2016 PROGRAM

Hosted Reception 6:00 p.m.
Banquet 7:00 p.m.

Speakers

Lt. Gen. Larry James
Master of Ceremonies - JPL Deputy Director

Thomas F. Rosenbaum
President, California Institute of Technology
Sonja and William Davidow Presidential Chair; Professor of Physics

Bryn Fosburgh
Vice President, Executive Committee Member
Trimble Navigation, Ltd. 

Ann Ciganer
Vice President, Strategic Policy
Trimble Navigation, Ltd. 

Jim Sorden
Executive Vice President
Trimble Navigation, Ltd. 

Ed Stolper
Provost, California Institute of Technology
William E. Leonhard Professor of Geology; Carl and Shirley Larson Provostial Chair

Presentation of the International von Kármán Wings Award to
Charles Trimble

Awards will be presented by
Mory Gharib
Chair, Aerospace Society
Hans W. Liepmann Professor of Aeronautics and Bioinspired Engineering
Director, Graduate Aerospace Laboratories

 

BIOGRAPHY

Charles Trimble

Charles Trimble is the founder and former CEO of Trimble Navigation, Ltd., a leading developer of commercial equipment utilizing the Global Positioning System (GPS). He led the company from a start-up in 1978 through a public offering in 1990. Trimble Navigation was largely responsible for the commercialization of GPS. By the late 1990’s, the company was the dominant worldwide supplier of GPS equipment. Since then he has mentored start-ups and served on small-company boards of directors, both public and private.

Trimble is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the Council on Foreign Relations. He served on the NASA Advisory Council, the National Electronics Manufacturing Initiative, the Silicon Valley Defense/Space Consortium, and as chair of the United States Global Positioning System Industry Council. Trimble is the past chairman and currently a member of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Committee of Caltech’s Board of Trustees. He has served as a Caltech Trustee since June, 2002.

He is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including Inc. magazine's Entrepreneur of the Year in 1991, the American Electronics Association Medal of Achievement in 2000, the NASA Public Service Medal in 2001 and 2004, and the Caltech Distinguished Alumni Award. He received the Piper General Aviation Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) for pioneering the manufacture and application of affordable GPS in 1994.

Trimble earned his BS in engineering and applied science in 1963 and his MS in electrical engineering in 1964, both from Caltech.