AIAA honours René van Paassen with De Florez Award for Flight Simulation
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has announced that Associate Professor Control & Simulation René van Paassen is the winner of the 2024 AIAA de Florez Award for Flight Simulation. The award is a recognition of an outstanding individual achievement in the application of flight simulation to aerospace training, research, and development. According to the AIAA, Van Paassen deserves the award for his key contributions to the fields of human-in-the-loop vehicle simulation, real-time and distributed simulation software, and aerospace human factors. “He is a visible credit to the university.”
René van Paassen: “I am deeply honoured by this award, and think it is good to stress the importance of (flight) simulation. We ask pilots and other professionals to operate complex vehicles and machines, and expect them to quickly react to any anomalies. Human Factors theory tells us that can only work when professionals can pick up patterns from the multitude of signals available. We owe it to them to increase our understanding of training and performance and convert that into appropriate training environments to hone their skills.”
AIAA Executive Director Dan Dumbacher congratulates all the award winners: “We are proud to recognize these accomplished individuals for their influence on the aerospace profession, their outstanding merit, and their unique contributions to the art, science, or technology of aeronautics or astronautics. Chosen by their peers, these exemplary professionals are truly inspirational. We are grateful for their efforts shaping the future of aerospace.”
The award will be presented during the 2024 AIAA SciTech Forum in January in Orlando, Florida. The award ceremony will be livestreamed Tuesday, 9 January 2024 at 0800 hrs ET (14.00 hrs CET) on AIAA SciTech Forum and Exposition | AIAA
About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense.