Joseph Katz

Joseph Katz is a Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the San Diego State University (was Dept chair between 96 – 08). Prior to this academic position he spent four years at the NASA Ames research centre's full-scale wind tunnel facility. For his work in developing the PMARC computational program he and his team received the 1997 NASA Space Act Award for creative development, and the 2003 NASA Creative Development, Software Release Award. During his academic career he taught and developed numerous graduate and undergraduate courses in both the Aerospace and the Mechanical engineering departments, and is the author of several books and over 100 other publications. His book on introductory fluid dynamics received excellent reviews (e.g., from AIAA) and his graduate text on low speed aerodynamics and panel methods (with A. Plotkin) is the only book covering this important engineering subject. Dr. Katz has a rich and diverse academic and engineering background covering typical aerospace disciplines such as computational and experimental aerodynamics. In recent years he was active in the aerodynamic development of unmanned aerial vehicles (Global Hawk, E-Hunter) and of several sport and racecars. He received numerous awards as the most influential teacher, outstanding educator (AIAA), and his book on Race Car Aerodynamics can be found on the desks of most race-car designers around the world.