AFMC Command News

Air Force scientist and NASA administrator visit Arnold

  • Published
  • By Janaé Daniels
  • Arnold Engineering Development Center Public Affairs
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. --  The Air Force's Chief Scientist Dr. Mark Lewis and NASA's Associate Administrator for Aeronautics Research Dr. Lisa Porter visited Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) in hopes of furthering the cooperation efforts between NASA and AEDC.

Dr. Porter made her first visit to AEDC and was amazed at the "high quality" personnel and the sincerity of AEDC Commander Brig. Gen. David L. Stringer's like-minded views that "we are Americans first and what we can do together is what's best for the country."

"It's time we take a strategic look at our national capabilities in terms of aeronautics testing," she said, "and ask ourselves, 'how do we leverage what we have and get the maximum return on the investment of the tax payer dollar.' We are trying to understand each other's capabilities and one of the first steps is to come and see what AEDC has and enable the collaboration with researchers here and at NASA."

Dr. Lewis echoed by stating, "Arnold is one of the Air Force's crown jewels. It's one of the facilities that we like to show off to all of our valued partners. When talking about cooperating with NASA, this is one of the institutions we want to show off and talk about shared capabilities and shared interactions."

General Stringer explained that the cooperation effort "starts with the people at the practitioner-level and up understanding that bosses are cooperating and it's OK for them to cooperate."

Dr. Porter sees NASA and AEDC partnering in future research and programs by fostering the "natural tendency for people to think in partnerships. What we also hope to see is NASA and AEDC partner to fulfill future needs and hopefully on the flip-side, as the Air Force has programs and projects, they would want to use NASA facilities."

Dr. Lewis has been the chief scientist since 2004 and serves as an adviser to the Chief of Staff and Secretary of the Air Force and provides assessments on a wide range of scientific and technical issues affecting the Air Force mission. Prior to his assignment as the Air Force Chief Scientist, Dr. Lewis served as the director of Space Vehicle Technology Institute in College Park, Md.

As the Associate Administrator for Aeronautics Research, Dr. Porter leads the NASA's aeronautics research efforts and is co-lead in the development of a national aeronautics policy in cooperation with other government agencies. She most recently served as the NASA administrator's senior adviser for aeronautics.