Achievement Award

Thea Feyereisen is a senior engineering fellow for Honeywell’s Aerospace Advanced Technology organization. She has been with Honeywell for 27 years. A human factors expert in flight deck design and vision systems, moving maps, energy state and traffic displays, and cross-cultural user interfaces, Feyereisen leads Honeywell’s vision systems, moving map, runway incursion alerting, and flight deck artificial intelligence research teams. Collaborating with engineers from all over the world, she has demonstrated an exceptional ability to bring teams together to solve complex technical problems. More than 12,000 fielded aircraft fly today with aviation electronics that bear the stamp of her human factors work. Feyereisen also heads Honeywell’s Flight Deck Collaborative Decision Making program, a research project with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Her research teams helped introduce several safety systems into the commercial marketplace, including the INAV Moving Map, Cockpit Display of Traffic Information, Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System with Mandarin Language Alerts, and Runway Overrun Awareness and Alerting System. Their groundbreaking Synthetic Vision Guidance System is now an internationally recognized procedure that improves pilots’ situational awareness regardless of weather or terrain.

Feyereisen led early human factors design, simulator, and flight testing for Honeywell’s Primus Epic and Apex integrated flight decks. She chairs the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) committee that establishes international standards for flight deck vision system displays, and represents Honeywell on the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) committee, which establishes all-weather operations standards in aviation. Feyereisen was previously Honeywell’s representative on the FAA Commercial Aviation Safety Team for Airplane State Awareness.

Her problem-solving abilities and her fierce focus on execution have been recognized within Honeywell and in the aviation research and development profession. Her honors include the Honeywell Chairman’s Award, Asia Pacific President’s Award, Excellence in Innovation Corporate Award, Aerospace Technical Achievement Award, NASA Inventor Award, RTCA Outstanding Leader Award, and NASA Team Award. She is co-inventor on more than 60 patents and has published 30 papers.

Committed to mentoring women and minorities, Feyereisen frequently speaks at Women in STEM gatherings and at Society of Women Engineers events. She volunteers with the Civil Air Patrol and serves on the board of a local nonprofit that helps families with food insecurity.

Feyereisen holds a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical studies and a master’s degree in aeronautical science human factors, both from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Before joining Honeywell, she held positions as an airline pilot, bush pilot in Alaska, and flight instructor. Her favorite part of her current job is occupying the jump seat as a flight test conductor on Honeywell aircraft.