During endoscopic surgery in the abdomen, the body cavity must be pressurized to allow room for the surgical instruments. The surgeon makes several one-half inch incisions inside the abdomen wall to permit the insertion of an endoscope (a telescope with a TV camera attached) and other surgical instruments. At the end of the surgery, the new surgical tool is inserted into an incision, and allows the doctor room to suture in these tiny incisions. This new instrument makes the suturing process safer for surgeons by reducing the risk of needle puncture and safer for the patient by controlling the course of the needle. The instrument has been used successfully in three surgical operations to date.
Dr. Edward Phillips, Director of Endoscopic Surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA, supplied two members of Dryden's Task Team, Adolfo Morales and Greg Poteat, with a sketch of what he required for the instrument. Morales turned the sketch into a detailed drawing and Poteat created the instrument with the sophisticated tools in Dryden's machine shop.
“ "It really isn't any different than the way engineers work with us here," said Poteat. "Someone will come up with an idea and a rough sketch, Adolfo refines it, and we go to work on production."
The Cedars-Sinai Task Team here at Dryden, which also includes Martin Espana and Terry Montgomery, was established after a recent visit to Dryden by Dr. Phillips and Dr. Raul Rosenthal. This activity, which capitalized on Dryden's experimental shop and rapid prototyping capabilities, is a part of NASA's efforts to transfer technology outside traditional aerospace applications. The task team expects to continue working with the doctors on additional biomedical applications.
Dryden was praised for it's aggressive role in modernizing it's facilities with respect to increased energy efficiency including installation of a centralized Energy Mangement and Control System (EMCS); construction of evaporative cooling systems in lieu of refrigerated air; and installation of occupancy sensors for 579 lighting fixtures.
The rebate of nearly $50,000 is only a small part of the total savings realized by this work. A list of other savings is as follows: annual kilowatt hours saved - 2,389,692; KW reduction - 262 KW; annual money saved-$144,000; equivalent annual power savings - 331 homes; British thermal units saved - 8,156,000,000 British thermal units.
In addition, positive environmental benefits have been obtained by not having to burn fossil fuels for this energy reduction. The amount of pollutants that will not be introduced into the environment are: nitrogen oxides (NOx) - 2 tons; sulfer oxides (SOx) - 2 tons; carbon dioxide (CO2) - 1,449 tons; total - 1,453 tons of polutants not dumped into the atmoshpere.
The key personnel involved in the energy saving program are Steve Hodsdon, Greg Spencer, Doug Lindquist, Kurt Kloesel, and Joe Almonte of the Facilities Engineering Branch (XAE).
Facilities Engineering Branch plans many more energy efficiency projects in the coming fiscal year. These include conversion to high efficiency lighting systems, expansion of the energy management system, and installation of high efficiency chillers and motors as part of the on-going rehabilitation and repair program at Dryden.
-- Greg Spencer
The award is presented to a design engineer or team for the conception, definition, or development of an original concept leading to a significant advancement in aircraft design or design technology.
The X-31's design team award reads: "For the innovative and original approach, conceptualization and design of the X-31 aircraft, whose on-going flight test program is successfully demonstrating radically different, high payoff fighter capabilities."
The X-31 team includes Helmuth Heumann, Federal Office for Defense Technology and Procurement, Germany; Charles Johnson, U.S. Naval Air Systems Command; Col. John Nix, U.S. Air Force; Michael Robinson, Rockwell International; and Hannes Ross, Deutsch Aerospace, Germany.
AIAA is the world's leading professional society for aeronautics and astronautics, and a preeminent worldwide aerospace information resource.
According to Dryden's CFC chairperson, Pat Harrington, this year's drive continues through Nov. 11, with a goal of $50,000 and an employee participation rate of at least 75%.
When a person takes a moment to reflect upon the theme, "A World of Difference," it is easy to see that contributions... just a few dollars a week... through the CFC can make a difference.
One of them is Dryden's own Judy Janisse Child Development Center, which provides quality child care for Dryden federal and contractor employees. CFC contributions will be used as financial aid for qualifying parents.
Eddie Zavala presented research performed for Electrically Powered Actuation Design (EPAD) and Fly By Light programs at the Society of Automative Engineers conference.
The contract with Innovative Dynamics Inc. has been awarded. The work is in the area of Integrated Vehicle Health Management, emphasizing structural integrity and non intrusive techniques to determine micro cracks, fatigue, stresses, and aging in aircraft.
