Three Named Asian-Pacific Americans of the Year

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (6/29/98) -- The Aerospace Corporation has named three Asian-Pacific Americans of the Year at an awards ceremony at Los Angeles Air Force Base.

Recognized for their achievements and contributions to the corporation and to the community were Donna Avila, senior security representative in the Security and Safety Directorate; Dr. Dick Chang, research scientist in the Mechanics and Materials Technology Center; and James Chang, senior project engineer in the Business Development Directorate.

The event, held May 19, was sponsored by the Aerospace Asian-American Association (AAAA), the Space and Missile Systems Center's (SMC) Asian-Pacific American Organization, the Los Angeles chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans, and the Southern California Chinese Lawyer Association.

Dr. Jeff Chi, chairman of the Awards Selection Committee and a 1997 award winner, presented the awards, and Dr. George Paulikas, executive vice president, offered remarks following the presentation.

Donna Avila

Avila, in 13 years with the Security and Safety Directorate, has become the company's authority on export licenses. Beginning with her first project, the Republic of China (Taiwan) Satellite Program in 1994, she has become the primary Aerospace point of contact on all export control issues.

She is responsible for ensuring that the corporation and its employees meet all Department of Defense, Department of State and Department of Commerce regulations on exporting technology. Her efforts enable the acquisition of new business by balancing national security and economy concerns with the proper U.S. export controls.

Avila determines what can be exported and prepares license applications for federal approval. She works closely with the Corporate Business Division, the Contracts Directorate and the Office of the General Counsel.

She interacts with external contacts in government agencies and is a member of the Professional Association of Exporters and Importers and the Society for International Affairs. She also works closely with the SMC Office of Foreign Disclosure.

In addition to export issues, Avila manages the Foreign Travel Security Program and the Foreign National Visitor Program. She is a key contributor to the annual Security and Safety Day program, has served as an Aerospace open house volunteer, and is a facilitator for a number of special projects.

The mother of three young children, Avila is active in the Torrance American Youth Soccer Organization and the Torrance School District PTA. She volunteers for the North Torrance Little League and is a member of Hope Chapel.

Dick Chang

In 25 years at Aerospace Dr. Chang has developed clever and innovative solutions to materials and structural problems encountered during the acquisition phase of major space programs.

He has made extensive contributions to the areas of fracture toughness of viscoelastic and brittle materials, stress relaxation of spring materials induced by aging, radiation effects on the properties of electronic materials, effects of defects on surface acoustic-wave devices, and the development of metal matrix composites.

He participated in anomaly investigation of the Titan solid rocket motor upgrade and failure investigation of the thin-wall tank of the DSCS (Defense Satellite Communications System) Integrated Apogee Boost system, and more recently proposed an innovative method to explain the graphite-epoxy motor failure of the Delta rocket.

He also has been the principal investigator of an Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) program and has been an investigator in a MOIE (Mission-Oriented Investigation and Experimentation) program to study stress behavior in thin films and microelectromechanical system (MEMS) structures and the mechanical properties of thin films.

Dr. Chang has helped strengthen the technical community by promoting technology improvements and understanding of advances in reliability for optics and microelectronics through AFOSR sponsorship. He chaired a 1993 symposium at Aerospace in microelectronics reliability and organized a session for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) 1995 conference at UCLA on MEMS.

Dr. Chang has provided extensive support to AAAA. Since 1985 he has been Awards Day chair, served on Heritage Week planning committees, and served as association vice president and president.

He has been a member of the Affirmative Action Committee and the Numerical Goals subcommittee, and has participated in the EEO student work-study program. Since 1995 Dr. Chang has served on the Technology Operations Communications Subcommittee.

Dr. Chang is a member of ASME and serves on the public relations committee of the Chinese American Engineers and Scientists Association of Southern California (CESASC).

He earned a B.S. in civil engineering from National Taiwan University, an M.S. in civil engineering from the University of Missouri, and a Ph.D. in the mechanics of deformable solids from UCLA.

James Chang

James Chang, a significant contributor in the area of damage tolerance and fracture control for aircraft and space vehicles, recently moved to the Business Development Directorate to work on new business opportunities in the Pacific Rim.

He is spearheading Aerospace initiatives in this market, where his multinational experience has paid dividends in Taiwan, Korea and China. Chang is linking the company's core competencies to needs of the Pacific Rim and is supporting the business initiatives of others in his office.

He joined Aerospace in 1983 as an engineering specialist in the Structures Department, Vehicle Systems Division. An expert in fracture mechanics, Chang was invited to participate in writing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) handbook establishing fracture control requirements for all payload hardware launched or retrieved using the Space Shuttle.

He is the principal author of an updated military handbook governing the design and test of all pressurized systems for missiles, space vehicles and ground support equipment.

Chang was also active in rewriting the latest version of "Test Requirements for Space, Upper Stage and Launch Vehicles," a military standard setting the environmental and structural ground testing requirements for launch vehicles, upper-stage vehicles, space vehicles and their subsystems and units.

He is program manager of a $7 million, five-year research, development, test and evaluation program aimed at enhancing technology of composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs) used in a variety of space programs. The effort is sponsored by the Air Force, Space NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and focuses on analytical techniques for predicting design and residual strength of undamaged COPVs before and after impact.

Chang is active in a number of professional societies and is a delegate to the International Organization for Standardization. He chaired an ASME subcommittee within the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Structures Committee, and is now a structures committee member of the International Astronautical Federation.

Active in Southern California's Chinese community, he founded the Chinese Culture Association of Southern California and chaired the Southern California Chinese School Council. He was a member of CESASC as a graduate student at UCLA in the 1960s.

Chang earned a B.S. from National Taiwan University and an M.S. in structural mechanics from UCLA.

At the awards ceremony Wilbert Woo, chair of Asian-Pacific Heritage Month, presented SMC awards to Air Force Capt. Ted Lieu and to civilian employee Florentina Way. Lt. Gen. Roger DeKok, SMC commander, delivered remarks.

The keynote address was given by Bill Lann Lee, acting assistant attorney general, U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division. The division enforces laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability and other factors.