Bernard Etkin, is a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 academic and one of the world's recognized authorities on aircraft guidance and control.

Born in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Etkin is a graduate of the University of Toronto

University of Toronto

The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...

 and was Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering at the university in the 1970s. He is currently a Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies

University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies

The University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies is an advanced research facility for aeronautics and aerospace engineering, located in the Downsview district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada...

.

Bernard was a member of the team at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, which had been contracted to build the lunar-landing module for Apollo 13

Apollo 13

Apollo 13 was the seventh manned mission in the American Apollo space program and the third intended to land on the Moon. The craft was launched on April 11, 1970, at 13:13 CST. The landing was aborted after an oxygen tank exploded two days later, crippling the service module upon which the Command...

. When the service modulde became crippled, they performed initial calculations needed for the astronauts safe return.

Etkin's treatment of six degree of freedom (6-DoF) theory in "Dynamics of Atmospheric Flight" was unusual in being sufficiently general that it touched upon hypersonic flight and was usable in simulating Atmospheric reentry

Atmospheric reentry

Atmospheric entry is the movement of human-made or natural objects as they enter the atmosphere of a celestial body from outer space—in the case of Earth from an altitude above the Kármán Line,...

.

In 1970, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada

Royal Society of Canada

The Royal Society of Canada , may also operate under the more descriptive name RSC: The Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada , is the oldest association of scientists and scholars in Canada...

. In 1980 Etkin received the Thomas W. Eadie Medal

Thomas W. Eadie Medal

The Thomas W. Eadie Medal is an award of the Royal Society of Canada "for contributions in engineering and applied science". It is named in honour of Thomas Wardrope Eadie and is awarded annually. The award consists of a bronze medal and C$3,000 of cash....

 from the Royal Society of Canada. He was named to the Order of Canada

Order of Canada

The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...

as a Member in 2003 for his contributions to the aerospace industry in Canada.