A meeting was held at Wright Labs between the X-31 Program and the Wright Lab personnel who are associated with the F15 ACTIVE program. It was generally agreed upon to treat the X-31 and the F-15 ACTIVE Tailless Research Programs as complimentary programs.
At ARPA's request, planning intensified for taking an X-31 to Paris for the air show in June 1995. A telecon covering this initial planning effort was held between the ITO, DASA Germany, ARPA, and NAVAIR.
A favorable response is expected to a proposal to share the engines between the USAF/NASA ACTIVE flight program and the USAF F100-PW-229 CIP flights. A discussion on the draft MOU which establishes the process to prioritize the flight activity has been held in Dayton. Participating were the F-15 and Engine Propulsion System Development Office (DSO), Wright Laboratories, and Dryden.
The Purchase Request for the leading edge of the flight article glove was initiated, anticipating delivery by the end of November.
The project is continuing to pursue flight manifest approval for SWAS/FX-1 integration with Goddard. We are also exploring the viability of conducting the experiment on the USAF/Rex II flight in July 95.
Ground test instrumentation is being installed on the ground test glove assembly. The balsa contour support blocks have been rough cut and are ready for finish sanding.
The F-15 instrumentation sensor flights are in progress.
A contract is being initiated with Scaled Composites for engineering design support of wing structural modifications and materials testing.
The Critical Design Review (CDR) has been postponed to Nov. 16 (at no impact to the schedule) to allow for completion of the structural and stress analysis cases that were recommended by the Aero Review Panel.
A major fuel leak was detected. Two options are being evaluated to repair it. One option is to isolate the fuel cell from the system, if possible, and leave it empty, because the particular fuel cell is not required for the current flight phase.
The second option is to jig jack the aircraft, open the fuel cell, and fix the leak. This option would require waiting until after the AFFTC open house for an available hanger.
This problem is being worked in consultation with the pertinent people at Tinker AFB. Option 1 is currently being pursued since it will enable flight testing to resume more quickly. No estimate on the time required to fix the problem has been made.
Two flights were successfully accomplished in support of the stability evaluation. The pilot's comments were favorable for all conditions, with the Control Augmantation System on and off. All but the maximum Mach test point were completed during the flight because a tanker was available. The flight data are being evaluated.
The repaired ECS worked properly during all phases of the flight operation.
The second flight was successful in support of the PHYSX program. The flight data are being analyzed.
Perseus B conducted its first flight on Friday, October 7. The engine was stopped automatically after the control system sensed excessive vibrations. The aircraft was landed by the inside pilot. Nose gear failed upon roll-out which caused damage to the nose. The flight lasted two minutes and 22 seconds.
Silicon Graphics provides a simulator game with their machines. The graphics include an out the window scene and cockpit instruments on a split screen. The branch has accomplished interfacing Dryden simulations with this graphics package.
This approach will allow users outside Dryden to fly simulation software without buying the relatively expensive graphics packages required to drive project specific visuals. The branch is working with Silicone Graphics to get permission to distribute this combination of code. The first to benefit from this will be Tuskegee when the branch helps them set up a real-time sim capability.
All engineering for the F-15 ACTIVE cockpit has been completed.
-- Compiled by Don Nolan
We traditionally have been productive and innovative...with our mission and size. That's critical! We are an empowered work force. Some of you may snicker at this, but how many of you practice the "It's better to ask for forgiveness than for permission" mode of operation? We do work as a team, and I believe we all have the best interest of Dryden and NASA at heart.
So Why CI? To begin with, as good as we are, we can still improve. We want to know more than just intuitively that we're improving. We want to know that we're improving, based on cold, hard facts and numbers. We want to be able to perpetuate what we're doing right and share what we're doing right. And all of that calls for some formalization of the process we call "Continual Improvement." Now, if those aren't good enough positive reasons for practicing CI, then we fall back to something that is, quite frankly, a sign of our times and that is...we must do our part in making government "work better and cost less."
Recently, Vice President Al Gore visited NASA headquarters. He and Administrator Dan Goldin co-signed a placard that has been dubbed a "Permission Slip" for NASA employees. On it is printed, "You have the authority and responsibility to make government work better and cost less." Whether we call this a "Permission Slip" or not, it is an empowerment statement that every Dryden employee should embrace. This empowerment statement, along with our quality policy of "Our flight research products and services satisfy our customers every time," are important enough that the Center's Quality Improvement Team wanted each Dryden employee to have his or her own copy of the statement. They were passed out to all Civil Service and contractor personnel at the recent Employee Recognition Day. Individuals who did not obtain a card should contact the Continual Improvement coordinator, Rm 2023, Bldg. 4800, or call the CI Hotline, ext. 6500.
