Tau Bates Achievements: Past & Present, October 2009

Tau Beta Pi would like to join in the remembrance of
Richard T. Whitcomb, MA A ’43.

Whitcomb was an engineer and innovator who changed the way planes fly. His contributions enable today’s planes to fly farther and faster using less fuel. He died Tuesday in Newport News, Va.

Whitcomb received the Collier Trophy in 1954 and the National Medal of Science, the nation’s highest honor for science and engineering, in 1973. Read the full story of Whitcomb’s life in the Los Angeles Times.

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NASA’s LCROSS mission successfully crashed a rocket engine into the moon on October 9. It was a proud moment for NASA engineer Karma Snyder, AL A ’95, who helped design the liquid rocket engine that powered the rocket, Centaur.

Snyder has also worked on helping NASA with plans to return astronauts to the moon for longer periods of time by developing technology for the J2 engine.
Read the article for more

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The fastest helicopter in the world, the X2 Helicopter, can exceed 185 mph. A recent article profiled the members of the X2 team, from Sikorsky Aircraft, that helped develop the new technology.

Read bios on the X2 team.

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