Anthony M. Waas
Felix Pawlowski Collegiate Professor
Location
3064 François-Xavier Bagnoud Aerospace Building
1320 Beal Avenue Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2140
Primary Website
https://sites.google.com/umich.edu/um-csl
Education
California Institute of Technology
PhD Aeronautics and Applied Mathematics ’88
MS Aeronautics ’83
Imperial College, University of London
BSc Aeronautics ’82
City and Guilds Institute, London
ACGI ’82
Teaching
(Courses taught at UM): A variety of UG and Grad Classes, including AE215, AE301, AE 315, AE415, AE516, AE518, AE200, AE585
Research Interests
Science and Engineering of lightweight materials and structures, with a focus on additive manufacturing, material instabilities, structural integrity and damage tolerance, including damage mechanics and fracture mechanics. Physics-based mechanical models of deformation response of fiber reinforced composite aerospace structures, textile composite structures and ceramic composites for high-temperature applications that demand high specific weight. Mechanics of “natural” materials and structures, specifically bio-materials and biological composites. Chemo-mechanics of polymers and polymer composites.
Professional Service
- American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (Fellow)
- Royal Aeronautical Society of UK (Fellow)
- The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (Fellow)
- American Society for Composites (Fellow)
- American Academy of Mechanics (Fellow)
- International Committee on Composite Materials (World Fellow)
Biography
Anthony M. Waas is the Felix Pawlowski Collegiate Chair in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan. He is also a Professor of Mechanical Engineering. Prior to that he was the Richard A. Auhll Department Chair (2018-2023), and Boeing Egtvedt Endowed Chair Professor and Department Chair in the William E. Boeing, and Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the University of Washington (UW), Seattle (2015-2018). His current research interests are: robotically manufactured lightweight structures, including in-space manufactured structures, computational modeling of composite aerostructures, 3D printed lightweight structures, damage tolerance of composite structures, affordable textile composites, hydrogen storage for mobility, and data science applications in modeling of materials and structures. Professor Waas was the Felix Pawlowski Collegiate Chair Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Director, Composite Structures Laboratory at the University of Michigan, from 1988 to 2014, prior to joining UW in January 2015.
Professor Waas is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME), the American Society for Composites (ASC), the American Academy of Mechanics (AAM) and the Royal Aeronautical Society, UK. He is a recipient of several best paper awards, the 2016
AIAA/ASME SDM award, the AAM Jr. Research Award, the ASC Outstanding Researcher Award, and several distinguished awards from the University of Michigan, including the Stephen S. Attwood award for Excellence in Engineering, one of the highest honors for an Engineering faculty member at the University of Michigan. He received the AIAA-ASME-ASC James H. Starnes, jr. Award, 2017, for seminal contributions to composite structures and materials, and for mentoring students and other young professionals. In 2017, Professor Waas was elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences, and in 2018 to the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. He is the recipient of the AIAA ICME Prize, 2020, the ASME Warner T. Koiter Medal, 2020, and the AIAA Dryden Lecture in Research, presented at the International Scitech Conference, 2022. Recently, Prof. Waas was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering – Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board and was awarded the CT Sun Medal, American Society of Composites, 2023.
POSITIONS HELD AT U-M
- Richard A. Auhl Department Chair of Aerospace Engineering (2018 to present)
- Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Aerospace Engineering (2014 – 2018)
- Professor, Dept. of Aerospace Engineering (2000-2014)
- Associate Chair, Dept. of Aerospace Engineering (2003-2004)
- Associate Professor, Dept. of Aerospace Engineering (1994-2000)
- Assistant Professor, Dept. of Aerospace Engineering (1988-1994)
Awards
He is a recipient of several best paper awards, the 2016 AIAA/ASME SDM award, the AAM Jr. Research Award, the ASC Outstanding Researcher Award, and several distinguished awards from the University of Michigan, including the CoE David Liddle Research Award, The Ted Kennedy Award and the CoE Stephen Atwood Award. He received the AIAA-ASC James H. Starnes, jr. Award, 2017, for seminal contributions to composite structures and materials and for mentoring students and other young professionals. In 2017, Professor Waas was elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences, and in 2018 to the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. In 2020, he won the ASME/Boeing Best Paper Award, AIAA ICME Prize, multiple best paper awards and the ASME Warner T. Koiter Medal for lifelong contributions to understanding compressive instabilities in fiber reinforced composites. Recently, Prof. Waas was elected to the National Academies Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board. Waas was also awarded to present the AIAA Dryden Lecture in Research in 2022 at the AIAA Scitech Conference.
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