PAGE HEADER: The National of Aerospace Announces Second Langley Professor

August 11, 2004 - The National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Kathryn Logan as Langley Professor in Multifunctional Design by the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Dr. Logan is the second of six Langley Professors to be appointed by the six founding member universities of NIA. Dr. Logan will be the principal Virginia Tech faculty member resident at NIA, and will lead NIA’s research program in the field of development of aerospace design elements having multiple functions.

“Dr. Logan is an internationally recognized expert in ceramic engineering and brings with her 30 years of experience designing new materials,” says Dr. Robert Lindberg, NIA President and Executive Director. “Her broad experimental and theoretical background in ceramics, polymers and metal materials will prove invaluable in the development of innovative multifunctional materials for airplanes and spacecraft.”

Since 2001, Dr. Logan has held the position of Principal Research Engineer Emerita at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her prior career positions at Georgia Tech include Director of Research in the School of Materials Science and Engineering, Special Assistant to the Vice Provost, and Laboratory Director at the Georgia Tech Research Institute. She received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Ceramic Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Georgia Tech.

“Dr. Logan brings extensive research and managerial experience to the position,” says Dr. Ed Henneke, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech. “In addition to her responsibility to establish a strong graduate education program at the National Institute of Aerospace, she will be leading the establishment of new multidisciplinary research activities between Virginia Tech faculty, NASA Langley researchers and faculty from the other NIA member universities.”

Each Langley Professor holds a teaching and research faculty appointment at one of the NIA’s founding member universities. They work closely as an integrated team with NIA’s staff, NASA Langley’s leadership and other member faculty to create a unique research and education institute. NIA’s founding members continue to recruit Langley Professors for distinguished faculty in the fields of Earth System Science, High Confidence Computational Systems, and Quantum/Molecular Materials Design for Sensors.

The National Institute of Aerospace is a world-class non-profit research and graduate institute, located just outside NASA’s Langley Research Center. It was created to complement Langley’s mission to do cutting-edge aerospace and atmospheric research, develop new technologies for the nation, and help train the next generation of scientists and engineers.

NIA was formed by a consortium of universities and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Foundation. The roster of major research universities includes consortium members: Georgia Institute of Technology, Hampton University, North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina State University, University of Maryland, University of Virginia, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and affiliate members: Old Dominion University and the College of William & Mary.