-- Florence Kailiwai-Barnett
Chairperson, Continual Improvement Team
Thanks first to the NASA Headquarters staffs that provide guidance, funding, and policy for our mission in flight research. They listen to arguments, complaints, reclamas, and debates for things they often neither control or agree with themselves.
... to the staff in the warehouses who work in heat, wind and cold to keep critical shipments moving to airplanes and out to others.
... to the staff in the AGE and auto shop who keep our important machines running all the time, and in doing so ensure support to aircraft and the space shuttle.
... to the staff out in Area "A", who must be prepared, with no exceptions or excuses, for a landing of the shuttle orbiter on very short notice. They also keep the support systems for the orbiter in top shape.
... to the staff in the Aeronautical Tracking Facility and Comm buildings, and on the third floor in B-4800 who communicate, telemeter, downlink, uplink, track, and monitor every single flight from before sun up to after sun down.
Dwain Deets, chief of the Research Engineering Division, is now on temporary assignment to the Office of the Director to lead Dryden's effort in support of the Federal Laboratory Review. Deets will also assist in implementing roles and missions and restructuring directives from NASA Headquarters.
Assigned to act in the capacity of the Research Engineering Division chief has been Robert Meyer, who has been Assistant for Plans and Programs.
Meanwhile, as a collateral assignment, Dr. Kajal Gupta has been tasked to develop and lead the Director's Discretionary Fund process. This process results in recommendations to division chiefs and the director for the award of funds for approved and appropriate projects.
Answer: In these times of decreasing budgets some services must be cut back. Unfortunately, these cuts may cause some inconveniences. However when actions are necessary, we must ensure we minimize the impact on the customer. The decision to move the Test Equipment Pool (TEP) is such a case. A number of factors were considered before the decision was make to relocate the TEP to the shuttle area. Also, all user organizations were consulted prior to the decision being made. Moving the TEP reduced the contract costs to support this function. In our study, we discovered approximately half of the TEP users are now located in the Integrated Test Facility, and not in bldg. 4800, so keeping it in 4800 was not an overriding requirement. Additionally, the number of items loaned out to technicians and engineers is not high (over the last six months 130 items, averaging five per week). Finally, the users will not have to go to the shuttle area to pick up loaned equipment. An individual is already assigned to provide test equipment pickup and delivery to any user in a timely manner. Relocation of the TEP has already been accomplished.
-- Jim Phelps
Question: I have never been able to understand the justice of affirmative action. Even as a minority female, I'm appalled at the government's blatant discrimination against white males. I am told the basic idea behind affirmative action is to "even the score" as one woman put it. Two wrongs do not make a right. Mr. Kunisawa expressed this very idea at the multicultural presentations earlier this week. I've recently learned that Dryden is trying to devise a way of identifying the minority status of co-op applicants ON THEIR APPLICATIONS so that supervisors may be able to (as I understand it) eliminate the white males. I'm aware that Mr. Goldin is requiring us to fill a quota, but the last time I checked, this practice of discrimination in the selection process was ILLEGAL! Is the federal government above the law?
Answer: Your letter demonstrates a commitment to equity, and a belief that discrimination must be erased. This is NASA's goal, as the Administrator has made clear, and it is certainly Dryden's goal. The difficulties are always in the details, and your letter identifies some especially sensitive issues. As your letter indicates, some white males believe they are the new targets of discrimination, but that perception is not correct. There is absolutely no program to reverse the direction of discrimination. The federal government and NASA believe that the best way to ensure the absence of discrimination in employee hiring, development and promotion is to pursue an affirmative employment plan to integrate "women, minorities, and individuals with disabilities...into all occupational groups, grade levels, and organizational units (including) significant project, program, and senior management positions," to quote from the Administrator's most recent policy statement on this matter. It is true, that as the diversity of the hiring pool changes, so will actual hires. The Administrator has established goals, and they are worthy of our best efforts. Reaching them will not be easy. The particular example you cite, the marking of minority status on applications by co-op students, does indeed conflict with established federal law and regulation. Those laws and regulations were established in the early years of federal civil rights programs to remove a once common method of discriminatory hiring, and they are still on the books. Our policy and intent is to continue to hire only highly qualified people, and we will continue to reach out for recruits from all groups. Greater diversity in our workforce will be the inevitable, and beneficial result. Thank you for your candid and thoughtful comments. I am proud to have you on the Dryden team.
