“The Niagara Frontier Section meant a lot to me, beginning when I was a student at SUNY Buffalo in the late 1980s. I couldn’t believe that I was talking with the engineers who built the Bell X-1, the Bell Lunar Landing Research Vehicle, the Bell P-63, the Bell 47 helicopter, the Agena Rocket Engine, and the Bell Rocket Belt. These meetings inspired me to pursue my graduate degree.”— Dr. John Crassidis, SUNY Distinguished Professor, Dept. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University at Buffalo
Dr. Renso Caporali, former Chairman and CEO of Grumman Corporation and AIAA Honorary Fellow, speaks at a UB student branch luncheon on the design of the F-14 Tomcat.
Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory/Calspan is officially designated an AIAA Historic Aerospace Site during a dedication at the company’s Cheektowaga headquarters. Past Flight Research department head William Milliken, age 99, is the honored guest.
Dr. Richard Hallion, former Chief Historian of the USAF, presents “Through the Sound Barrier: How Buffalo Reshaped the Air Age.”
Todd Barber, Mars Science Laboratory propulsion engineer at NASA JPL, gives a talk on the Mars Curiosity Rover to a joint meeting of the Niagara Frontier Section, Aero Club of Buffalo, and L.D. Bell chapter of the Air Force Association. Encouraged by section members, Barber joins AIAA and eventually becomes one of the institute’s most requested Distinguished Speakers, with four talks in the catalog.
Dr. Ephrahim Garcia, professor at Cornell University and driving force behind the Cornell AIAA student branch, dies of a stroke at age 51. “The Cornell student branch has not been the same since.”
The section holds a dinner meeting featuring Robert Brady, retired CEO of Moog Inc., and Dr. Renso Caporali in a panel discussion on their careers in aerospace. Caporali recounts attending the 1993 “Last Supper” at the Pentagon in which Defense Secretary Les Aspin warned industry CEOs to expect major consolidation. The meeting also recognizes 75-year AIAA member Walter Brewer and 66-year member John Senneff.
Alice Bowman, Mission Operations Manager of the New Horizons mission to Pluto, speaks to a packed house at a joint meeting of the Niagara Frontier Section and Aero Club of Buffalo. The event draws many UB student members and members of the Buffalo Astronomical Association. AIAA recognizes these combined events as an outstanding section activity. Bowman returns in 2019 after the New Horizons flyby of Arrokoth and again in 2023 as keynote speaker at the AIAA Region I Student Conference.
The 31st annual Niagara Frontier Aviation and Space Hall of Fame induction ceremony is held at a joint event with the AIAA Niagara Frontier Section and Aero Club of Buffalo. One inductee is the late Eastman Kodak engineer James Reddig, a 1978 Aerospace Pioneer Award recipient. Contacts made with Kodak Research and Engineering retirees in Rochester have since resulted in eleven more Kodak inductees into the Hall of Fame through 2023 — many recognized for highly classified work on optical systems for Manned Orbiting Laboratory and the Gambit-3 (KH-8) reconnaissance satellite.