Abdessattar Abdelkefi, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at New Mexico State University, was recently elected American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Associate Fellow. AIAA will formally honor and induct the class at the AIAA Associate Fellows Induction Ceremony and Dinner in January in Orlando, Florida.
The honor 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.” Abdelkefi has distinguished himself by his contributions to the aerospace community and has earned this title based on those contributions. The citation reads: “For outstanding contributions in the fields of nonlinear dynamical systems and aeroelasticity through the development of reduced-order models, enabling the understanding, design, and characterization of several dynamical systems including energy harvesters, smart structures, and bioinspired unmanned vehicles.”
During Abdelkefi’s 10-year NMSU career, he has earned recognition for various achievements.
He received the Westhafer Award, NMSU’s highest award for research in 2021 and the 2022 Distinguished Career Award from the NMSU University Research Council. From recent studies by Stanford University and Elsevier, he has earned the distinction of being among the top 2% 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 $5.5 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.
“Congratulations to each member of the Class of 2025 Associate Fellows,” AIAA President Dan Hastings said. “This distinguished group of professionals has made significant and lasting contributions to the aerospace profession. They exemplify a dedication to excellence in advancing their specific technical disciplines. We are proud of their achievements. They are shaping the future of aerospace.”
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 AIAA members. For more information about AIAA, visit www.aiaa.org.
