The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the world’s largest aerospace professional society, has selected Dr. Frank D. Han to be a distinguished member of the Class of 2027 AIAA Associate Fellow.

Han is an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Missouri S&T.

According to the AIAA, the grade of Associate Fellow recognizes individuals “who have accomplished or been in charge of important engineering or scientific work, or who have done original work of outstanding merit, or who have otherwise made outstanding contributions to the arts, sciences, or technology of aeronautics or astronautics.” Only 17% of AIAA members are selected as Associate Fellows.

Han joined the Missouri S&T faculty in 2017 from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he served as an assistant research professor in aerospace engineering. He earned a Ph.D. in astronautical engineering from the University of Southern California in 2015. His research interests include gas and plasma modeling, space propulsion and high-performance computing. In 2021, he received a Young Investigator Award from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) to support his research on electrospray propulsion systems.