Samuel P. Langley Distinguished Professor Dr. Fuh-Gwo Yuan, from NC State University’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, has been selected to receive the 2023 RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company Award for excellence in teaching, research and extension.
This prestigious award was established in 1981 within the College of Engineering to honor a member of the engineering faculty who has demonstrated superiority in several areas of activity that relate to the University’s three-fold mission of teaching, research and extension. The annual award is supported by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company through the NC State Engineering Foundation to bring recognition to scientific and educational achievements in fields of engineering. The recipient is given a $25,000 prize distributed over five years.
As the 39th recipient of the award, Yuan will deliver his lecture “Digital Twin – Enabling Technology for Future Aircraft Health Monitoring” at a seminar evvent on Oct. 16, during which he will be recognized for thirs award by new Dean of the College of Engineering, Jim Pfaendtner.
Yuan joined the NC State faculty in 1989. He also serves at the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) in Hampton, Virginia.
His research interests include structural health monitoring/management (SHM), nondestructive evaluation (NDE), artificial intelligence or machine learning, multi-functional materials and composite structures design, nano/meso scale sensors, advanced computing tools with smart sensors, damage prognosis and energy harvesting. He has authored or co- authored more than 300 publications and has mentored more than 100 individuals ranging from Ph.D. students to visiting scholars.
In his NIA position, Yuan strengthened ties between NC State and the NASA Langley Research Center, resulting in significant NASA funding for College of Engineering faculty members. Yuan’s transformative innovations in SHM have been recognized through multiple national and international honors and awards. He received the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award in SHM and NDE from the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE), as well as the 2023 SHM Hans-Juergen Schmidt Award at the 14th International Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring.
Yuan is a gifted educator beloved by all those he has advised over the years. His dedication to training and advising many students who became civil servants at Langley earned him a NASA Mentoring Award in 2018.
He is a Fellow of two professional societies, SPIE and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He is managing editor of the International Journal of Sustainable Materials and Structural Systems and is an associate editor of two journals and five editorial boards.
He has served as associate director of the National Science Foundation Center for Integration of Composites into Infrastructure at NC State and as director of NC State’s Mars Mission Research Center.
Yuan received a bachelor’s degree in engineering science from National Cheng-Kung University, Taiwan, and master’s and doctoral degrees in theoretical and applied mechanics from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.