{"502501":{"#nid":"502501","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Dr. Chris Jones, BSAE \u002786, named the 2016 Black Engineer of the Year","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGT-AE alumnus\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EChristopher Jones\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;has been named as the 2016 Black Engineer of the Year Award (BEYA) by\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EBlack Engineer\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003Emagazine.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJones, BSAE \u201986, is the corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman\u0027s Technical Services sector. This spring, the former GT ROTC student was inducted into the GT College of Engineering Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni and named an Associate Fellow of the AIAA.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJones will formally receive his latest award at the 30th Black Engineer of the Year Award (BEYA) ceremony, a part of the 3-day BEYA Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Conference, to be held in February 2016.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EReflecting on the honor, Jones generously acknowledged his alma mater.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022My experience at Georgia Tech, where I obtained my degree in aerospace engineering, was critical to my personal development,\u0022 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Through the years I have remained focused on achieving technical excellence.\u0026nbsp; Additionally, at every stage of my career, maintaining good relationships with people from high school and college to the Air Force and other companies, have been important.\u0026nbsp; All of these experiences matter and make you a more competent leader.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAerospace engineering school chair\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EDr. Vigor Yang\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;echoed the pride that rippled across campus at the announcement.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We applaud and admire the impressive career that Dr. Jones has carved out since leaving Georgia Tech,\u0022 said Yang.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022There\u0027s no better way to inspire success among the next generation of engineers\u0026nbsp; than to demonstrate it with accomplishments like those of Dr. Jones. With each new accolade, he is pointing the way toward a bright future for all engineers.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnnouncement of the award came October 12 from Tyrone Taborn the CEO of Career Communications Group, publisher of\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003EBlack Engineer\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003Emagazine.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETaborn praised Jones for being a role model to young people seeking to find their way to the STEM pipeline. As the 2016 recipient of the BEYA, Jones joins some of the most recognized luminaries in the engineering field.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022You know some of the great names,\u0022 Taborn added. \u0022Mark Dean, co-inventor of the personal computer at technology and consulting corporation IBM; Shirley Ann Jackson, an American physicist, and the eighteenth president of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Walt Braithwaite,\u0022 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESince its launch 30 years ago, the BEYA has bestowed this honor to just 29 of the more than 10,000 nomination packages submitted.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJones \u0022is what we want our children to aspire to,\u0022 said WHO IS THIS Hrabowski. \u0022To believe in this concept of STEM for all Americans.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGiving credit to his parents, the U.S. military, and his employer, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Jones expressed his pride in being \u0022the product of what\u0027s good about the United States.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJones joined Northrop Grumman in 2004 as director of product support for the Airborne Early Warning Program. In addition to program execution, he provided technical leadership during aircraft design, development, production and fielding, and was a key member of the business strategy development and capture teams. Earlier, Jones worked for Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, where he led analysis, flight tests and research on innovative rotorcraft technologies. He also was the company\u0027s technology lead on the RAH-66 Comanche helicopter program and served as chief systems engineer for the Naval Hawk program. In addition to his civilian career, Jones was an active duty Air Force officer and worked as a systems analyst at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, where he performed analysis on foreign ballistic missile and space systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJones was also a member of the Connecticut Air National Guard for 14 years, serving as the chief of maintenance for the 103rd Air Control Squadron. He participated in military deployments including Operation Noble Eagle and Operation Enduring Freedom. Jones retired from the Air Guard in 2011. He earned a bachelor\u0027s degree in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He earned two master\u0027s degrees in aerospace engineering and engineering management from the University of Dayton and a doctorate degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJones serves on the board of directors of the National Action Council for Minorities and on the board of visitors of the Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022It\u0027s a good day for engineering, for Northrop Grumman and for America,\u0022 said Northrop Grumman CEO Wes Bush.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"GT-AE alumnus Christopher Jones has been named as the 2016 Black Engineer of the Year Award (BEYA) by Black Engineer magazine."}],"uid":"30502","created_gmt":"2016-02-17 17:56:42","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:20:46","author":"Sapna Mistry","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-10-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-10-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"501931":{"id":"501931","type":"image","title":"Christopher Jones","body":null,"created":"1455904800","gmt_created":"2016-02-19 18:00:00","changed":"1475895261","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:21","alt":"Christopher Jones","file":{"fid":"204733","name":"headshot_2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/headshot_2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/headshot_2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":95621,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/headshot_2_0.jpg?itok=Jpk4jwoX"}}},"media_ids":["501931"],"groups":[{"id":"1239","name":"School of Aerospace Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"130","name":"Alumni"}],"keywords":[{"id":"506","name":"alumni"},{"id":"171740","name":"Black Engineer magazine"},{"id":"53981","name":"Black Engineer of the Year"},{"id":"59931","name":"Christopher Jones"},{"id":"126111","name":"GT-AE"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":["kathleen.moore@ae.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}