Two years ago I had the honor of attending the presentation of the 2022 Neal Armstrong Award of Excellence to one of my former students at North Carolina State University, Trent Kingery, who had been one of my students in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department. He invited me to attend the Innovators Gala to be there when he received the award. I was truly humbled to be invited by him and honored to be able to participate in the event. It was truly a night to remember.
How had Trent come to receive this prestigious award? Trent had been one of my sophomore engineering classes. I knew he was an active-duty Marine, and he made an impression on me as a dedicated aerospace engineering student. During his senior year, he applied for one of the College of Engineering Scholarships. I was on the selection board, but when I saw his application, I thought he would be a perfect candidate for a different scholarship, the Astronaut Scholarship. The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation was originally established more than 35 years ago by six of the surviving Mercury 7 Astronauts. Eventually, astronauts from other programs like Apollo and a host of companies, universities, and patrons began to join the Foundation. Trent only had a few days to write an essay and resume, but he got it done, and we got letters of recommendations together for him, and he received the Astronaut Scholarship.
After graduation, Trent was commissioned an officer in the US Marine Corps and became a distinguished F-18 pilot. He retired after 24 years of service. He is now the Chief Aviation Safety Officer at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Though not an astronaut himself, Trent has helped train many astronauts flying specially modified T-38 aircraft.
The sons of Neil Armstrong, Rick and Mark, and a close family friend, Jim Hays, established the Neil Armstrong Award of Excellence. The recipient is chosen from all those who have received the Astronaut Scholarship, and the Award is presented at the annual Innovators Gala, which also recognizes the current year’s scholarship recipients.
And what an event it was! I had the opportunity to attend the presentations of that year’s impressive group of scholarship recipients and mingle with the equally impressive folks associated with the scholarships, including current and former astronauts and many people involved in the space program. The keynote speaker, Harrison Schmitt, was the last man on the moon as the lunar landing pilot of Apollo 17. Seated at our table at the Gala were Trent’s mother and father-in-law and several individuals currently involved in the Artemis Program. That was the subject of much of the talk. At our table was also the 2020 winner of the Award of Excellence, astronaut Christina Koch, who also attended North Carolina State University. At the time, Cristina had more hours in space than any other woman. It was humbling for me just to be at the Gala, but it was especially humbling sitting at this particular table of distinguished individuals.
Trent delivered a captivating acceptance speech. He talked about all the people who had made a difference in his life, his mother and family, individuals in the military, and then he pointed me out to this immense crowd and asked me to stand. Never will I ever feel the same again. To say I was proud is an understatement. Proud of Trent and all that he has accomplished, and proud that I was able to play a small part in setting him on the trajectory to be honored in front of so many of his heroes of the space program. It was a moment of time that I will always remember, always cherish. Truly a night to remember. – Dr. Tom
