 2018 U.S. Department of Transportation/Federal Aviation Administration Research Student of the Year, Master of Science level and was recognized for significant contributions and leadership on two projects funded by the Federal Aviation Administration. | Image: Texas A&M Engineering

Joshua Harris, a December 2017 graduate from the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University, has been recognized with two prestigious research awards.

Harris is the 2018 U.S. Department of Transportation/Federal Aviation Administration Research Student of the Year, Master of Science level. This award was created to recognize outstanding students from the University Transportation Centers for their achievements and accomplishments in the transportation field during the year. Awardees are selected based upon technical merit and research capability, academic performance, and leadership. 

Harris was recognized for significant contributions and leadership on two projects funded by the Federal Aviation Administration: “Weather Technology in the Cockpit (WTIC): General Aviation Weather Alerting,” and “Characterization of Derived Angle-of-Attack and Flight Path Angle Algorithms For General Aviation Platforms.” Both projects seek to improve general aviation flight safety by utilizing advanced technologies that assist pilots in critical decision making and improve their piloting skills. Harris received the award at the annual transportation review board meeting and Council of University Transportation Centers banquet in Washington, D.C., on January 6.

Harris is also recipient of the 2018 Association of Former Students Distinguished Graduate Student Award for Excellence in Research – Masters. He defended his master’s thesis titled “Nonlinear Adaptive Inversion Control for Variable Stability Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems” in October 2017, and he is being recognized for his outstanding academic record and contributions in aerospace engineering by a distinguished committee of reviewers. Recipients will be honored at a ceremony at the Clayton Williams, Jr. Alumni Center on April 23. 

Harris was a graduate research assistant in the Vehicle Systems & Control Laboratory, working with his advisor, Dr. John Valasek, for six years. He earned his bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, summa cum laude, in 2014, and his master’s degree in aerospace engineering in 2017, both from Texas A&M. He is a recipient of the National Defense Science Engineering Graduate Fellowship, the NASA Aeronautics Scholarship, the Federal Aviation Administration’s PEGASAS Center of Excellence Outstanding Student Researcher Award, the Texas A&M College of Engineering Outstanding Engineering Master of Science Graduate Student Award, and the Sigma Gamma Tau Outstanding Texas A&M University Aerospace Engineering Senior for 2014.  Harris is currently a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Intelligent Systems Technical Committee and is a software engineer with Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in Fort Worth, Texas.