AE PhD student Hamza El-Kebir has already shown himself to be a rising star in the Dept. of Aerospace Engineering. He is now being recognized on a bigger stage as a 2024 Cyber-Physical Systems Rising Star. aerospace.illinois.edu/news/66633

This past week the Dept. of AE held the annual awards ceremony to celebrate alumni, undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff with awards for their scholastic achievement and other contributions. For a complete list aerospace.illinois.edu/news/66242

UIUC is one of three selected to launch an educational payload aboard a Firefly Aerospace, Inc. rocket. The DarkNESS CubeSat will look for a dark matter decay signature emanating from the black hole at the center of the Milky Way. aerospace.illinois.edu/news/66165

Meet AE senior Marty Bathgate .“I took one of the camps over the summer when I was in high school,” Bathgate said. “Before that, I was thinking mechanical, but that camp filled up, so they put me in aerospace instead. I came and had the best week ever!'
aerospace.illinois.edu/news/66136

Illinois in Texas! Last week, AE Chief Adviser Laura Gerhold and @uofiGrainger Dir. of Undergrad Programs Brian Woodard traveled to Houston and had opportunities to meet with AE alumni while they were there at the Johnson Space Center and at a social gathering.

AE Prof Jeff Baur led a SWOT analysis of sustainable composites at a SAMPE Materials Innovation Forum and learned their greatest strength is as a light-weight solution, but cost is a consideration. aerospace.illinois.edu/news/65975

Mohammad Naraghi, PhD '09, is receiving the 2024 Outstanding Recent Alumni award. Naraghi is an aerospace engineering professor at Texas A&M and the director of the Nanostructured Materials Lab. Learn more at aerospace.illinois.edu/news/65909 .

Prasun Desai led the 50-member team for the entry, descent, and landing of the twin Mars rovers in '00. He is now the deputy associate admin. of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate,Technology Mission Directorate and AE's 2024 Distinguished Alumni. aerospace.illinois.edu/news/65712

AE PhD student Daniel Engel won the Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Student Paper Competition at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics SciTech 2024 Forum. For more about Engel's paper, visit aerospace.illinois.edu/news/65679

If you're in C-U, join us tonight at 5:30 at the Beckman Institute for free film 'Fly Girls: Breaking Barriers in the Sky,' panel, and reception.

Don't worry, plenty of time after to watch the Illinois men's basketball team at 9 p.m. For more, visit aerospace.illinois.edu/news/65023

Last spring, Rick Mange,BS ’86, MS ’90, and PhD ’96 was named AE Distinguished Alumni. This year, he is being elected as a 2024 Fellow by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. For more about Mange read the story about him at aerospace.illinois.edu/news/65537.

The work of two AE grad students is recognized in the list of semifinalists in the 2024 Graduate Image of Research Exhibition. I wonder, Why cluster! by Tuhin Bandopadhyay & Dynamic Decomposition, by Benjamin Ringel. Vote for People's choice by 4/10 at
take.quiz-maker.com/Q1XRHNXIO

Doug Isbell, BS '87 AE, MS '88 journalism is the risk communications coordinator at NASA JPL. He said AE Prof Michael Lembeck, an AE grad student at the time, helped kickstart his writing career. Read more about Isbell's career in science communications at aerospace.illinois.edu

Watch AE students Alp Alptekin, Ben Folgers, and Nicolas Vincent in Professor Elle Wroblewski's section of AE 202 describe what worked well in the design of their catapult-glider launch system.

Dan Jensen, BS '88, is the 2024 Harry H. Hilton Dedicated Service award recipient. He is the head of engineering services at Rolls-Royce and was just elected by AIAA's Council of Directors to be the next Speaker of the Council.
Read the full story at aerospace.illinois.edu/news/65326

Chris Raymond, BS '86, received a 2024 Alumni Award for Distinguished Service from The Grainger College of Engineering. He is currently the executive vice president of The Boeing Company, and president and chief executive officer of Boeing Global Services. Learn more at grainger.illinois.edu/alumni/disting…

Traci Elving, BS '85, left her 38-year career in industry a year ago to join AE's staff. She's giving back to her Alma Mater by building corporate partnerships that will benefit all, including students, faculty, and the industry.
Read more at aerospace.illinois.edu/news/65253

There isn’t a textbook yet on sustainable aviation, but thanks to AE's Phillip Ansell, there is a creative, first-of-its-kind course at Illinois. Ansell received the 2024 Rose Award for Teaching Excellence from The Grainger College of Engineering. aerospace.illinois.edu/news/65243.

AE senior Matt Pactol describes testing the horizontal rocket launch between the two bridges of Boneyard Creek. It will be Illinois Space Society's exhibit in the 2024 Engineering Open House on April 5 and 6. The Grainger College of Engineering University of Illinois Illinois Space Society SEDS

Join us for a free screening of Fly Girls: Breaking Barriers in the Sky. The film will begin at 5:30 pm on Thursday, March 28 at Beckman Institute, 405 N Mathews Ave in Urbana. A panel discussion will follow about women in AE and aviation. Register forms.illinois.edu/sec/20226920.