-- Ken Szalai
The event started at 10:30 a.m. in building 4802, with the Honor and PIN awards, after which all employees were treated to a barbecue lunch furnished by the Exchange Council.
Dryden Honor Awards this year went to Everlyn Cruciani, Administrative; Allen Parker, Junior Researcher; and the Alternate Work Schedule Group, Ann Butler, Jerry Henry, Jerry McKee, and Harold O'Brien for Continual Improvement.
Contractor employees receiving Dryden Honor Awards were; Patrick Stoliker, Engineer; Catherine Freudinger and Reuben Cano for Technical Support; Cei Kratz as Manager; Cris Hintz for Administrative; and Joseph Pengilley, Technician.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Award went to Dora Borjon while Terry Blankenship was honored as Engineer, and Linda Quinby got the Multicltural Award.
The Research Engineer Award went to Ed Schneider, and the Secretarial/Clerical, Carmen Arevalo. The Student Award went to Thomas Vasques, Supervisor/Manager, Ron Young, Technical Support, Camilla McArthur, and the Technician Award went to Howard Trent.
Also awarded at this time was the prestigious Director's Award which went to Bob Baron in recognition of the success of the CV-990 program.
While employees were enjoying their lunch the program continued as more and more Dryden employees, both civil service and contractor employees, were recognized for their contribution to the NASA Dryden mission.
The Pride In NASA Awards went to Marva Williams, Joe D'Agostino, Terry Dickerson, and JeanneCieslik.
Group Achievement Awards were given to the Flight Test Database Team. Honored were NASA employees James Cooper, Donald Gatlin, Donna Knighton, Neil Matheny, and Carol Reukauf; GRD employees included Lisa Earussi and Catherine Freudinger; PRC employees were Reuben Cano, Karen Richards, and Todd Vernon; and from Perimeter Systems, Ray Dees.
Past Year Performance Special Act Group Awards were presented to: Human Resources Branch, Elizabeth Davis, Connie Bosworth, Jo Ann Braden, John Childress, Cecilia Cordova, Sandee Evans, Michael Green, Paulette Johnson, and Stephanie Rudy. From Ames Research Center was Barbara German; Range Operations Branch, Jim Bell, Tom Barlow, Rich Batchelor, Don Borchers, Doug Boston, Marianne Colvin, Doug Dalrymple, Dick Dykstra, Duane George, Craig Griffith, Albert Guajardo, John Harness, Laura Hochner, Michelle Hurd, Russ James, Dave Jones, Robert Jones, Terrell Lambeth, Doug Lindquist, Joe Lopko, Corina Marshall, Richard Moeser, Antonio Moreno, Jim Pavlicek, Don Peddicord, Linda Peters, Dave Smith, Buddy Reckline, Bart Rusnak, Tom Sedoti, Bob Smith, Dave Smith, Jonathan Strider, John Taylor, Randy Torres, Michael Webb, Darold West, Sue Wheaton, and Mike Yettaw. In addition the award included Jerry McKee, branch chief, Mike Doyle, StellaCom site manager, Dave Barlow, telecommunications manager, and Ed Aguilari, CSC area manager.
Other group awards included the Dryden Transition Team: Maria Chicon, John Childress, Elizabeth Johnson, Florence Kailiwai-Barnett, Bob Medina, Joel Sitz, and Jim Stewart; Dryden Administrative Information Systems Team: Margaret Ashworth, Brian Bowman, Rueben Cano, Maria Chacon, Doris Dowden, Cathy Freudinger, Jim Hillman, Elizabeth Johnson, Ida Ketchum, and Joel Sitz; Dryden Directives Review Team: Clyde Cochrane, Larry Freudinger, Bob Medina, Larry Meyers, and Tracy Taylor; Dryden Emergency Response Team: Ralph Anton, George Cope, Jeff Doghty, Bob Garcia, John Huffman, Leo Lett, Anthony Lorek, William McGrory, Tom McMullen, David Neufeld, Troy Rickel, Tom Sedoti, Daniel Strom, Ed Swan, Doug Taylor, and Keith Wright.
Patents were awarded to the Engines Only Flight Control System Team, Bill Burcham, Glenn Gilyard, Joe Conley (AMES), Jim Stewart, and Gordon Fullerton and to the Constant Loop Impedance Measuring System Immune to the Effects of Parasitic Impedances engineer, Karl Anderson.
