NFCS Awards Program

Click here to submit your Lifetime Achievement Nomination

We are now taking nominations for the Fifth David M. Altwegg Lifetime Achievement Award. The nomination consists of a two-page write-up addressing the candidate's embodiment of the criteria below. Nominations submitted before 31 October 2023 will be considered for award at the April 2024 Symposium.

David M. Altwegg Lifetime Achievement Award

The David M. Altwegg Lifetime Achievement Award recognized and honored an individual from Government, Industry, or Academia, who has made significant contributions to the Fire Control community, thus strengthening national defense and benefiting the warfighter over a period of time greater than 20 years. Nominees should exemplify the following traits:

• Made significant contributions to Fire Control - advancement of technology, systems and/or system integration
• Technical and/or organizational leadership - Inspires others resulting in changes and progress within the Fire Control community.
• Mentorship

The first David M. Altwegg Lifetime Achievement Award was presented posthumously to David M. Altwegg at a ceremony during the 2018 NFCS Plenary session.

Mr. Altwegg was a pioneer in Naval fire control - a driving force behind creating the Forward Pass CONOPS, acquiring interceptor missiles, creating the Aegis fleet, and setting-up ashore infrastructure that led to NIFC-CA. He defined the modern acquisition spiral development approach as the MDA Executive Director. Throughout his 64 year career serving the DoD, RADM Altwegg left his mark on technologies, tactics and people. The National Fire Control Symposium itself is a testament to RADM Altwegg's belief that people and knowledge are imperatives.

Early Career Award

Congratulations to our 2023 Early Career Winners!

First Place: Dr. Philp Zurek, MIT Lincoln Laboratory

Second Place: Dr. John Corson, MIT Lincoln Laboratory

Third Place: Dr. Charles Epstein, MIT Lincoln Laboratory

The Early Career Award recognizes an "early career" presenter/author for making meaningful contributions to the Fire Control Community. Those new to the field in the last 7 years delivering and authoring an oral presentation are eligible for consideration of this award.

The Early Career award criteria are:

• Technical or operational depth of material (25%)
• Relevance to Fire Control (15%)
• Potential impact of the technology (35%)
• Ability to present and field questions (25%)

Poster Award

The 2023 National Fire Control Symposium will once again present a Peer Reviewed Poster Award. All attendees will be able to cast their vote for the three best overall NFCS posters.

Congratulations to our 2023 Poster Winners!

First Place: Dr. Carla Barquest, MIT Lincoln Laboratory

Second Place: Dr. Jasmina Pozderac, The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory

Third Place: Ms. Mary Stewart, IERUS Technologies