Space Systems Troubleshooter Honored by Electrical Institute

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (3/4/02) -- Peter J. Carian, an electrical engineer at The Aerospace Corporation, has received the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Communications Society Engineer of the Year Award sponsored by IEEE's Coastal Los Angeles Section and Region 6, Southern Area.

The award was presented February 23 in Studio City, Calif., at the 2002 National Engineers' Week Awards Banquet hosted by the Southern California Engineers' Council.

Carian was cited "for engineering excellence in the support of national security space systems." He received an inscribed marble obelisk.

Award nominators said Carian's troubleshooting abilities in electrical and electronic circuit analyses over 20 years have been instrumental in identifying many circuit design flaws that, if left uncorrected, could have caused a number of costly mission failures.

"Many of his extraordinary efforts came while the vehicle was on the launch pad and after contractor teams had exhausted their efforts to resolve the problems," Carian's nomination stated.

Troubleshooting by Carian last year averted a delay in the launch of a government communications satellite that would have resulted in millions of dollars in costs, nominators said.

Carian received The Aerospace Corporation's highest award for technical merit, the Trustees' Distinguished Achievement Award, last year during the company's annual awards ceremony.