Mark May 13th on your calendar. Come and find out how you, as a NASA alumnus, can be a part of the exciting technology development taking place in Hampton Roads. With NASA, a number of universities, and several research institutions, Hampton Roads is one of the hotbeds of technology development and entrepreneurial startup creation in the country. On May 13th, the Langley Alumni Association will present two speakers, James Doe, Associate Director of REaKTOR Technology Innovation Center, a technology incubator, and Steve Sandford, founder of Psionic, a successful startup that worked with REaKTOR to begin their journey. Find out how you can help. All skills needed.
Recently, there have been several changes to the website. Most importantly, please join us in welcoming Amy Radford to the website team! We greatly appreciate her strong technical background and knowledge, plus her personal energy and interest in promoting the LAA!
The home page is now more news-oriented. New articles will be posted to the home page, which will show the ten most recent posts. Older posts will roll off the page, but can be viewed using the newly-added Search bar just below the menu. You can search on a person’s name, a keyword, or a date, and a list of search results is shown. Click on Home in the menu to return to the home page.
Our “In memory of individuals” page has been split into two pages due to technical limitations of our website hosting platform. The most recent entries are on the In Memory Of… (2025 to Present) page, which can be accessed from the website menu. To view older memorials, either click on the link at the top of the “In Memory (2025)” page, or use the new Search bar, as described above, to search for an individual by name.
There is also a new photo gallery, which can be viewed by clicking on Gallery in the menu. The Gallery shows thumbnails of photos from LAA activities such as our summer picnics, holiday luncheons, and other events. Click on any thumbnail to view the full-size photo.
We plan to make more updates to improve our website, but we welcome your feedback. Please let us know your thoughts and suggestions.
Video and slides from this presentation have now been posted. Photos from the presentation are on the Gallery.
We are pleased to announce our speaker for our April 8, 2025, LAA General Membership meeting will be Mr. Bradley Weidenhammer, from the Virginia Department of Transportation.
Bradley Weidenhammer is the Operations Manager on the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel Expansion Project, where he is responsible for overseeing construction work zones, Intelligent Traffic System (ITS) installation, and tunnel systems design and installation. His 21-year career at VDOT includes time at the Williamsburg Residency as well as the construction of the Midtown Tunnel between Portsmouth and Norfolk. Bradley is a graduate of Georgia Tech!
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. 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.
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.
