Prof. Per Enge Named to Coffman Professorship

Aero/Astro Professor Per Enge has been appointed the Vance D. and Arlene C. Coffman Professorship in the School of Engineering. This professorship was established by Stanford Aero/Astro alumnus Vance Coffman (M.S. '69, Ph.D. '74), former CEO of Lockheed Martin. It is the donors' preference that the chair be held by a faculty member in aeronautics and astronautics.

Prof. Enge has been at Stanford since 1993. He is also the director of the Center for Position, Navigation, and Time (CPNT) at Stanford and the former holder of the Kleiner Perkins, Mayfield, Sequoia Capital Professorship in the School of Engineering. All of his degrees are in electrical engineering: a B.S. in 1975 from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, in 1979 and 1983, respectively.

Prof. Enge's research focuses on the design of navigation systems that satisfy stringent requirements with respect to accuracy, integrity (truthfulness), time availability, and continuity in order to detect, flag, and compensate for any faults. Applications of his current research include the landing of airplanes and harbor navigation, which are usually based on the Global Positioning System (GPS) and its augmentations.

A textbook author and holder of a dozen patents, Prof. Enge is a former president of the Institute of Navigation; a member of the government's advisory board on National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing; a member of the National Academy of Engineers; and a fellow of both the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Institute of Navigation (ION). He has also received the ION's Kepler, Burka, and Thurlow Awards, as well as served as that organization's president. Recently he was inducted into the Air Force GPS Hall of Fame, received the 2011 Summerfield Award fom the AIAA for the best book that they published that year, and received the 2010 Michael Richey Award for the best article in the journal of the Royal Institute of Navigation.

In making the announcement, School of Engineering Dean James Plummer said that, even in an entire school of outstanding educators and researchers, Prof. Enge has distinguished himself as an outstanding teacher, researcher, and colleague.