Southwest Research Institute® (SwRI®) News
Printer Friendly VersionMcComas named Fellow of AAAS
San Antonio -- November 27, 2006 -- The American Association for the Advancement of Science has conferred the distinction of Fellow to Dr. David J. McComas, senior executive director of the Space Science and Engineering Division at Southwest Research Institute® (SwRI®).
The distinction honors efforts on the advancement of science or its applications deemed scientifically or socially distinguished. McComas was recognized by his peers in the AAAS Section on Astronomy for outstanding contributions and technical innovations that have furthered knowledge of the solar wind, its boundaries and the Earth's magnetosphere.
McComas currently serves as principal investigator of the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) and the Two Wide-angle Imaging Neutral-atom Spectrometers (TWINS) space science missions. He is also principal investigator for science instruments on several other space missions.
Since joining SwRI in 2000, McComas has established a research program in heliospheric science — the science of interplanetary plasma physics — and helps lead SwRI's overall space science program. He directed the design and construction of a vacuum microprobe system for developing and testing microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) in vacuum conditions for space applications. The system earned a 2003 Technology Innovation Award from Aviation Week and Space Technology.
McComas earned a bachelor's degree in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a doctorate in geophysics and space physics from the University of California at Los Angeles. He has authored more than 300 refereed publications, holds six patents, and is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union.
He will receive a certificate and rosette pin during the AAAS Annual Meeting in February 2007. The AAAS is the world's largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science. Its tradition of Fellows began in 1874.
Editors: A photo is available for download at http://www.swri.org/press/2006/mccomasdavid.htm
For more information contact Maria Martinez at (210) 522-3305, Communications Department, Southwest Research Institute, PO Drawer 28510, San Antonio, TX 78228-0510.
