Mr. Peter Wilhelm, Director of the
Naval Center for Space
Technology (NCST) at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL),
has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE).
Mr. Wilhelm was cited for his career contributions to the U.S.
space program.
Election to the NAE is one of
the most significant professional distinctions accorded an engineer
and honors those who have made important contributions to engineering
theory and practice as well as demonstrated unusual accomplishment
in pioneering new and developing fields of technology. NAE has
a total U.S. membership of 1,893 and 153 foreign associate members,
and 85 new members will be added at ceremonies to be held in
October 1997.
Mr. Wilhelm, who has directed
the NCST since its inception in 1986, has been with NRL since
March 1959. Under his direction, NCST and the Navy have achieved
numerous successes and "firsts" in space including
the first Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite and the highly
successful Clementine Deep Space Mission, which demonstrated
the capability of, and has become the model for low-cost, high-value
space exploration. Mr. Wilhelm's achievements include contributions
to the design, development and operation of 82 scientific and
fleet-support satellites.
Mr. Wilhelm began his career
in 1957 as an electrical engineer with Stewart Warner Electronics
where he was assigned to a project to redesign the UPM-70, a
Navy radar test set. In March 1959, he joined NRL as an electronics
engineer in the Electronics Division. In December 1959, he joined
the Satellite Techniques Branch; in 1961, he became head of the
Satellite Instrument Section; in 1965, he became head of the
Satellite Techniques Branch; and in 1974, head of the Spacecraft
Technology Center. In these positions, he performed satellite
system design, equipment development, environmental testing,
launch operations, and orbital data handling. In 1981, Mr. Wilhelm
was named the superintendent of the Space Systems and Technology
Division. In October 1986, he was appointed Director of the newly
established Naval Center for Space technology, the Navy's lead
laboratory for space.
Mr. Wilhelm has been recognized
with numerous awards including the Navy's Meritorious Senior
Executive Award, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers Aerospace and Electronic Systems Group Man of the Year
Award, NRL's E. O. Hulburt Annual Science and Engineering Award,
the Robert Dexter Conrad Award, and the Rotary National Stellar
Award. He is a fellow of the Washington Academy of Sciences and
of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
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