Ian A. Waitz

Dean, MIT School of Engineering

Jerome C. Hunsaker Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics

MacVicar Faculty Fellow

Website: http://web.mit.edu/aeroastro/people/waitz/

Ian A. Waitz is Dean of the School of Engineering, the Jerome C. Hunsaker Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and a MacVicar Faculty Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has been on the faculty at MIT since 1991 and was the Aeronautics and Astronautics department head from 2008 until his appointment as dean in early 2011. Waitz has made advances in gas turbine engines, fluid mechanics, combustion, and acoustics. The principal focus of his current work is on the modeling and evaluation of climate, the air-quality and noise impacts of aviation, and the assessment of technological, operational, and policy options for mitigating these impacts. He is the Director of the Partnership for AiR Transportation Noise and Emissions Reduction (PARTNER), an FAA, NASA, DOD, EPA, and Transport Canada-sponsored Center of Excellence with participants from a dozen universities and 50 industry and government organizations. In addition to scholarly publications, Waitz has contributed to several influential policy documents and scientific assessments including a report to the U.S. Congress on aviation and the environment. He holds three patents, and has consulted for many organizations. In 2003, Waitz received a NASA Turning Goals Into Reality Award for Noise Reduction, and in 2007 he was awarded the FAA Excellence in Aviation Research Award. He is a Fellow of the AIAA, and an ASME and ASEE member. Waitz teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in the fields of thermodynamics and energy conversion, propulsion, and experimental projects. He was honored with the 2002 MIT Class of 1960 Innovation in Education Award and an appointment as an MIT MacVicar Faculty Fellow in 2003. Waitz received his BS in 1986 from the Pennsylvania State University, his MS in 1988 from George Washington University, and his PhD in 1991 from the California Institute of Technology.

Academic Degrees

B.S., 1986, Pennsylvania State University
M.S., 1988, George Washington University
Ph.D., 1991, California Institute of Technology

Specialization and Research Interests

Propulsion, fluid mechanics, combustion, aeroacoustics, environmental effects, microengines

Lab/Research Group Affiliation