BOULDER, Colo., Jan. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. employees John Troeltzsch and Christopher Zeller have been selected as associate fellows of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Troeltzsch and Zeller were inducted with other new associate fellows from around the world at the 53^rd AIAA sciences meeting on January 5, 2015.

According to the AIAA, associate fellows are "those who have accomplished or been in charge of important engineering or scientific work, or who have done original work of outstanding merit, or who have otherwise made outstanding contributions to the arts, sciences, or technology of aeronautics or astronautics."

Senior Program Manager Troeltzsch oversees NASA's Kepler/K2 mission for Ball and the B612/Ball Sentinel mission. He provided critical engineering for several of Ball's instruments built for the Hubble Space Telescope and served as mission manager for Hubble's corrective optics instrument. He was also the avionics lead for the cryogenic instruments on the Spitzer Space Telescope. He has received NASA Exceptional Public Service Medals for his work on the Spitzer and Kepler missions. He has been active in AIAA for more than 30 years. Troeltzsch earned his Bachelor and Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Colorado.

Principal Systems Engineer Zeller is Ball's requirements and verification lead for the NOAA/NASA Joint Polar Satellite System spacecraft; and Ball's lead telecom engineer for NASA's Green Propellant Infusion Mission. He has been active in the AIAA since 2005 as chair of the Rocky Mountain section; chair of the Northern Colorado section; and chairman for programs. Zeller received a master's degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Colorado in 1999, and his bachelor's degree in Aeronautical/Astronautical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1997. Zeller joined Ball in 2003 and was honored with the NASA Team Achievement Award for his work on the CloudSat mission in 2012. 

AIAA is the world's largest technical society dedicated to the global aerospace profession. With more than 35,000 individual members worldwide, and nearly 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense.

To be selected for the grade of associate fellow, an individual must be an AIAA senior member with at least twelve years' professional experience, and be recommended by a minimum of three current associate fellows. Only two percent of the AIAA's 35,000-plus members are elected as associate fellows each year.

Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. supports critical missions for national agencies such as the Department of Defense, NASA, NOAA and other U.S. government and commercial and international entities. The company develops and manufactures spacecraft, advanced instruments and sensors, components, data exploitation systems and RF solutions for strategic, tactical and scientific applications. For more information, visit www.ballaerospace.com/.

Ball Corporation (NYSE: BLL) supplies innovative, sustainable packaging solutions for beverage, food and household products customers, as well as aerospace and other technologies and services primarily for the U.S. government. Ball Corporation and its subsidiaries employ 14,500 people worldwide and reported 2013 sales of $8.5 billion. For more information, visit www.ball.com, or connect with us on Facebook or Twitter.

Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains "forward-looking" statements concerning future events and financial performance. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "estimates" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Key risks and uncertainties are summarized in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Exhibit 99 in our Form 10-K, which are available on our website and at www.sec.gov. Factors that might affect: a) our packaging segments include product demand fluctuations; availability/cost of raw materials; competitive packaging, pricing and substitution; changes in climate and weather; crop yields; competitive activity; failure to achieve productivity improvements or cost reductions; mandatory deposit or other restrictive packaging laws; customer and supplier consolidation, power and supply chain influence; changes in major customer or supplier contracts or loss of a major customer or supplier; political instability and sanctions; and changes in foreign exchange or tax rates; b) our aerospace segment include funding, authorization, availability and returns of government and commercial contracts; and delays, extensions and technical uncertainties affecting segment contracts; c) the company as a whole include those listed plus: changes in senior management; successful or unsuccessful acquisitions and divestitures; regulatory action or issues including tax, environmental, health and workplace safety, including U.S. FDA and other actions or public concerns affecting products filled in our containers, or chemicals or substances used in raw materials or in the manufacturing process; technological developments and innovations; litigation; strikes; labor cost changes; rates of return on assets of the company's defined benefit retirement plans; pension changes; uncertainties surrounding the U.S. government budget, sequestration and debt limit; reduced cash flow; ability to achieve cost-out initiatives; interest rates affecting our debt.

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SOURCE Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.