Tag: aerospace engineers

Nominations Open for Member Advancement

FROM THE INSTITUTE
Do you know an AIAA member who has made outstanding contributions to the aerospace industry? Help us shine a spotlight on their stellar leadership and contributions by nominating them for member advancement, and elevate them to an elite class of AIAA members. Full nomination criteria can be found on the AIAA Honors homepage.

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Call for Content Now Open for AIAA SciTech Forum

FROM THE INSTITUTE
The Institute is requesting technical paper abstracts and session proposals for AIAA SciTech Forum 2027. Share your ideas and contribute to shaping the 2027 forum program. Deadline: 21 May 2026.

Durand Lecture Highlights 30-Year Journey Deploying Autonomous Drones to Understand Tornadoes

As a child growing up in Oklahoma, Brian Argrow had two passions: meteorology and aerospace engineering. He never imagined one day he would combine both interests — deploying tornado-chasing drones that showed how tornadoes form, key to increasing warning times. On Monday, Argrow, Distinguished Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder, delivered the 2026 Durand Lecture for Public Service.

Aerospace Next

FROM THE INSTITUTE
As we enter 2026, our community stands on the threshold of tomorrow. The future of aerospace won’t be shaped by a single researcher or “eureka” moment. Rather, necessity will drive experimentation and risk-taking, leading to the next breakthroughs. AIAA will connect people doing this vital work as we look to our north star, to be the most trusted source for aerospace knowledge exchange. I look forward to everything we will learn together at AIAA SciTech Forum this week as it propels us toward the next wave of aerospace breakthroughs.

AIAA Mid-Atlantic Section Conference Brings Students and Professionals Together

FROM THE INSTITUTE
On 21 November, the AIAA Mid-Atlantic Section held its annual Young Professionals, Students, and Educators Conference at JHUAPL. The conference – a flagship event for the section – brings together high school, undergrad, and graduate students, as well as educators and young professionals from all over the East Coast and beyond. Presenters shared their research and networked with professionals from a wide variety of aerospace specialties and disciplines.

Charbel Farhat to Receive the 2026 Daniel Guggenheim Medal for Pioneering Advances in Aerospace Computational Mechanics

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 5, 2026 – Reston, Va. – Charbel Farhat has been awarded the 2026 Daniel Guggenheim Medal for pioneering advances in the computational mechanics of fluid-structure interaction, transforming simulation methodologies and enabling major breakthroughs in aircraft design and optimization. He will receive the prestigious award during AIAA AVIATION Forum 2026, 8–12 June, San Diego, Calif.

The Daniel Guggenheim Medal was established in 1929 to honor innovators who make notable achievements in the advancement of aeronautics. Its first recipient was Orville Wright. The medal is jointly sponsored by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), SAE International (SAE), and the Vertical Flight Society (VFS).

“During his 36-year academic career, Farhat has made outstanding contributions to fixed wing aeroelasticity and supersonic parachute inflation dynamics that have advanced the safety and practicality of aviation; and that of related driving forces of global technology development and innovations with significant economic and social benefits. He has pioneered computational methods that have enabled the solution of safety-critical aero-elastic and aero-servo-elastic problems. He has introduced physics-based machine learning into the development of high-fidelity multidisciplinary design analysis and optimization (MDAO) frameworks to allow them to be computationally tractable and thus attractive to designers” said George Springer, Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University, and nominator.

“On behalf of the Guggenheim Medal Board, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations on this well-deserved recognition. Prof. Farhat’s outstanding contributions to computational mechanics, aero-elasticity and aircraft design/optimization have had a significant impact on both the aerospace industry and the broader community,” added George Kardomateas, Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology, and chair, Guggenheim Medal Board.

Charbel Farhat is the Vivian Church Hoff Professor of Aircraft Structures at Stanford University and a professor in the Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering. He chaired Stanford’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics from 2008 to 2023 and held its inaugural Spilker Chair. He has directed major research centers, including the KACST-Stanford Center of Excellence for Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Army High Performance Computing Research Center, and served on national advisory bodies such as the U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Board and the Space Technology Industry-Government-University Roundtable. Recognized by the U.S. Navy as a Primary Key-Influencer, he flew with the Blue Angels in 2014.

Farhat earned his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley and is an AIAA Fellow. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, the UK’s Royal Academy of Engineering, and the Lebanese Academy of Sciences. His honors include the Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship, three honorary doctorates, the Kuwait Prize, and major distinctions in computational mechanics and high-performance computing, including the IEEE Gordon Bell and Sidney Fernbach Awards. A Fellow of multiple professional societies, he has also received French national honors. Farhat has authored over 650 publications, served as Editor-in-Chief of two leading journals, and contributes broadly to research in fluid–structure interaction, CFD, structural mechanics, high-performance computing, and physics-based machine learning.

