2024 Alumni Hall of Fame
Built upon their common educational foundation at NC State University, The MAE Alumni Hall of Fame was established in 2012 to inspire our current students, and to celebrate the accomplishments of our extraordinary graduates who have used their education to excel in a profession, career, or service. This nomination is based on professional and service achievement, entrepreneurship, and contributions to professional societies making this a truly noteworthy distinction.
With over 12,000 MAE alumni, only 170, including this year’s class, have been inducted into the MAE Hall of Fame. The MAE Department is honored to celebrate this prestigious ceremony with the 2024 class.
Click here to watch the 2024 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.
MSAE ’01, PhD AE ’03
Dr. Ryan Bond is a Research Professor at the University of Tennessee Space Institute, where he has been a member of the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering since 2016. He earned his B.S. degrees in both Aerospace Engineering and Mathematics from Mississippi State University in 1998, followed by an M.S. in Aerospace Engineering in 2001 and a Ph.D. in 2003 from North Carolina State University. Dr. Bond also holds an M.B.A. from the University of New Mexico, awarded in 2015.
Dr. Bond’s career spans over two decades of cutting-edge research and leadership in computational fluid dynamics, high-temperature gas dynamics, and thermochemistry. Prior to joining the University of Tennessee, he held key positions at Sandia National Laboratories, where he managed the Computational Thermal & Fluid Mechanics Department and contributed as Principal and Senior Member of the Technical Staff in Aerosciences. He also served as a Senior Engineer at Arnold Engineering Development Complex, leading initiatives in computational simulation and modeling.
His research interests include numerical methods for compressible flows, wall-bounded turbulence, and high-temperature gas dynamics. He is widely published, having authored numerous journal articles and conference proceedings on topics ranging from computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to advanced aerothermal modeling for hypersonic flight testing.
BSAE ’96
Dr. John Bradford is the Chief Executive Officer and a Principal Engineer at SpaceWorks Enterprises, Inc. Over his more than 20 years at SpaceWorks, he has previously served in leadership roles including President and Chief Technical Officer and has guided the firm through a period of growth and technical achievements. In addition to executive leadership, Dr. Bradford lends his technical expertise in systems analysis and the design of future space systems.
Dr. Bradford has led and contributed to numerous government, commercial, and privately-funded space efforts. Over his career, he has conducted research on human stasis (torpor) for deep space exploration, led the development of new rocket-based high speed propulsion systems, designed future reusable space launch concepts, and performed business case assessments for various emerging commercial space markets. Prior to joining SpaceWorks, Dr. Bradford worked at both NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and Aerojet.
Throughout his career, Dr. Bradford has been a dedicated proponent of STEM engagement with the goal of fostering and advancing interest in space. For over twenty years he has appeared as a panelist at science fiction conventions speaking on topics related to space exploration. For more than a decade he has served as a judge and steering committee member for NASA’s Revolutionary Aerospace Concepts – Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) program, a national college-level student engineering design competition.
Dr. Bradford holds a Doctorate and Master’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology (2001, 1997). His graduate research in advanced propulsion was supported through a NASA Graduate Student Researchers Program (GSRP) fellowship.
He is a Senior Member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), a NASA NIAC Fellow, an Amazon MARS alumnus, a NASA Academy (NAAA) alumnus, and Steering Committee Chair for NASA’s RASC-AL competition. He currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife and two children.
BSAE ’07
Dr. Katya Casper is a principal member of the technical staff at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM. She develops, conducts, and manages wind tunnel experiments in support of Sandia’s programs. Her work centers on high-speed experimental fluid dynamics, with a focus in hypersonic boundary-layer transition and hypersonic fluid-structure interactions. She also works on flight test instrumentation development and to apply traditional wind-tunnel diagnostics to novel applications and testing environments at Sandia. She received her B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from North Carolina State University in 2007, her M.S. from Purdue University in 2009, and completed her Ph.D. at Purdue University in Aeronautics and Astronautics in 2012. She is the 2019 recipient of the AIAA Lawrence Sperry Award.
PhD AE ’85
Prof. Renato M. Cotta obtained his B.Sc. in Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering, at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, UFRJ, Brazil, in 1981, and his PhD in Mechanical & Aerospace Eng. from North Carolina State Univ., NCSU, USA, in 1985. He became Assistant Professor at the Aeronautics Technological Institute, ITA, Brazil, 1985-1987, then Associate Prof., at UFRJ, in 1987, and Professor, at COPPE-UFRJ in 1994, and at POLI-UFRJ in 1997, until the present. Author of more than 600 articles, 10 books, and supervisor of 49 MSc, 39 PhD, and 18 PosDocs. He is member of 15 Editorial Boards, including Int. J. Heat & Mass Transfer, Int. Comm. Heat & Mass Transfer, Int. J. Thermal Sciences, and Editor of the Annals of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. Served as President of the Brazilian Association of Mechanical Sciences & Engineering, ABCM, from 2000-2001, as member of the Scientific Council, International Centre for Heat & Mass Transfer, ICHMT, since 1993, of the Executive Comm. ICHMT, 2006-2022, ICHMT EC Chairman, 2017-2018, and Congress Comm., Int. Union of Theoretical & Applied Mechanics, IUTAM, 2012-2018. Served as Executive Director for the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, 2012-2015. He received the ICHMT Hartnett-Irvine Award, in 2009 and 2015, the ICHMT Fellowship Award, 2019, the National Order of Scientific Merit, Brazil, in 2009 (Comendador) and 2018 (Grã-Cruz), and the National Order of Naval Merit, Brazil, 2018. In 2023, he was awarded the prestigious Luikov Medal of the ICHMT, 2022 edition. Member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, since 2009, National Engineering Academy, since 2011, and The World Academy of Sciences, TWAS, since 2012. Holds the Doctor Honoris Causa title from Université de Reims, URCA, France, since 2018. President of the National Commission of Nuclear Energy, CNEN, both regulatory body and science promoter in nuclear energy in Brazil, 2015-2017. Adjunct Professor at the University of Miami, 1993-2005, and Leverhulme Trust Visiting Prof. at the University College London, UCL, UK. Member of the National Council of Energy Policy, CNPE, Ministry of Mines and Energy, Brazil, 2020-2022. Member of the Technical Working Group (TWG) in Nuclear Desalination, IAEA, 2021-2024. Since 2017, is commissioned as Senior Technical Consultant (Amazul S.A.) for the General Director of Nuclear and Technological Development, in the Brazilian Navy.
