Mark Balas received the AIAA Aerospace, Guidance, Navigation, and Control Award for 2018. This lifetime achievement award recognizes individuals that have made important and substantial contributions in the field of guidance, navigation, and control.

Balas, a MABE professor at the UT Space Institute (UTSI), was nominated for his sustained excellence in developing the frontiers of theory and practice in advanced adaptive control systems. He pioneered the study of evolving systems for engineering applications and is the founding director of the UTSI Center for Autonomous and Evolving Systems.

Balas earned his PhD in 1974 from the University of Denver, Colorado, in applied mathematics, along with a master’s degree in electrical engineering. He served as a professor and department head in several different states in the US, including Florida, New York, Wyoming, and Massachusetts before coming to UTSI in 2017. He has received numerous awards and recognitions in his career, contributed to many journal articles and two books. UTSI is excited to have him on campus and to see what other achievements he will accomplish.