Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., presents Parimal Kopardekar, senior technologist for Air Transportation Systems at NASA’s Ames Research Center, with the Promising Innovations Medal at the 2018 Sammies Gala. (Jessie Bur/Staff)Dr. Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsopp, associate director for Children with Special Health Care Needs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, accepts the Career Achievement Medal at the 2018 Sammies Gala. (Jessie Bur/Staff)Margaret Honein, director of the Division of Congenital and Developmental Disorders at the CDC, accepts the Science and Environment Medal at the 2018 Sammies Gala. (Jessie Bur/Staff)Karen Dodge, staff attorney at the Federal Trade Commission, and Margaret Moeser, senior trial attorney at the Department of Justice, accept the Homeland Security and Law Enforcement Medal at the 2018 Sammies Gala. (Jessie Bur/Staff)Daniel Kastner, scientific director of the Division of Intramural Research at the National Institutes of Health, accepts the Federal Employee of the Year award at the 2018 Sammies Gala. (Jessie Bur/Staff)Andrew Herscowitz, coordinator for Power Africa at the U.S. Agency for International Development, accepts the National Security and International Affairs Medal at the 2018 Sammies Gala. (Jessie Bur/Staff)