BSAE ’84, MSAE ’86, PhD AE ’90
Following his PhD graduation in 1990, Dr. Gaffney took a position with Analytical Services & Materials, Inc., performing fundamental research under contract to NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) in Hampton, Virginia. His work involved modeling and numerically simulating supersonic reacting flows for the National Aerospace Plane Program. In 2000, he accepted a civil servant position with the Hypersonic Airbreathing Propulsion Branch at LaRC and contributed to the Hyper-X program and the flights of the X-43 hypersonic air-breathing vehicles at Mach 7 and 10 in 2004. In 2009, he was asked to serve as the Associate Principle Investigator for Hypersonic Propulsion in NASA’s Hypersonics Project. In this role he was responsible for planning and managing NASA’s research portfolio for hypersonic air-breathing propulsion. During this period, his portfolio supported the flights of the USAF/DARPA X-51 vehicle and the USAF/NASA HIFiRE Flight 2 payload. He continued in this leadership role until 2014, when he became the branch head of the Hypersonic Airbreathing Propulsion Branch. Dr. Gaffney is an AIAA Associate Fellow and serves on the JANNAF Technical Steering Group for the Combustion Subcommittee.
J. Budd Hipp Jr., a North Carolina State University Mechanical Engineering graduate, founded HIPP Design + Consulting in 2001. With experience as a field engineer at General Electric and in HVAC and clean industry project management, Budd has grown HIPP into a multi-office firm serving the food, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and biotech sectors. The firm has earned numerous awards, including TBJ Life Sciences Company of the Year (2024) and ENR Texas Facility of the Year (2023), and has led projects with values up to $4.2 billion. Recognizing industry staffing needs, Budd also established HIPP Workforce Solutions to provide specialized talent. He stays connected to his alma mater, serving on the NC State MAE Advisory Committee and mentoring students through the Goodnight Fellowship program. All three of Budd’s children are proud NC State graduates, carrying on the family tradition. Licensed in NC, GA, SC, VA, and TX, Budd is active in professional organizations, including ISPE, ASHRAE, ASME, NFPA, ACEC, and NCHEA.
PhD ME ’89
Professor Kim received a B.S.(1981) and M.S.(1983) from Hanyang University, Seoul Korea. He also got a Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University, USA in 1989. He worked for ALCOA (Aluminum Company of America) as a Post-doc at North Carolina State University from 1989 to 1991.
Wooseung Kim was a professor of Mechanical Engineering Department at the College of Engineering and Science of Hanyang University (ERICA Campus) since 1991.
Professor Wooseung Kim has served as the 15th president of Hanyang University since March 2019 and retired after completing his term as the president of Hanyang University in February 2023. He received a first-class medal from the nation for his service and dedication as an educator in 2023.
He has been the president of ABEEK(Accreditation Board for Engineering Education of Korea) since 2019.
He received a national medal in recognition of his contribution to promoting industry-academia cooperation in 2011. He was a member on Presidential Committee on Education Innovation. He was also a member on Presidential Committee on Balanced National Development and he served as a member on National Science and Technology Council. He completed his two-year term as co-chairman of the National Industry-Academic-Research Cooperation Committee along with the Prime Minister in November 2022.
He is currently serving as vice chairman of the ‘Glocal University 30’ project promoted by the Ministry of Education, and the total budget of the project is 3 trillion won(2.3 billion dollars). Professor Kim is a Emeritus Member of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea.
BSAE ’88
Al Mason graduated from NC State University in 1988 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering. After graduation, he went to work for Bihrle Applied Research at NASA-Langley as an Aerodynamicist. There, Al managed programs to test and analyze the flight characteristics of advanced military aircraft with the goal of improving post stall flight performance.
After this experience, he returned to school for an MBA (with a concentration in Finance and Operations) from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. He joined Goodrich Corporation and helped grow the company’s Aerospace Segment as a Financial Analyst for Mergers and Acquisitions. He also held a number of senior operations leadership roles in his 13 years at Goodrich and developed an expertise in driving operational excellence.
Al has spent the majority of the last two decades in an executive leadership role for Altra Industrial Motion – a manufacturer of power transmission and motion control products – standardizing and evolving Altra’s approach to Operational Excellence in support of fivefold revenue growth, threefold profit margin improvement and 4.5X share price increase over company’s 18-year history. Al has recently taken on the role of Vice President – Business Excellence at ESAB Corporation, a $2.6B manufacturer of welding and gas control products. He is well known for his depth of expertise in the Toyota Production System and has contributed significantly to the development of capable leaders in the businesses he has served.