United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation Announces 2006 Scholarship Program Recipients

Orlando, Fla. -At the Hall of Fame Awards Dinner held last night at the conclusion of the GEOINT 2006 Symposium in Orlando, Fla., the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) recognized the recipients of its 2006 USGIF Awards Program.

This year’s recipients are the Honorable Jeffrey K. Harris, Lockheed Martin’s corporate vice president and managing director for Situational Awareness (Lifetime Achievement Award); Mr. Keith Luter (Academic Achievement Award); Mr. Scott Tabor (Academic Research Award); The 5th Engineer Detachment (Planning and Control), 29th Engineer Battalion, 8th Theater Sustainment Command (Government Achievement Award); the U.S. Army Topographic Engineering Center’s Buckeye Team (Military Achievement Award); and Wes Hildebrandt of SPADAC (Industry Achievement Award).

“On behalf of the USGIF membership and board of directors, I congratulate the achievements of these distinguished Awards Program winners,” said K. Stuart Shea, chairman of the board of directors, USGIF. “Their significant contributions to the geospatial intelligence tradecraft are to be commended.”

The USGIF sponsors three categories to recognize influential and innovative members of the geospatial intelligence community. The annual Geospatial Academic Achievement Awards commend the achievements of the top graduate of a nationally recognized geospatial intelligence academic program as well as the individual or organization that demonstrates the top geospatial intelligence research program or project.

The Geospatial Intelligence Achievement Award recognizes outstanding achievements in the tradecraft by an individual or team from government, industry and military. The Lifetime Achievement Award is presented, upon selection by the USGIF board, to an influential member of the geospatial intelligence community for his or her lifelong commitment to the tradecraft.

Specifically, this year’s Awards Program recipients received recognition for:

Lifetime Achievement Award – The Honorable Jeffrey K. Harris, Lockheed Martin’s corporate vice president and managing director for Situational Awareness, received the 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award for his role in many of the nation’s “firsts” in imagery collection, processing and exploitation. During his 31-year career, Mr. Harris is credited with pioneering the development of national security reconnaissance satellites and ground systems, commercial remote sensing and exploitation systems, and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Academic Achievement Award – Keith Luter of the National Geospatial-lntelligence College was recognized for the exceptional maturity and team spirit he demonstrated during session 29 of the Geospatial-lntelligence Training Program (GITP). Mr. Luter was a participant in the first ever Deaf and Hard of Hearing GITP course. Though not handicapped himself, Luter assisted those with disabilities on a daily basis. By course end, even after helping his classmates, he had achieved an astonishing course average of 98.75 percent. His willingness to set aside personal needs has set the benchmark for selflessness.

Academic Research Award – In his thesis, “Wind Energy Development Impact on Military Airspace,” Scott Tabor predicts the amount of wind energy related encroachment that could occur within the 11 western states. A candidate in the University of Redlands Master’s of Science in GIS Program, Mr. Tabor’s research was recognized for effectively demonstrating fundamental GIS problem-solving concepts and demonstrating the power and advantage of GIS for identifying the threat of wind energy development.

Intelligence Achievement Award (Government Division) – The 5th Engineer Detachment (Planning and Control), 29th Engineer Battalion, 8th Theater Sustainment Command was recognized for its work developing and maintaining the U.S. Army Pacific Command’s Theater Geospatial Database. This database bridges the gap between the geospatial stewards at the national and tactical levels and serves the joint and interagency communities with standard and non-standard geospatial information products for use in wartime, disaster relief, and stability and support missions.

Intelligence Achievement Award (Military Division) – The U.S. Army Topographic Engineering Center’s Buckeye Team won its award for its significant contributions to the geospatial capability of coalition forces. The team produced the Buckeye system, which provides high-resolution imagery detecting ground change, creating detailed maps, and obtaining intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information. Born from need for a field expedient, change-detection system, Buckeye provides warfighters with exceptional situational awareness and mission planning, rehearsal and execution intelligence.

Intelligence Achievement Award (Industry Division) – Wes Hildebrandt of SPADAC was recognized for his development of a unique route estimating system known as AntFarm. His analytical method modeled after the biological paradigm of an ant colony, AntFarm, has provided a truly innovative geospatial information technique that interweaves analyst’s intelligence with geospatial technology to provide unique analysis capabilities, expediting threat assessment and proactive planning.

Foundation Members, the Board of Directors, as well as federal, state, and local government organizations and academic institutions were involved in nominating individuals and teams for these awards. Collectively, these programs recognize the substantive achievements of a variety of individuals and organizations, from promising students to high-achieving corporate, government and military teams, and individuals who have demonstrated a lifetime of leadership in the geospatial intelligence field.

“The USGIF Awards Program recognizes the importance of the geospatial intelligence tradecraft and the contributions of those companies, agencies and individuals who stand out among the rest,” Shea said. “Furthermore, the Awards Program draws greater attention to this intelligence discipline as a vital tool to meet the national security challenges of today and tomorrow.”

The United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation is a Virginia-based nonstock, not-for­profit corporation. The Foundation is dedicated to promoting the geospatial intelligence tradecraft and developing a stronger community of interest between government, industry, academic and professional organizations and individuals who share a mission focus around the development and application of geospatial intelligence data and geo-processing resources to address national security objectives. For more information on the Foundation, visit www.usgif.org. Download the Jldf 11ress release. You must be logged in to comment.

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