PRC presented employees the Program Manager's Performance Award (PMPA) and the Exceptional Performance Award (ExPA). PMPAs went to Karen Richards, Pat Stolicker, Todd Vernon, Joe Pengilley, T.J. Vasquez, George "Art" Cope, Bill McGrory, Ed Weiss, David Richwine, and Brent Cobleigh. Reuben Cano was a recipient of the Exceptional Performance Award which is corporate level recognition. Chris Nagy was also awarded an Exceptional Performance Award from PRC along with the NASA Public Service Award.
Ameriko/OmServ honored Mike Daubert and Jim Trippiedi for their performance. Woodside Summit bestowed awards on Michelle Berman, Cei Kratz, Shannon Furnier and Marty Forsythe. WMP received the Minority Contractor Award and in addition WMP employees Shirley King, Susan Hogan and Leticia Malone were honored.
New employees recognized included Lynn Hurd and Willie Jenkins.
The event concluded with a presntation of a copy of the surgical instrument produced by Adolpho Morales and Greg Poteat for Cedars-Sinai Hospital to Ken Szalai.
Equal employment opportunity is a right of every citizen and is fully compatible with the goals of efficiency and economy in Government.
Unfortunately people with disabilities are frequently overlooked as a source of employment talent. This observance focuses on disabled employee accomplishments to increase awareness of their capabilities and valuable contributions.
An annual call goes out for recognition of accomplishments made by the disabled through nominations for the Outstanding Federal Employee with Disabilities Award.
Agencies may nominate an employee each year to receive the award. The criteria for selection is demonstration of job performance which clearly exceeds requirements in spite of severely limiting physical or mental factors.
This October Dryden participated with Edwards AFB in recognizing two outstanding employees. Nominations were received from Dryden supervisors and were screened down to two employees, Bernadine Herrick and Michael Green. Both employee nominations will be forwarded to the national selection committee. Both employees are a prime example of a person who does not let their disability interfere with their capabilities.
At a recent ceremony at Edwards AFB, both employees received a certificate congratulating them on their nomination for the annual award.
-- by Joanne Braden
Note: NASA Dryden has several services to provide assistance to the hearing impaired. The video conference room has headsets; vibrating pagers are available for check out; and an upgrade to the ISF audio system will include headsets. In the near future, closed caption will be available for most video presentations and signers are available upon request. If you have any suggestions to improve Dryden's capability for the hearing impaired, please contact John McKee at ext. 3037.
The Edwards center offers three programs at the Bachelor's and Master's level. Professional Aeronautics, Aviation Maintenance, Management, and Business Administration are the undergraduate programs. These classes are held on base at Payne Junior High School. Tuition is $112.00 per unit.
The university offers Master of Aeronautical Science, Business Administration in Aviation, and Master of Science in Technical Management at the graduate level. Graduate courses are held at Rosamond High School. Tuition is $191.00 per unit.
There are five terms per year and a term is nine weeks in length. Classes are one night a week or five Saturdays through the nine weeks.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is an independent, nonsectarian, not-for-profit, co-educational university with a history dating back over 60 years to the early days of aviation. The University serves culturally diverse students motivated toward careers in aviation and aerospace. The University is the largest independent aeronautical institution in the world with an enrollment of 19,000 students and offering programs at the graduate and undergraduate levels.
Resident Centers of the College of Career Education have offered college programs at locations with large populations of aviation professionals since the first center opened at Fort Rucker in 1970. Students are employees of many of the major airlines, aviation manufacturers, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Reserves or National Guard, and all branches of the Armed Forces.
The curricula, academic standards, and academic policies are the same throughout the University. Students are able to transfer from one center to another, or to process an intercampus transfer to one of the residential campuses, confident that their previous academic work will be of consistent quality and will integrate with course work at the new location.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award degrees at the Associate, Baccalaureate, and Master's level. In accordance with California Education Code, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is licensed by the State of California as a Regionally Accredited Out-of-State Incorporated Institution to operate and grant degrees in the State of California. Embry-Riddle also contributes to the State Tuition Recovery Fund on a quarterly basis. Embry-Riddle is also a member of the Servicemember's Opportunity College and participates in programs at the Associate and Bachelor degree levels to help those in the military services to acquire higher education.
Students must complete a minimum of 30 semester hours with Embry-Riddle for a baccalaureate degree. All credits earned with Embry-Riddle at any location meet residency requirements.
VA benefits are available for qualified active duty personnel and veterans. Students may also qualify for federal grants and loans. For more information, call Cindy or Marylyn at 258-1264 or stop in Building 2453, Room 107, in the main base area of Edwards.
Modified: November 3, 1994