Department of Aerospace Engineering

MS,  Aerospace Engineering, 1983

Astronaut, National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Clayton C. Anderson is the first Iowa State University alumnus to become an astronaut. A Nebraska native, he earned his BS in physics at Hastings College. After a summer internship at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, he began his MS work at Iowa State in aerospace engineering. Following graduation in 1983, Anderson joined NASA full time in the Mission Planning and Analysis Division.  Over the next 15 years, his responsibilities included designing rendezvous and proximity operations trajectory designs for early space shuttle and space station missions and leading the trajectory design team for the Galileo planetary mission. Anderson was accepted into the astronaut-training program in 1998.  As an astronaut, he led the development of the Enhanced Caution and Warning System to aid astronauts in diagnosing and correcting problems that occur during space flight. In June 2007, Anderson beganA a 152-day mission onboard the International Space Station. His duties included three spacewalks totaling 18 hours to prepare the station for additional construction. His mission ended successfully on November 7, 2007.

MS, 1978 and PhD, 1979, Aerospace Engineering

Founder, Metacomp Technologies, Inc.

Sukumar Chakravarthy came to Iowa State University with a BTech in Aeronautical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology in Madras and completed his MS (1978) and PhD (1979) in Aerospace Engineering, where he conducted a part of his research at NASA’s Ames and Langley Research Centers. After graduation, he worked at Rockwell International Science Center for 15 years, where he led the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) team.  In 1994, he founded Metacomp Technologies, a small business devoted to research, development, dissemination, and support of effective computational methodologies in a variety of disciplines.  Dr. Chakravarthy is internationally recognized for his contributions to CFD and computational sciences.  Simulation software that he helped to develop is being used by leading organizations around the world in the analysis and design of aerospace, automotive, and hydrodynamic vehicles and devices.  Dr. Chakravarthy has been an Adjunct Faculty at the University of California at Los Angeles since the late 1980s.

BS, Industrial Engineering, 1973

Vice President, Advance Development Programs Deputy
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company

Neil Kacena, a native of Cedar Rapid, Iowa, received his BS from Iowa State University in 1973 and an MS in Management from Troy State University in 1978.  After graduation, he joined the Air Force, where he rose to the rank of Colonel.  His Air Force experience included service as a Fighter Pilot in the F-4 Phantom and F-15 Eagle aircraft, Fighter Weapons School Instructor, the 9th Fighter Squadron Commander, Chief of the U.S. Liaison Office in Doha, Qatar, and Director of Special Programs, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition.  In 1998 Neil joined Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works where he served as the Director of Signature Management Systems and later as the Director of Advanced Development Program’s Technology Development and Integration Organization.  In 2005, he was named Vice President of Advanced Development Programs Deputy.  He also chairs Lockheed Martin’s corporate-wide low observables technology focus group, working across business areas and company lines to address critical technologies for applications to advanced projects.

PhD, Aerospace Engineering

1977 Founder, HyPer Comp, Inc.

Vijaya Shankar received his BTech from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur in 1972 and his PhD in Aerospace Engineering from Iowa State University in 1977.  He started his career with Rockwell Science Center in 1976 and became the Director of Computational Sciences in 1987.  He left Rockwell in 1998 to form HyPerComp, a software company that specializes in high performance computing in multidisciplinary technologies catering to defense and commercial markets.  For his many significant contributions to computational fluid dynamics, electromagnetics, and other disciplines, Dr. Shankar received numerous awards, including the Lawrence Sperry award and the Dryden Research Lectureship from AIAA, the NASA Public Service award, and the Rockwell Engineer of the Year.  For his work in time-domain modeling of electromagnetic wave propagation for stealth applications, Dr. Shankar received the Computerworld Smithsonian Award in Science in 1993.  Dr. Shankar is a Fellow of AIAA.

MS 1952, PhD 1956, Theoretical and Applied Mechanics

Anson Marston Distinguished Professor, Iowa State University

From Joplin, Missouri, Don Young came to Iowa State in 1948 and earned his BS in Mechanical Engineering in 1951 and his MS and PhD in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics in 1952 and 1956.  Dr. Young began his career at Iowa State in 1952 and spent his next 47 years as an exemplary educator and researcher in applied mechanics.  He is internationally recognized for his pioneering contributions in similitude, fluid mechanics, and biomechanics.  Dr. Young was among the first to apply the concepts of fluid mechanics to the study of cardiovascular flow and arterial disease and has helped to create ASME’s Bioengineering Division.  Dr. Young authored and co-authored several books in engineering mechanics and fluid mechanics and numerous scholarly publications.  He was awarded the Anson Marston Distinguished Professorship in 1974 and the ISU Research Foundation Special Recognition Award in 1988.  He is a fellow of ASME.