DR. JOHN-PAUL Clarke, assistant professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is the recipient of the '2003 Award for Excellence in Aviation' from the United States Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).The award is presented yearly to institutions or individuals whose research have contributed to improving the national airline system.
"It feels good to have your work recognised by such an august body," said Prof. Clarke, a Jamaican. "However, I still have to work just as hard tomorrow," he said.
Marion C. Blakely, FAA administrator, praised Prof. Clarke's accomplishment noting that "as aviation grows to meet demand, we must remain careful to balance increased capacity with sound environmental stewardship... Professor Clarke's work will help aviation to grow responsibly."
Prof. Clarke's many achievements include the creation of a new method for instituting noise-abatement procedures and the development of a system for evaluating global emissions.
The FAA first announced the award in November.
"Professor Clarke is known for his environmental compatibility work as well as his expertise in air traffic management and the design of airline schedules," said the agency in a news release on its web site.
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"He has created a model that predicts the market share and revenue potential of global alliances based on an objective matrix-e of schedule convenience. He is also responsible for the concept of degradable airline scheduling where airlines create itineraries with known reliability. This allows passengers to make their own decisions about the amount of delay they are willing to tolerate, improving customer satisfaction and potentially increasing revenue."
Born in St. Andrew, Prof. Clarke who is in his 30s, is the eldest son of the Rev. Canon Gervais Clarke, and Dr. Joan Binger-Clarke.
He attended Vaz Preparatory School and later Calabar High School, Kingston, where he became deputy head boy and was a member of the school's Challenge Quiz team that made it to the finals in 1987.
At Calabar, he participated in a variety of sports including track and shot put and he was a record holder in the hammer throw.
After graduating from Calabar, Dr. Clarke moved to the United States and studied aeronautics and astronautics at the MIT.
He is a member of several national and international committees including the Society of Automotive Engineers, the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, and the International Civil Aviation Organisation Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection. He chairs the FAA Research Engineering and Development Subcommittee on Environment and Energy.
Prof. Clarke has been a researcher at the National Aeronautics and Space Administra- tion's (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory and is a visiting scholar at the Boeing Company.
Mr. Herman Rediss, head of research at the FAA, will travel to MIT in Boston to present the award to Dr. Clarke in a ceremony next week.
