Note to editors and
news directors:
To request a photo or to arrange an interview with Professor Helen
Ryaciotaki-Boussalis, call the CSULA Public Affairs office in advance at
(323) 343-3050.
CSULA professor garners
Ryaciotaki-Boussalis recognized for her research,
Los Angeles, CA –
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Office of the
Chief Information Officer recently honored Cal State L.A.’s Professor
of Electrical Engineering
Helen Ryaciotaki-Boussalis
(Glendale resident) with the 2011 Faculty Research Award
for her innovation in NASA-related research.
“I am very honored to receive this award,” said Ryaciotaki-Boussalis. “I
am deeply grateful to NASA for supporting my research at CSULA since
1994. I appreciate very much the continuous support I have received from
my collaborators, faculty and aerospace engineers, and last but not
least, I cherish the time I spent all these years with my student
research assistants.”
She shared, “I would like to add that the saying of the Greek
philosopher Aristotle about education is strictly applicable to
research: ‘Its roots are bitter but its fruits are very sweet.’”
A CSULA faculty member since 1985, Ryaciotaki-Boussalis is also director of
CSULA’s NASA-funded University Research Center (URC), officially named
as the “Structures, Propulsion, Aerospace and Control Engineering
(SPACE) Center.”
Housed in Cal State L.A.’s College of Engineering, Computer Sciences,
and Technology, the
SPACE
Center
comprises the Structures, Pointing and Control Engineering Lab (SPACE
Lab) and the Multidisciplinary Flight Dynamics and Control Lab (MFDC
Lab).
Since 2003, the URC has provided more than 500 undergraduates and
graduates—from CSULA and other colleges, including Ph.D.-granting
institutions—the opportunity to conduct multidisciplinary research.
Professor Ryaciotaki-Boussalis, who earned her Ph.D. in electrical
engineering from New Mexico State University, is an expert in the areas
of areas of decentralized and adaptive control, neural networks,
nonlinear systems, and vehicle dynamics and control. She served as the
chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering at CSULA from 1995
until 2006. Ryaciotaki-Boussalis received CSULA’s Outstanding Professor
Award in 1995 and the CSULA Electrical Engineering department’s
Professor of the Year award in 1988. A senior member of the Institute
of Electrical and Electronics Engineer, she is also an author/co-author
of more than 180 research papers in the areas of controls, neural
networks, and nonlinear dynamical systems.
The NASA awards were recently presented at its 2011 IT Summit in San
Francisco, in recognition of the outstanding efforts of those who have
incorporated NASA technology into their educational efforts.
The NASA IT Summit is a forum to exchange ideas, share best practices,
and learn what is new and cutting edge on the internal and external IT
landscape. For a listing of IT Summit 2011 award winners:
http://www.nasa.gov/offices/ocio/itsummit/awards2011.html
NASA was created by Congress in 1958 “to provide for research into the
problems of flight within and outside the Earth’s atmosphere, and for
other purposes.” Led by the Administrator, the agency is headquartered
in Washington, D.C., with 10 field centers, and other facilities around
the nation. NASA’s vision is to reach for new heights and reveal the
unknown so that what we do and learn will benefit all humankind.
# # #
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Programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include an NEH-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a growing forensic science program, housed in the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center. www.calstatela.edu
NASA Faculty Research Award
leadership of
NASA-funded Center
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