MAE alums honored for exceptional achievements

By Elizabeth Egan 

Gordon received the Distinguished Career Award, recognizing an outstanding MAE alum 20 years or more after completing their bachelor’s degree.

In his 40-year aerospace engineering career, Gordon made significant contributions to the field of flight inspection. His work extended the state-of-the-art systems that ensure the navigation aids used by aircrafts to safely land with limited visibility are functioning properly. He held positions at Sierra Research and Calspan Corporation and ended his career as a marketing manager at Moog Inc. before retiring in 2020.

Alongside his work as a civilian engineer, Gordon had a 30-year career in the Air Force Reserve. He leveraged his civilian software engineering experience to upgrade operations tools and procedures while deployed to the United Arab Emirates during Desert Storm. He was made Colonel and served as the Commander for the 914^th Airlift Wing from 2013 to 2015.

Gordon has also served as an advocate for aerospace organizations, aerospace history, and individuals working in aerospace. He was the chairman of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Niagara Frontier Section from 1994-1998 and led efforts to re-activate the chapter in 2007 after many years of inactivity. The chapter won the AIAA Outstanding Activity Award three times for events planned by Gordon.

Over the course of his career, Gordon received many awards, including the AIAA Sustained Service Award in 2023 and 21 different military decorations. He is also a fellow of AIAA.

Gordon earned a master’s degree and bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from UB in 1993 and 1980, respectively, and a master’s degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Air Force Air War College.

Cheetham has received the 2025 Career Achievement Award, recognizing an outstanding MAE alum up to 20 years after earning their bachelor’s degree.

In 2011, Cheetham founded Advanced Space LLC, where he has developed numerous technologies that enable space flight to the moon and beyond.

Under Cheetham’s leadership, Advanced Space successfully developed, and is currently operating, the first privately owned commercial satellite to operate on the moon, known as CAPSTONE.

The satellite became an integral part of NASA’s Artemis program and is a demonstrator for several technologies, including assessment of the planned orbit for NASA’s Luna Gateway space station and the CAPS navigation system. CAPSTONE successfully completed its initial mission to provide valuable data and insight for future lunar operations.

He is also passionate about supporting future generations of engineers. Cheetham holds a position as the chairman of the Future Space Leaders Foundation and serves on the Board of Directors for the International Astronautical Federation, Bridge Entrepreneurs Network and on the Board of Advisors for Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS). As a student, Cheetham founded the UB chapter of SEDS that remains active on campus today.

Over the course of his career Cheetham has received numerous awards, including the 2022 AIAA Small Satellite Mission of the Year Award for his work with CAPSTONE and the 2019 AIAA Rochy Mountain Young Professional Engineer of the Year Award. Cheetham also owns a patent in leveraging multi-body methods to develop fuel efficient transfer orbits.

After earning his bachelor’s degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering at UB, Cheetham went on to earn his master’s and PhD in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Gordon and Cheetham will be presented with the awards at a formal awards presentation in May.