Congratulations New 2026 AIAA Associate Fellows from North Texas!
The new Associate Fellows will be recognized at a special awards dinner at AIAA Sci-Tech in Orlando, FL on 14 Jan.
Marcel Milanes
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics
Linda O'Brien
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics
Dr. Liang Sun
Baylor University
Dr. Liwei Zhang
University of Texas at Arlington
MATLAB Workshops with Dr. Benavides
Friday, 17 Oct. - GUI Design Part 1
Imagine creating a program anyone can use without ever touching a command line. This is your chance! Join UTA AIAA and Dr. Benavides for the first part of our MATLAB GUI workshop. We'll kick things off by exploring the fundamentals of user-friendly design and start building the visual elements of a custom application. Get ready to transform your code into something you can truly interact with.
Friday, 24 Oct. - GUI Design Part 2
You've designed a great-looking interface—now it's time to give it a brain! In this final workshop brought to you by UTA AIAA, Dr. Benavides will teach you the magic of linking your MATLAB code to your graphical creation. You'll learn to make your buttons clickable and your applications responsive, turning a static design into a dynamic, functional tool you can use and share.
UT Arlington, SEIR 194
655 W Mitchell St, Arlington, TX 76010
12-2pm
$5 for Members, $10 Non-Members
Free Food!
RSVP: QR for All UTA Events
UTA Aero Mavs launch L1 rockets
Initial IREC Comp Rocket Layup completed, but will need to be redone
The UTA Aero Mavs competed initial layup of their IREC competition rocket, but as described in their attached newsletter, they will have to scrap and rework it due to quality issues. They have succeeded with several smaller L1 launches (pictured above) this fall in Oklahoma. Read more about in the Aero Mavs September Newsletter, attached. All Aero Mavs newsletters are posted to the newsletter section of AIAA North Texas Engage library.
Baylor University kicks off bid for AIAA Student Branch
Get Your Career Ready for Takeoff!
On 15 September, Baylor Associate Professor Dr. Liang Sun, Baylor Department of Mechanical Engineering Associate Professor (above right), hosted North Texas Chair James Sergeant for a presentation on the benefits of a student branch, which included making connections with professionals, companies, other colleges, resources, rocket teams as well as hosting program and noted speakers. Baylor is just starting the process, with Dr. Sun as their sponsor, who has already led several Baylor students to present papers at this year’s AIAA SciTech and Aviation and next year at SciTech once again. New student section applications opened in September with a deadline of 14 November. 15 students members are required along with an application which can be found at https://aiaa.org/get-involved/university-students/student-branches/#faqs. About 20 interested students attended with free pizza provided. Presentation charts from the meeting are available on the AIAA North Texas App Luft Orgs, under the Baylor logo.
AIAA CEO Clay Mowry Visits North Texas
Clay Mowry, the AIAA CEO who succeeded Dan Dumbacher on 1 Oct. 2024, visited several of the companies that support AIAA and university student branches in North Texas then attended a networking reception the evening of 8 September at The Social House in Arlington, TX. Before joining AIAA, Clay’s career spanned the commercial launch and satellite sectors as a senior executive for leading space companies and trade associations. Find out more about Clay by reading his AIAA bio here: https://aiaa.org/peoplxasxas e/clay-mowry/
P&W Senior VP of Engineering & Technology, Michael Thacker, presents at UTA
On 6 October at UTA, Michael Thacker, pictured above after his presentation chatting with UTA students, presented Pratt & Whitney’s incredible history and future in commercial and military engine programs. For 100 years, Pratt & Whitney has been a world leader in the design, manufacture, and service of aircraft engines and auxiliary power units, including providing the F135 engine for the locally-produced F-35 fighter. Before going to P&W in Sept. 2024, Mr. Thacker worked at Bell in Fort Worth and Textron/Cessna in Wichita.
Keep up to date with all AIAA North Texas events by following on our Linked In page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aiaa-north-texas-section/
UTA AIAA Events are also posted on Mavs Engage
Development and Flight Test System Identification of an Integrated High Lift Propulsor Testbed
Friday, 24 October 2025
North Texas Joint Webinar: https://aiaa.zoom.us/j/88276861556?pwd=jO2xwOMN4Ef82jiSrY13RsitIs7bWz.1
Passcode: 134198
1-2pm CDT
Outlook Meeting Notice with Tech Paper attached
Byron Ward
Founder and president of Wayfarer Aircraft Research and Development and Principal Investigator for the NASA research. Before founding Wayfarer, Byron worked for 20 years in the civil aircraft industry as an aerodynamicist and flight test engineer on projects ranging from small propeller aircraft to manned spacecraft. Byron received a B.S. and M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan and he has a commercial pilot license.
Wayfarer Aircraft has developed and patented a novel new form of blown wing lift augmentation called the Integrated High Lift Propulsor (IHLP), which uses DEP integrated with a Krueger flap or slat. The integrated system substantially reduces the thrust and power required for lift augmentation while stowing internally to increase cruise efficiency.
Wind tunnel testing was conducted at Mississippi State University’s low-speed wind tunnel to evaluate the performance of the IHLP. Results confirmed the effectiveness of the IHLP in achieving high lift capabilities. Experimental data generally aligned with CFD predictions, with some differences noted. The findings of the experimental work suggest that the IHLP is a promising technology to advance high-lift capabilities in DEP systems. The paper presents IHLP including its advantages and performance improvements in high lift and cruise conditions compared to conventional distributed electric propulsion (DEP) systems. A reconfigurable, subscale distributed electric propulsion testbed is under development using a heavily modified 35%-scale Cessna 182 (Subscale C-182) radio control (R/C) model aircraft, to provide full-scale representative flight test data. Upcoming efforts on a full-scale Cessna 182 will focus on completing the instrumentation system checkout and calibration followed by an expanded flight test campaign aimed at identifying key aircraft performance and handling qualities using classic and system identification techniques
UTA Engineering Alumnus Navid Mansoory, Firefly Aerospace
Monday, 27 October 2025
11:30 am
Nedderman Hall 105
Navid Mansoory is a structural engineer at Firefly Aerospace, lighting up the Texas sky from its Rocket Ranch in Briggs and the Hive in Cedar Park. During his time at UTA, Navil built the foundation that launched his career in aerospace. Today, he contributes to Firefly’s next generation of propulsion and launch systems helping to advanced the lunar lander heading to the moon. Join us to:
- Hear how Navid turned his UTA experience into a career with rockets
- Learn what it’s like to work on cutting-edge launch systems
- Get insight into Firefly’s mission to make space more accessible
- Connect with Firefly’s recruitment team and current interns
Don’t miss your chance to connect, ask questions, and get inspired by one of UTA’s own making waves in the new space industry.