Maughmer receives Distinguished Alumnus Award
5/7/2019
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Mark D. Maughmer, professor of aerospace engineering at Penn State, recently received a Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (UIUC).
Maughmer, a Penn State faculty member since 1984, received both his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from UIUC in 1972 and 1983, respectively.
His research activities have centered on the aerodynamic design and performance of flight vehicles, both fixed wing and rotorcraft. While the focus of his research is applied, it covers the spectrum of being analytical, computational and experimental. His work has ranged from fundamental research, such as developing improved models of laminar separation bubbles and transition prediction, to the development of design tools, including his work on induced drag prediction and inverse design methods, to the practical design of aircraft components that are in widespread production.
Maughmer’s work in the development of airfoil design tools is well known, as are his airfoil designs, which have been employed on a number of low-speed aircraft and sailplanes. He is also a pioneer in winglet design, and his winglets have been employed on hundreds of production sailplanes, conferring significant improvements in cross-country speed, handling qualities and stall behavior.
He has been recognized with numerous awards for his teaching and research, including the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Sustained Service Award, AIAA J. Leland Atwood Award, AIAA Piper General Aviation Award, Penn State Engineering Alumni Society (PSEAS) Outstanding Teaching Award, PSEAS Premier Teaching Award, Penn State Alumni Association Teaching Fellow Award, American Society for Engineering Education Fred Merryfield Design Award and a National Aeronautics and Space Administration Group Achievement Award.