UTA aerospace engineering professor named AIAA Fellow

Frank Lu, a professor in the Aerospace Engineering Department at The University of Texas at Arlington, has been named a Fellow of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics.

He is the first UTA faculty member to earn the honor.

Lu, who is also a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering and the Royal Aeronautical Society, was cited by AIAA for "sustained contributions in gasdynamics and detonation-based technologies, and development of novel experimental facility and measurement techniques." He will be formally inducted at the organization's Aerospace Spotlight Awards Gala May 3 in Washington, D.C.

"I am honored and very pleased to be elected an AIAA Fellow," Lu said. "To be recognized by one's peers in such a fashion is a humbling acknowledgement of a lifetime of work."

Lu joined the UTA College of Engineering in 1987 and has been the director of the University's Aerodynamics Research Center since 1993. He has secured more than $6 million in research funding during his career in the areas of fluid dynamics, shock and viscous phenomena, aerodynamic heating, jets and sprays, supersonic and hypersonic flows, propulsion, detonation, fuel reformation and power production, fail-safe construction, shape memory alloys, natural convection, flow visualization, and instrumentation and facility development. He has authored or co-authored more than 100 journal articles, conference papers and other publications, and has mentored dozens of graduate and undergraduate students during his tenure at UTA. In addition, he holds seven U.S. patents.

"This is a remarkable recognition of Professor Lu's accomplishments, standing and professional service within the aerospace community," said Erian Armanios, chair of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department. "It is also an acknowledgement of his leadership of the Aerodynamics Research Center, which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary, and of UTA's unique place in aerospace research and education."

Provided by University of Texas at Arlington