MAE faculty and alumnus elected to the 2023 Class of Associate Fellows
Kiran D’Souza, an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and Stuart Benton, research aerospace engineer at the Air Force Research Laboratory and MAE alumnus, have been elected to the 2023 Class of Associate Fellows by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).
The grade of Associate Fellow recognizes individuals “who have accomplished or been in charge of important engineering or scientific work, or who have done original work of outstanding merit, or who have otherwise made outstanding contributions to the arts, sciences, or technology of aeronautics or astronautics,” according to the AIAA press release. To be selected as an Associate Fellow an individual must be an AIAA Senior Member in good standing, with at least 12 years of professional experience, and be recommended by three current Associate Fellows.
“Congratulations to each member of the Class of 2023 Associate Fellows,” said AIAA President Laura McGill. “This distinguished group of professionals has made significant and lasting contributions to the aerospace profession. They exemplify expertise, passion and dedication to advancing their specific disciplines, and they are truly shaping the future of aerospace.”
D’Souza’s research is based in structural dynamics which has included work in turbomachinery modeling and analysis, modeling of complex nonlinear systems, system identification and structural health monitoring, nonlinear feedback control for enhanced sensitivity in detection and sensing, bifurcation forecasting and large-scale rotating turbomachinery experiments at design conditions.
He is most well-known for his analysis of complex high dimensional cyclic structures found in turbomachinery, and the creation of techniques to efficiently model, analyze and exploit nonlinearity.
His current research is focused on the creation of piecewise linear (PWL) nonlinear analysis tools, the development of new PWL energy harvesters, simulations of unmanned aerial vehicle ingestions into engines, blade damping and mistuning studies, and blade tip rub studies.
“It’s an honor to receive this recognition from AIAA and be recognized by my colleagues in the aerospace engineering community,” D’Souza said of his induction to the 2023 class. “I would like to thank Professor Inderjit Chopra for nominating me as well as all my references.”
Benton received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering at The Ohio State University, graduating with his Ph.D. in the summer of 2015. Since then, he has been working at the Air Force Research Laboratory.
He originally started as a post-doc under the AFRL Science and Technology Fellowship but has recently moved up to be a government civil servant. He is now the lead of a small team that studies the complex aerodynamics of propulsion intake systems.
“AIAA Associate Fellow is an important career milestone, recognizing both my research accomplishments as well as service to the technical community,” Benton said. “I’d like to thank the faculty of the MAE department who continue to be peers and mentors even after I left graduate school. Specifically, Profs. Bons, Samimy, Gaitonde, and Gregory who have supported me in the past 7 years and championed my work at OSU and beyond.”
The Institute is hosting a Class of 2023 Associate Fellows Meet and Greet on Tuesday, Jan. 24, during the 2023 AIAA SciTech Forum, National Harbor, Maryland, Jan. 23–27.
