Francine Battaglia elected as AIAA Associate Fellow

By Elizabeth Egan 

The position of AIAA Associate Fellow is earned by individuals of distinction who have made notable and valuable contributions to the arts, sciences, or technology of aeronautics or astronautics. Only one fellow for every 150 voting members is selected annually. Nominees must be a senior member of the AIAA, have at least 12 years of professional experience and be recommended by at least three AIAA members.

“It is an honor to be inducted as an Associate Fellow of AIAA," said Battaglia. I look forward to continuing my support and contributions to the profession, educating the next generation of aerospace engineers, promoting faculty careers, and serving the aerospace and broader engineering communities.”

Mark Glauser, professor emeritus in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Syracuse University and a School of Engineering and Applied Sciences alum who serves as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council, nominated Battaglia for the position.

"Professor Battaglia is recognized for her outstanding commitment towards educating the next generation of aerospace engineers as the chair of the only accredited aerospace engineering program within SUNY, promoting faculty careers, serving the aerospace engineering community with her research and more,” said Glauser, who noted that the recognition contributes to Battaglia’s reputation as well as the reputation of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University at Buffalo.

According to excerpts from the nomination, Battaglia has been a member of AIAA since she was an undergraduate at UB and participated in student conferences. As department chair she supported the UB student chapter when they were selected to host the regional conference and continues to provide other support to the chapter.

Battaglia is also a member of the American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the American Society of Thermal and Fluids Engineers (ASTFE), of which she is currently serving a two-year term as president. She is currently the editor-in-chief of the ASME Journal of Fluids Engineering and is a 2019-20 fellow of the Mid-American Conference Academic Leadership Development Program. Battaglia has co-authored 130 refereed journal articles and conference papers and has supervised over 40 graduate students.

She has received many awards for her accomplishments, including the College of Engineering Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence from Virginia Tech, where she taught for a decade before coming to UB, the ASME Dedicated Service Award, and UB’s Distinguished Postdoc Mentoring Award.

Battaglia’s research interests include computational fluid dynamics; building energy utilization and renewable/alternative energy; turbulent multiphase and reacting flows. She earned her PhD in mechanical engineering from Pennsylvania State University and her master’s degree in aerospace engineering and bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from UB.

The fellows will be honored with an official induction at the 2025 AIAA Associate Fellow Induction Ceremony on January 8, in Orlando.