Contact: Bob Ratliff
Two Mississippi State University aerospace engineers are being honored by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
A. George Bennett Jr. and Zahir U. Warsi are being named AIAA Associate Fellows on the basis of significant contributions to the aerospace industry. They join two other MSU scientists, Robert L. Cook and Carlson C.P. Pian, whose selection for the 1999 honor was announced earlier [see Nov. 16 release].
Based in Reston, Va., AIAA is the principal organization of aerospace-related professions. Its membership includes more than 37,000 individual and corporate members around the world.
Bennett earned a bachelor's degree at MSU and master's and doctoral degrees at the University of Illinois. In addition to teaching and research duties, Bennett serves as director of the Raspet Flight Research Laboratory, where he leads a government-industrial-university partnership currently developing large-scale composite structures for naval use.
The Raspet Lab also recently contracted with La Jolla, Calif.-based duPont Aerospace Co. to produce surface molds and other components for a new-generation vertical takeoff and landing turbofan-powered aircraft.
Warsi, a faculty member since 1967, holds undergraduate and doctoral degrees from the University of Lucknow, India. He has taught both graduate and undergraduate courses in fluid dynamics--his research specialty--and engineering mechanics. Warsi was among an original team of scientists developing the concept of grid generation by numerical methods.
Among Warsi's numerous publications is a textbook, "Fluid Dynamics: Theoretical and Computational Approaches," published earlier this year.