Lindstrom, Richard

2015 Marcia Peterman ECE Award

In recognition of devoted and loyal service to the University of Illinois, especially ECE ILLINOIS.

Richard Lindstrom has more than 39 years of industry experience in design, development, and engineering management in digital communications. The majority of that time has been in the satellite communications arena. As vice president of engineering at Viasat, he is responsible for staffing, educating, and developing the engineering workforce, developing and maintaining engineering design practices and processes, ensuring engineers have the tools and equipment to meet their design needs, and maintaining and promoting ViaSat’s engineering culture.

Prior to joining ViaSat in 2001, Lindstrom was vice president of product development and operations for Comsat Laboratories. He began his career as an electrical design engineer for the Watkins-Johnson Company working on the design of direction finders and surveillance receivers in the R&D group.

He is a veteran of the United States Navy, serving four years in aviation electronics in an E2 Hawkeye squadron aboard the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy. In addition to his BS degree in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, he earned an MS degree in electrical engineering from The Johns Hopkins University.

Lindstrom is a member of Tau Beta Pi, Eta Kappa Nu, and IEEE. He was inducted into the Space Technology Hall of Fame in 1997 for his work on NASA’s Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) program.