2023 IEEE Simon Ramo Medal recipient Azad Madni
Azad Madni, University Professor of astronautical engineering, holder of the Northrop Grumman Foundation Fred O’Green Chair in Engineering, and executive director of the USC Viterbi Systems Architecting and Engineering Program, receives the 2023 IEEE Simon Ramo Medal for exceptional achievement in systems engineering and systems science.
The medal, established by the IEEE Board of Directors in 1982, is named in honor of the distinguished engineering contributions of Dr. Simon Ramo, former vice chairman of the board and chairman of the executive committee of TRW, Inc.
Madni is being honored for pioneering contributions to model-based systems engineering, education, and industrial impact using interdisciplinary approaches. The award will be presented on May 5, 2023, at the Hilton Atlanta in Atlanta, Georgia.
USC Viterbi Dean Yannis C. Yortsos said: “The IEEE Simon Ramo Medal is the premier recognition of excellence in systems and interdisciplinary engineering. It is wonderful that USC Viterbi Professor Azad Madni has received this honor after having already received some of the most prestigious awards in systems engineering research and education from several professional organizations and societies including INCOSE, IEEE AESS, IEEE SMC, NDIA, AIAA, ASEE, and IISE. Azad’s contributions to this burgeoning area have been innovative, pioneering and lasting. And it is particularly fitting and rewarding since Si Ramo held a USC honorary professorship at USC and was a mentor to many of us during his magnificent career.”
Transdisciplinary Engineering Trailblazer
Madni is a pioneer in the field of transdisciplinary systems engineering. His research focuses on intelligent systems, distributed autonomy, and formal and probabilistic methods and machine learning in complex systems modeling.
“My fascination with the field began with my first course in systems engineering, which I took as an undergraduate,” said Madni, who received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles. “Over the years, I actively pursued opportunities to innovate, commercialize and transition government- and industry-sponsored research in systems engineering. These innovations were exceptionally well-received by both researchers and practitioners in the systems engineering community. For me, it was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream of becoming a leading voice in the field and defining the new paradigm of transdisciplinary systems engineering.”
Madni wrote a highly acclaimed book on the subject, “Transdisciplinary Systems Engineering: Exploiting Convergence in a Hyper-Connected World” (Springer, 2018). His research publications and books on transdisciplinary systems engineering, and, more generally, the convergence of engineering with other disciplines, are widely recognized in the engineering community as having transformed the way scholars and practitioners think about not just systems engineering, but engineering in the 21st century in the service of humanity.
“I am thrilled and honored to be receiving this medal,” said Madni. “It is the ultimate validation of my research and education contributions to systems engineering and systems science.”
Madni, who was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering in 2021, is a life fellow or fellow of ten professional science and engineering societies including IEEE, INCOSE, IISE, AIAA, AAAS and Washington Academy of Sciences. He has received numerous prestigious awards and honors from the U.S. Government, aerospace industry, professional societies and commercial organizations. Most recently, he was chosen by the National Academy of Engineering to receive the 2023 Bernard Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education, the highest honor in engineering education.
To learn more about the IEEE Simon Ramo Medal, click here.
Published on January 5th, 2023
Last updated on January 11th, 2024
