February 20, 2026 - Atlanta, GA

At this year’s College of Design Excellence Awards, one of the evening’s most moving moments came as the community paused to honor the late Nickolas L. Faust with the Distinguished Memorial Design Excellence Award. Presented by Tony Giarrusso, the recognition celebrated a life defined by curiosity, generosity, and a profound commitment to science, teaching, and the Georgia Tech community.

“Nick was a true rocket scientist,” Giarrusso told the audience, recalling his friend and colleague’s extraordinary career. Faust earned his degrees from Georgia Tech, went on to work with NASA and Georgia Tech Research Institute, and was elected to the Space Technology Hall of Fame for his pioneering work in image processing software. For more than 25 years, he also taught remote sensing in the College of Design, mentoring generations of students. Though he passed away in 2021, Giarrusso reminded the audience that “his legacy lives on at Georgia Tech.”

Faust’s wife, Cheri, along with family members including Dr. Kenneth Jackson, accepted the award on his behalf. Jackson described the moment as a “bittersweet honor,” reflecting on a life spent doing work Nick loved. Quoting a line from Ford v Ferrari, he shared, “It is a truly lucky man who knows what he wants to do in this world. For that man will never work a day in his life. And I thought that was Nick.”

From his early days in Mississippi to his time at Georgia Tech’s co-op program during the earliest years of the U.S. space program, Faust’s career spanned decades of innovation and impact. His work helped optimize trajectories for sending astronauts to the moon, supported NASA missions, and later used satellite imagery to assist governments, researchers, and communities—from mapping gorilla habitats in Rwanda to helping Atlanta visualize Olympic venues for the 1996 Games.

Yet for all his accomplishments, family and colleagues remembered him most for his humility and kindness. Jackson described him as “fun, kind, generous, athletic, adventurous and a brilliant scientist—and a very modest person.” He added, “Nick would have been proud to receive this award tonight, but he would have also been very humble.”

Accepting the honor, Jackson thanked the College for recognizing Faust’s enduring contributions. “Nick made the world a better place for all of us,” he said. “We’re very lucky.”

The moment served as a powerful reminder that design and research excellence are not only measured in achievements, but in the people who mentor, teach, and quietly shape the world around them. For the College of Design community, Nick Faust’s legacy continues—in classrooms, in research, and in the many lives he touched.