The University of Tennessee Space Institute is proud to announce that UTSI Professor John Muratore recently was chosen as a finalist and runner-up in the Defense/Aerospace category of the Graphical Systems Design Achievement Awards. The Graphical System Design Achievement Awards is the National Instruments technical application contest, showcasing the most innovative projects based on NI software and hardware.

Pictured above on the right is Professor Muratore receiving the Graphical System Design Achievement Award.

The 2009 Graphical System Design Achievement Awards received its largest number of submissions in paper contest history, resulting in 112 submissions from 187 authors in more than 25 countries. A judging committee of more than 30 NI technical experts and industry publication editors judged the papers and selected the final 20 contest finalists and winners.

Professor Muratore submitted a paper titled Twenty-First Century Flight Test Engineering Education Using NI LabVIEW Software and PXI Hardware. The paper detailed the LabVIEW applications that UTSI has built to allow students to monitor the aircraft during flight test engineering instruction aboard the UTSI aircraft. LabVIEW is a computer language developed by the company giving the award, National Instruments. It has worldwide popularity for test and measurement applications and UTSI uses it in many of the labs at UTSI, including on the UTSI aircraft and at the jet engine test stand. The award received by Muratore was for excellence in designing graphical interfaces for test and measurement using LabVIEW.

Pictured above are UTSI students using the new system in flight.

“Papers were submitted from all over the world and represent innovation and excellence in test and measurement. I was honored to even be considered as a finalist,” said Muratore.