J.T. Halbert, senior aerospace engineering student at the University of Texas at Austin, has been awarded the Phi Kappa Phi Award of Excellence for the 2002-2003 academic year. Phi Kappa Phi, headquartered at Louisiana State University, is the “oldest and largest national honor society dedicated to the recognition and promotion of academic excellence in all fields of higher education.”
Halbert received University Honors each semester from 1998 to 2001 and was selected as an Engineering Honor Student. He has also received numerous merit-based awards and scholarships while at the University.
Halbert and Dr. Maruthi Akella researched and co-wrote a paper titled “Rigid Body Attitude Control with Inclinometer and Low-Cost Gyro Measurements.” Their primary goal was to prove that it was possible to stabilize a spinning rigid body without having good data on exactly how the body was spinning. Halbert says the practical applications are “considerable…After all, one would like to be able to put cheap sensors on a satellite or robot and still be able to control it.”
Halbert will receive $1,500 to aid in his pursuit of a Ph.D. in mathematics with an emphasis on control and dynamical systems from the University of Maryland.
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