Dr. Srinivas Rao Vadali, professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University, was awarded the Mechanics and Control of Flight Award, the highest award given by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. This award, presented for an outstanding recent technical or scientific contribution by an individual in the mechanics, guidance or control of flight in space or the atmosphere, honors Vadali for his lasting contribution to the understanding of the relative motion of satellite formations and the control of this relative motion. The award will be presented during the AIAA Science and Technology Forum in January.
Vadali has more than 30 years of academic teaching and research experience. His current research interests are focused on spacecraft relative motion and formation flying. He is a co-author of the book Spacecraft Formation Flying: Dynamics, Control and Navigation. He has served as an associate editor of the AIAA Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics and is currently an associate editor of the International Journal of Aerospace Engineering. He is a Fellow of AAS and an AIAA Associate Fellow.