The ICNS Champion Award recognizes specific individual(s) with significant contribution to the CNS field (scientific/policy contributions), and in addition, if possible support of the ICNS Conference (organization/success).
Past Award Winners
2020
Denise Ponchak
Ms. Denise S. Ponchak is currently a space communications consultant for Teltrium Solutions LLC supporting NASA Headquarters’ Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Program.
Previously, she was the branch chief of the Communications Architectures, Networks and Systems Branch at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field in Cleveland, Ohio.
In the mid-1990s Denise identified the need for aeronautical communications to support national objectives in air traffic management. Since then, she dedicated her career to the advancement of ICNS technologies and systems.
2019
Chris Wargo
Chris Wargo is no stranger to ICNS. He has been one of the participants of the NASA workshop on ICNS technologies for Advanced Future Air Transportation Systems organised in May 2001, which effectively was the first ICNS conference.
He has over 30 years of experience developing and implementing telecommunication and information systems for the commercial and government sectors, with a specialty in the CNS systems associated with aviation mobile platforms. His experience includes 20 years engineering of large-scale hardware and software programs for applications in NAS, airlines systems development and operations, as well as, ten years in the military C3I project.
2018
Steve Bradford & Michael Standar
Steve Bradford, in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and Michael Standar, in SESAR Joint Undertaking (SJU), have been leading the international harmonization activities of their respective organizations and have been instrumental at the discussion at global level and in particular in the ICAO.
In particular, they have been key driving forces of the European and U.S. coordination plan activities involving the FAA and SJU and have been the visible faces behind the evolution of the NexGEN/SESAR “State of Harmonization” document.
2017
Diana Liang
Diana Liang was the first recipient of the ICNS Champion Award in 2017. Diana has dedicated herself towards the advancement of the CNS tools that support the aviation community’s needs of the future. She has successfully provided direction on the development and fielding of many of the FAA’s NextGen programs and enabling technologies.