WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. - Manuel D. Bustillos Sr., an engineer-technician with the Army Research Laboratory\'s Battlefield Environment Division, White Sands Missile Range, N.M., has been named as a 2008 Luminary Honoree by HENAAC, a national organization established as a means of identifying, honoring, and documenting the contributions of outstanding Hispanic American professionals in science, engineering, technology and math.
Bustillos is one of 29 Hispanic engineers and scientists from corporate, government and military sectors across the nation to be honored as Luminaries within the Hispanic American science and engineering community this year. They will be recognized Oct. 10, 2008 during the HENAAC Conference in Houston, Texas.
Bustillos is recognized for his long-term community service to the schools of El Paso, Texas, and his focus on promoting science and engineering as careers in the Hispanic student community. He introduced ARL's Partners in Education Science Advisor Program to the El Paso community in 1992 for which he was awarded the Medalla de Plata in May 1995 from the National Society of Mexican American Engineers and Scientists.
In addition, Bustillos acquired and introduced the first personal computers into the school system in the 1990's and taught students how to generate graphics and reports, for which he was presented with the Role Model in the Hispanic Community Award from KINT- TV in El Paso.
He was active in setting up meteorological science, engineering and computer science classes in El Paso schools. He worked with the American Meteorological Society to acquire and establish a meteorological Satellite ground station at one of the high schools.
Bustillos has also been recognized for his efforts with a number of awards and honors. These include a Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVison Award for Mentoring and a Hall of Fame award form the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce for outreach in the school systems of El Paso and Las Cruces, N.M. He has also been inducted into the Paso del Norte Excellence in Technology Hall of Fame for K-12 education.
In 1999, he received the ARL Enhancement Award for Outreach in Education and the Community and official commendation by the Army for his leadership role in the Partners in Education Program. He received the ARL Honorary Award for Community Service in 2007.
At ARL, a subordinate element of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, Bustillos has worked as the assistant test director for urban wind flow studies and is responsible for digital data acquisition from sonic anemometers and specialized acoustic infrasound propagation measurements.
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