October 28, 2015
Professor Srinivas Bettadpur of the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at The University of Texas at Austin was selected to receive the Vening Meinesz Medal of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) for his distinguished research in geodesy.
The award, which is presented annually by the European Geosciences Union, was named in recognition of the scientific achievements of Vening Meinesz, who is especially known for his gravity measurements at sea. Bettadpur is one of 49 recipients of this year’s Union medals and awards, which will be presented at the EGU 2016 General Assembly in Vienna in April 2016.
Bettadpur’s research areas of expertise are in orbital mechanics and space geodesy. His research is focused on the modeling and analysis of Earth's dynamics through space-based metrology and remote sensing, and the connections between global space-geodetic measurements and their regional applications. He is the principal investigator for UT Austin’s efforts for the GRACE Follow-On Mission, which will replace the existing twin GRACE satellites in 2017.
After serving as a research professor for 15 years at UT Austin’s Center for Space Research, Bettadpur became an associate professor in the ASE/EM department this this year. He is a fellow of the International Association of Geodesy and an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a recipient of the 2007 NASA/USGS William T. Pecora Team Award for the GRACE mission.
