Organization

Membership

FPAW is open to anyone interested in aviation weather. We encourage everyone to join our vibrant community – it’s free! Active engagement with the aviation weather community at our biannual FPAW plenary meetings, ongoing participation in our Steering Committee (SC) and any active, issue-driven working groups, and assistance with the planning and execution of the FPAW plenary meetings is strongly and genuinely encouraged.

Leadership

Matt Fronzak (MITRE) and Nathan Polderman (United Airlines) are the FPAW Co-Chairs.

Steering Committee

The FPAW SC consists of 15 Senior members and one non-voting Student member.

Thirteen elected Senior members act on behalf of one (or more) of the four key aviation weather stakeholder groups:

• Three represent the Providers of aviation weather information
• Four represent the Research, Engineering and Development (RED) & Academic community
• Two represent the Regulations & Standards community
• Four represent the Users of aviation weather information

One elected Student member represents undergraduate and graduate students studying or interested in aviation and/or weather.

The FPAW Co-Chairs fill the remaining two positions.

Each member of the SC may receive both solicited and unsolicited input from their constituents and use it to guide FPAW activities and discussion of important matters. The SC will also create, review and provide feedback on position papers intended to be published under the FPAW banner, and organize FPAW meetings. Schedules permitting, the FPAW SC meets monthly.

The nominal term of service on the FPAW Steering Committee for the 13 elected Senior members is three years, with an option to be re-elected (no term limits). Absent any in-term departures, approximately one-third of the thirteen Senior SC positions (either four or five) are up for election annually, and are bolded in the table below. FPAW desires and encourages that its Senior SC members comprise a broad range of organizational affiliation, gender, expertise, and career stages.

The nominal term of service on the FPAW Steering Committee for the one elected Student member is one year, with an option to be re-elected (no term limits) as long as the Student member remains in school (undergraduate or graduate). Because the term of service of the Student member is one year, it will always be bolded in the table below.

There were four available Senior member positions with three-year terms beginning on October 1, 2026. Based on a simple majority of votes solicited from then-current SC members, one incumbent member, Christian Amaral/ALPA (Users), was reelected to the FPAW SC, as were three new members: Jesse Heers/Campbell Scientific (Providers), Matt Wandishin/NOAA GSL (RED & Academia), and Doug Lotter/ADF (Users). 

There was one inaugural Student member position with a one-year term beginning on October 1, 2026. Based on a simple majority of votes solicited from then-current SC members, Lauren Burge/University of Oklahoma, was elected as the charter FPAW Student member.

The 2026-2027 FPAW Steering Committee is listed below: