2025 Weems Award

Presented to: Matt Harris

Citation: For significant and sustained contributions to the development and standardization of GNSS for aviation applications

Matt Harris is a recognized expert in satellite, inertial, and radio navigation systems, with decades of contributions to the development and standardization of GNSS for aviation. As a Graduate Research Engineer at Ohio University’s Avionics Engineering Center, Mr. Harris started his career at Boeing Commercial Airplanes in Seattle. Over nearly 25 years at Boeing, he played a pivotal role in advancing groundbased augmentation systems (GBAS) and satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS), enabling critical low-visibility automatic landing operations.

Mr. Harris led efforts to develop GBAS standards for Category III operations, devising techniques to monitor and over-bound errors caused by ionospheric anomalies to ensure system integrity. His leadership and technical insights were instrumental in validating GBAS Approach Service Type D (GAST D) standards for GNSS-based Cat III airborne and ground equipment.

Mr. Harris led research and development for navigation technologies, including the integration of GLS Cat III on the Boeing 777-9. He helped define the specifications for Boeing’s 3rd Generation Multi-Mode Receiver (3G MMR), which introduced SBAS and GLS CAT III capabilities into commercial air transport aircraft. Mr. Harris led Boeing efforts to extend airborne multipath error modeling to Galileo and GPS L5 signals, advancing Dual Frequency Multi- Constellation (DFMC) requirements.

More recently, he has been at the forefront of industry efforts to mitigate interference with GPS and radar altimeters, developing compliance, equipment, and operational strategies to ensure the continued safe operation of thousands of airplanes.

Mr. Harris joined Reliable Robotics in 2025, where he continues to develop precision GNSS applications and navigation capabilities for self-flying airplanes. He is widely recognized nationally and internationally, including through the International Civil Aviation Organization, as a leading technical authority in navigation. Mr. Harris received his BSEE and MSEE from the Ohio University.