DR. ANTHONY J. MASALONIS IS THE WINNER OF THE 18th ANNUAL "ENGINEER OF THE YEAR" AWARD

(November 2015) Dr. Anthony J. Masalonis is the winner of the 18th Southern New Jersey Professional Societies Annual "Engineer of the Year" Award.

Dr. Masalonis is a Senior Human Factors Engineer and Researcher at SST in supporting the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Human Factors Branch at the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center (WJHTC). Dr. Masalonis works with other Human Factors professionals at the FAA WJHTC to plan and execute studies to improve the safety and efficiency of aviation automation systems. The studies include high-fidelity Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) simulations and interactive part-task simulations, both of which use air traffic controllers and other operational aviation professionals, as well as mathematical analysis and modeling to assess and improve the accuracy of automation that predicts air traffic.  Over the past year, Dr. Masalonis has led his team in supporting the FAA Human Factors Branch on a HITL simulation study on aircraft separation management to determine what level of Conflict Probe (CP) reliability is needed for performance enhancement and operational acceptance on the Radar Side position. The CP has emerged as an important tool to maintain separation. This study examined how CP accuracy and display location impact controller’s ability to manage conflicts in a busy airspace.