Past recipients of the Guggenheim Medal are some of the greatest names in aerospace, including Holt Ashley, Lawrence Bell, William Boeing, James Doolittle, Donald Douglas, Charles Stark Draper, Hugh Dryden, Robert Goddard, Jerome Hunsaker, Theodore von Kármán, Charles Lindbergh, Glenn Martin, Frank Robinson, Burt Rutan, Igor Sikorsky, and Walter Vincenti, among many others.

For more information about the AIAA/ASME/SAE/VFS Daniel Guggenheim Medal, contact Patricia A. Carr, Guggenheim Secretary, at [email protected].

AIAA Media Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270

About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit www.aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

About ASME
ASME helps the global engineering community develop solutions to real world challenges. Founded in 1880 as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ASME is a not-for-profit professional organization that enables collaboration, knowledge sharing and skill development across all engineering disciplines, while promoting the vital role of the engineer in society. ASME codes and standards, publications, conferences, continuing education and professional development programs provide a foundation for advancing technical knowledge and a safer world. For more information visit www.asme.org. 

About SAE International
SAE is the leader in connecting and educating mobility professionals to enable safe, clean, and accessible mobility solutions. SAE International is a global association of more than 128,000 engineers and related technical experts in the aerospace, automotive and commercial-vehicle industries. Our core competencies are life-long learning and voluntary consensus standards development. SAE International’s charitable arm is the SAE Foundation, which supports many programs, including A World In Motion® and the Collegiate Design Series. For more information visit www.sae.org.

About The Vertical Flight Society
Founded as the American Helicopter Society in 1943, the Vertical Flight Society today advocates, promotes and supports global vertical flight technology and professional development. For 80 years, the Society has provided leadership for the advancement of vertical flight. For more information, visit www.vtol.org or follow us on Twitter at @VTOLsociety.

AIAA Announces Class of 2026 Honorary Fellows and Fellows

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 15, 2025 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) proudly congratulates its newly elected Class of 2026 Honorary Fellows and Fellows. The class will be inducted during a ceremony on Monday, May 18, 2026, in Washington, DC.

“Congratulations to each member of the Class of 2026 AIAA Honorary Fellows and Fellows for their remarkable accomplishments. They are among the most respected names in the aerospace profession,” said Dan Hastings, AIAA President. “These distinguished individuals have earned the respect and admiration of the global science and engineering community. We are in awe of their creativity and exceptional contributions that have advanced aerospace.”

Honorary Fellow is AIAA’s highest distinction, recognizing preeminent individuals who have made significant contributions to the aerospace industry and who embody the highest possible standards in aeronautics and astronautics. In 1933, Orville Wright became the first AIAA Honorary Fellow. Today, 245 people have been named AIAA Honorary Fellow.

AIAA confers Fellow upon individuals in recognition of their notable and valuable contributions to the arts, sciences or technology of aeronautics and astronautics. Nominees are AIAA Associate Fellows. Since the inception of this honor 2,120 persons have been elected as an AIAA Fellow.

“The Class of 2026 Honorary Fellows and Fellows are impressive aerospace professionals. They are dreamers who have transformed our understanding of flight and exploration, pushing the boundaries of human potential. I am privileged to call them friends and colleagues. Their groundbreaking work reminds me that innovation is born from passion, persistence, and the audacious belief that we can always reach a little further than we thought possible,” added AIAA CEO Clay Mowry.

2026 AIAA Honorary Fellows

Laura J. McGill, Sandia National Laboratories
Daniel J. Scheeres, University of Colorado Boulder
Steven H. Walker, Lockheed Martin Corporation (retired)

2026 AIAA Fellows

William H. Ailor, III, The Aerospace Corporation (retired)
The Honorable Robert Behler, RFBehler Engineering and Consulting, LLC
Gillian Bussey, US Space Force
Simone D’Amico, Stanford University
Paul Danehy, NASA Langley Research Center
Juan M. de Bedout, RTX
Daniel Dumbacher, Purdue University
Miroslav Krstic, University of California San Diego
Sanjiva Lele, Stanford University
Arthur A. Mabbett, North Wind
Dan E. Marren, Marren Associates LLC
David M. McGowan, NASA Langley Research Center
Karl Wieland Naumann, kwnaumann Dynamic Technologies Expertise and Consulting
David Oh, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Paul H. Park, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Bell Helicopter, Northrop Grumman (retired)
Khanh D. Pham, Air Force Research Laboratory/Space Vehicles Directorate
Dawn R. Phillips, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
Ugo Piomelli, Queen’s University
Kurt Polzin, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
Rusty Powell, Systems Planning and Analysis
Sukesh Roy, Spectral Energies, LLC
Hoyt Lee Sampson, Jr., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics
Puneet Singla, Pennsylvania State University
Sonya T. Smith, Howard University
Kon-Well Wang, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Christopher Watkins, Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation
James W. Weber, Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research & Engineering
David Williams, Illinois Institute of Technology

Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270

About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit www.aiaa.org, and follow AIAA on X/Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.