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Obituary for Olaf Storaasli

On February 21, 2025, we lost our 2024 President of the LAA, Olaf Storaasli. A celebration of Olaf’s life will be held on Saturday, March 15, 2025, at Grace Lutheran Church of Oak Ridge, 131 W. Gettysburg Ave. Friends are invited to greet the family at 2:00 p.m.; the service will begin at 3:00 p.m., with reception to follow. The service will be live streamed and viewed on demand on the Grace Lutheran Oak Ridge’s YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/@grace_oakridge_tennessee2330/streams. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that contributions may be made to Grace Lutheran Church’s Memorial Fund, designated to music; to The Oak Ridge History Museum; or to a charity of one’s choice. We invite all who knew and loved Olaf to join us in appreciating his memorable life and legacy. May his memory bring comfort and inspiration to all.

The full obituary can be viewed on The Oak Ridger at https://www.oakridger.com/obituaries/pokr1116500.

* SPEAKER CHANGE *
Mike Fremaux and David Storch—Flight Dynamics Research Facility

March 11, 11:30 AM
Building 2102, NACA Room and online via Teams

Due to a recent change in our speaker schedule, Charles M. (Mike) Fremaux and David B. Storch will be our guest speakers at the March 11 meeting and will be talking about the Flight Dynamics Research Facility. The FDRF is the latest facility to be constructed at Langley and will soon begin its research mission. Our previously-scheduled speaker, Linda Bangert, will be presenting her talk on The Ninety-Nines, Inc. International Organization of Women Pilots at a later date this year.

Mike Fremaux is currently the Chief Engineer for Intelligent Flight Systems Division of the Research Directorate. For most of his 36 years at Langley, Mike has been associated with the Flight Dynamics Branch as a researcher, assistant Branch Head, and Branch Head prior to being selected as IFS Division Chief Engineer in 2020. Under the category of “other duties as assigned,” he has served details as executive assistant to the Center Director in 2005, and as an Associate Director within the Research Directorate in 2011 and 2022. He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from LSU, as well as a master’s degree from the George Washington University. Since 2015, Mike has been the Center lead for advocacy and development of the new Flight Dynamics Research Facility, the first major wind tunnel facility constructed by the Agency in over 40 years.

Dave Storch is a project manager in NASA Langley Research Center’s Projects and Engineering Branch, where he is responsible for the design, construction, and activation of complex aerospace research facilities. Prior to joining NASA in 2020, he was the base civil engineer and a project manager for the U.S. Coast Guard’s Yorktown Training Center. He’s an engineer officer in the Army Reserve, with expeditionary service with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and he has extensive employment in the commercial construction sector, as a superintendent and project manager on design-build projects for a large-scale general contractor. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the U.S. Military Academy and master’s degrees in national security management from the University of Maryland University College and strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College. Dave is currently the senior project manager for the design and construction of NASA’s newest wind tunnel, the Flight Dynamics Research Facility.

Acting Center Director Dawn Schaible and LIFE Implementation Lead J. D. Reeves

February 11, 11:30 AM
Building 2102, NACA Room and online via Teams

Download general membership slides and board meeting slides.

Langley’s Acting Center Director Dawn Schaible will share a brief welcome and opening remarks with the audience. Following Dawn, J.D. Reeves [“Langley is the Future” (LIFE) Implementation Lead] will be providing a current overview of NASA Langley and a snapshot of ongoing mission contributions. He will share a summary of our center vision and strategy process and how Langley is preparing for the future.

Dawn M. Schaible

Acting Director, NASA Langley Research Center

Dawn Schaible is the Acting Director of NASA’s Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia. She leads a diverse group of civil servant and contractor scientists, researchers, engineers and support staff, who work to make revolutionary improvements to aviation, expand our understanding of Earth’s atmosphere, develop new technologies for space exploration, and contribute to NASA’s broader exploration mission.

Schaible has served the Agency for more than 30 years and has held several roles during this time including deputy director of NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland from 2023-2024, director of the NASA Langley Research Center Engineering Directorate, NASA deputy chief engineer, manager of the Systems Engineering Office for the NASA Engineering and Safety Center and a number of lead engineering and management positions for the Space Shuttle and International Space Station Programs at KSC.

Schaible is an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. She received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Bradley University, master’s degree in space systems operations from the Florida Institute of Technology, and master’s degree in engineering and management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

J. D. Reeves

“Langley is the Future” (LIFE) Implementation Lead

J.D. Reeves currently works in the Office of Director overseeing the Center’s implementation of the Langley is the Future (LIFE) strategy initiative. He joined Executive Service in 2020 when he was named Deputy Director for Aerosciences within Langley’s Research Directorate. Prior to that role, he served as the center Chief of Staff where he worked across Langley’s organizations to ensure the senior leadership team stayed coordinated and aligned with Center strategy. He previously served as Langley’s Science Directorate Deputy Director and Associate Director where helped ensure a healthy future science portfolio for the Center. Prior to 2016, J.D. served in various Branch Head and cross-Agency leadership roles in the Systems Analysis and Concepts Directorate spanning numerous spaceflight architecture development studies.

J.D. holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Georgia Tech, a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech, and a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from George Washington University.