Abdessattar Abdelkefi, mechanical and aerospace engineering associate professor, received the Westhafer Award, NMSU’s highest award for research at the spring 2021 convocation. From a recent study by Stanford University, he has earned the distinction of being among the top 2 percent of scientists worldwide, in all research disciplines and over their entire career, as measured by the impact of their research publications. Abdelkefi’s research interests include dynamics, vibrations and aeroelasticity. He has received a combined $3.5 million in funding from various agencies, including the National Science Foundation, Army Research Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories.

Abdelkefi was named Outstanding Research Professor, from NMSU’s Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Academy in both 2019 and 2020. He also received the 2020 Teaching-Research-Service Synergy Award from NMSU’s College of Engineering and the 2019 Early Career Award from the NMSU University Research Council.

A member of the NMSU faculty since 2014, Abdelkefi said he is happy to help students find jobs following graduation in industry, national labs and universities in both the U.S. and across the globe. He has worked with more than three dozen graduate students at NMSU and shares advice on how to handle a busy professional life and family life.

“I enjoy the research and teaching aspects, along with my interactions and collaborations with students,” he said. “I tell my students you can find the balance between professional and social life, but it needs a little bit of effort and management.”