Heath named an AIAA Associate Fellow

Michael Heath, the Fulton Watson Copp Chair in computer science, has been named an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Heath is director of the Computational Science and Engineering Program and the Center for Simulation of Advanced Rockets (CSAR) at Illinois--one of five university-based Centers of Excellence founded in 1997 and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Simulation and Computing program, whose objective is to enable accurate prediction of the performance, reliability, and safety of complex physical systems through computational simulation. CSAR's mission is to achieve this goal in the specific context of solid propellant rockets, which are of vital importance to the space launch industry. A particular focus for CSAR is on the reusable solid rocket motor (RSRM) that powers the U.S. Space Shuttle.

The overarching goal of CSAR is integrated, whole-system simulation of solid propellant rockets under both normal and abnormal operating conditions. Achieving this goal requires the development of accurate models of physical components, subscale simulations of materials and accident scenarios, a software framework to facilitate component integration, a computational infrastructure to support large-scale simulations, and extensive research collaborations with government laboratories and the rocket industry.

Heath's research interests are primarily in scientific computing and parallel computing, and the relationship between them. In scientific computing and numerical analysis, Prof. Heath focuses on numerical linear algebra and optimization, particularly sparse matrix computations, such as direct methods for solving sparse systems of linear equations and least squares problems. In addition to the simluation of rocket engines, applications of his work in this area have included large-scale problems in geodesy, finite element structural analysis.

Heath has served as editor of the SIAM Journal on Scientific Computing, SIAM Review, and the International Journal of High Performance Computing Applications, as well as several conference proceedings. He is also author of the widely adopted textbook Scientific Computing: An Introductory Survey, 2nd edition, published by McGraw-Hill in 2002. In 2000, he was named an ACM Fellow by the Association for Computing Machinery. In 2002, he was elected a member of the European Academy of Sciences, and in 2007 he won the Apple Award for Innovation in Science.

AIAA is the world’s largest technical society dedicated to the global aerospace profession. With more than 35,000 individual members worldwide, and 90 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense.
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Contact: Michael Heath, Fulton Watson Copp Chair, Department of Computer Science, 217/333-6268.

Writer: Jennifer La Montagne, associate director of communications, Department of Computer Science, 217/333-4049.

If you have any questions about the College of Engineering, or other story ideas, contact Rick Kubetz, editor, Engineering Communications Office, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 217/244-7716.