Three OSU MAE alums elected AIAA Associate Fellows

Ohio State Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department alumni Jesse Little, Jim Hileman, and David Gonzalez have been formally elected Associate Fellows of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) on Jan. 8 at the SciTech Forum in Orlando, Florida.

The prestigious title is awarded to those who have made notable and valuable contributions to the arts, sciences, or technology of aeronautics or astronautics, according to the AIAA website.

Little attended Ohio State from 1999-2010 receiving his bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate and worked with Mo Samimy, Nordholt Professor at the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering’s Aerospace Research Center. Little is now an associate professor at the University of Arizona.

“AIAA has been an integral part of my professional life since I was a student at OSU and it is an honor to be recognized as an Associate Fellow,” Little said. “I am fortunate to have been surrounded by many excellent students, colleagues, mentors and friends throughout my career and this recognition is due in no small part to their influence. I look forward to many more years of involvement with AIAA.”

Hileman attended Ohio State from 1993-2004 receiving his bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate in mechanical engineering. He also worked with Samimy in the Aerospace Research Center. Hileman then went to MIT and worked as a post-doctoral associate from 2004-2006 and a principal research engineer from 2006-2011. Hileman is now the Chief Scientific and Technical Advisor for Environment at the Federal Aviation Administration.

“Being named an Associate Fellow is special to me as it shows the work that I am doing is making a difference in the world,” Hileman said.

Gonzalez attended Western Michigan from 1999-2005 for his bachelor’s and master’s, and then he attended the University of Maryland before heading to Ohio State from 2014-2016 to finish his doctorate. Gonzalez worked in the Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head EOD Technology Division as a mechanical engineer from 2005-2015 and a senior propulsion technologist from 2015-2019. Gonzalez is now the Program Officer of Aerodynamics at the Office of Naval Research.

“AIAA has always been about one thing: opportunity,” Gonzalez said. “A chance to broaden and achieve horizons I never could as an individual by learning from so many creative and accomplished researchers.  I feel extremely humbled to be recognized as an Associate Fellow and it could not have been possible without the mentors and colleagues I’ve been exposed to throughout the years as part of my involvement in the institute.”

by Jake Rahe, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering