2003 Fellow

Presented to: Ms. Karen Van Dyke

Citation: For her outstanding contributions to the civil applications of GPS and especially for her role in incorporating GPS into the National Air Traffic Control System.

Ms. Karen Van Dyke is a member of the technical staff with the Center for Navigation at the U.S. Department of Transportation Volpe Center. Ms. Van Dyke has conducted availability and integrity monitoring studies for aviation applications of GPS for all phases of flight. She has achieved outstanding success in translating her technical knowledge into real-world applications in the field of aviation. She was the project lead of a Volpe Center team that designed, developed, and implemented GPS Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RAIM) outage reporting systems for both the U.S. Air Force and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which are used to brief GPS availability to pilots during pre-flight planning. She currently is working with the FAA to develop prediction models for the GPS Wide Area and Local Area Augmentation Systems to support the Notice to Airmen system.

Ms. Van Dyke also has worked with Australian, German, and Chilean aviation authorities on the implementation of similar systems for use by pilots and air traffic control in these countries.

Ms. Van Dyke was a member of a team that conducted a study for the Office of the Secretary of Transportation to identify and analyze GPS vulnerabilities and interference mitigation techniques for all modes of transportation. Recently, she supported the GPS Joint Program Office on a GPS requirements traceability study, and headed a team to conduct the Interagency GPS Executive Board-sponsored Integrity Failure Modes and Effects Analysis.

Ms. Van Dyke is the recipient of the Award for Meritorious Achievement (Silver Medal) from the Secretary of Transportation and the Superior Achievement Award (Bronze Medal) from the DOT Research and Special Programs Administration. She has served on the Institute of Navigation Council since 1992 and served as president of the ION from June 2000 to June 2001. She is a recipient of the ION Early Achievement Award. Ms. Van Dyke received her B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, has published many papers on GPS, and is a co-author of the book, Understanding GPS: Principles and Applications.