|
Sheila
Widnall
Institute
Professor
Professor of Aeronautics
and Astronautics and
Engineering Systems
Dr.
Widnall received her Sc.D. from MIT.
She
has served as Associate Provost, MIT, and as Secretary of
the Air Force. As Secretary of the Air Force, Dr. Widnall
was responsible for all affairs of the Department of the
Air Force including recruiting, organizing, training, administration,
logistical support, maintenance, and welfare of personnel.
During this time, the Air Force issued its long range vision
statement: Global Engagement: A Vision for the 21st Century
Air Force, which defined the path from the air and space
force of today to the space and air force of the next century.
Dr. Widnall was also responsible for research and development
and other activities prescribed by the President or the
Secretary of Defense. She co-chaired the Department of Defense
Task Force on Sexual Harassment and Discrimination. She
later stepped down to resume teaching.
Since
returning to MIT, she has been active in the Lean Aerospace
Initiative, with special emphasis on the space and policy
focus teams. Her research activities in fluid dynamics have
included the following: boundary layer stability, unsteady
hydrodynamic loads on fully wetted and supercavitating hydrofoils
of finite span, unsteady lifting-surface theory, unsteady
air forces on oscillating cylinders in subsonic and supersonic
flow, unsteady leading-edge vortex separation from slender
delta wings, tip-vortex aerodynamics, helicopter noise,
aerodynamics of high-speed ground transportation vehicles,
vortex stability, aircraft-wake studies, turbulence, and
transition. Her teaching activities have included undergraduate
dynamics and aerodynamics, graduate level aerodynamics of
wings and bodies, aeroelasticity, acoustics and aerodynamic
noise, and aerospace vehicle vibration. She
was a member of the Columbia accident investigation board
and she was inducted into the
Women's
Hall of Fame in 2003.
News
and announcements:
Books
Published by Sheila Widnall
Sheila
Widnall wins National Academy of Engineering's Arthur M.
Bueche Award
Three
honorary degrees for Widnall (April 7, 2008)
Sheila
Widnall Delivers Third Annual Brunel Lecture: The Columbia
Tragedy - System-Level Issues for Engineering. Click
here to
see Professor Widnall's presentation on MIT World. (December
2003)
LAI
Book Receives IAA Award (November 7, 2003)
The
Columbia Tragedy: System-Level Issues for Engineering
(November 4, 2003)
Sheila
Widnall Inducted into National Women's Hall of Fame
(October 9, 2003)
Widnall
inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame (October
2003)
Widnall
Appointed to Columbia Accident Investigation Board (February
18, 2003)
Professors
de Neufville, Widnall and ESD supporters named to Massport
security advisory council (January 2003)
Discover
magazine cites Professor Widnall as one of top 50 women
scientists (November 5, 2002)
Digits
of Pi: Barriers and Enablers for Women in Engineering,
a talk given by Sheila Widnall,
Institute Professor. (June 2001)
|
