University of Colorado at Boulder aerospace engineering Professor Martin Mikulas Jr. has been elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering, joining eight other faculty from the campus who have been elected since the academy's formation in 1962.
Peter Teets, president of Lockheed Martin and a 1963 alumnus of the College of Engineering at ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä-Boulder, also was elected to NAE, the academy announced Feb. 16.
Mikulas was honored for his outstanding technical contributions to the development of advanced structural analysis for the aerospace community. During his 40-year career, he pioneered the analysis and design methods for novel space structures, identified the sensitivity of composite compression panels to impacts and led the development of standards for damage tolerance testing for commercial aircraft. He also developed and advanced a theory for vibration and buckling of stiffened, curved and flat panels leading to modern instability analysis and developed design methods for inflatable structures.
Mikulas joined ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä-Boulder's Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences in 1990, concluding a 30-year career at NASA Langley Research Center as a Distinguished Research Scientist. Among Mikulas' other awards are the 1988 NASA Medal for Exceptional Engineering Achievement and the 1983 NASA Exceptional Service Medal. He also is a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Other ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä-Boulder faculty who are members of the National Academy of Engineering, and their year of election, are Valerian Tatarskii, elected a foreign associate in 1994; Earl Gossard, 1990; Don Hearth, 1989; Richard Strauch, 1989; Jacques Pankove, 1986; Richard Seebass, 1985; Klaus Timmerhaus, 1975; and Max Peters, 1969.