Madni receives certificate as an AIAA honorary fellow from AIAA Immediate Past President Laura J. McGill
Professor Azad Madni is internationally recognized as a leader in aerospace systems engineering and intelligent systems technology.
He is credited with developing the field of transdisciplinary systems engineering, which he defines as a meta-discipline that leverages the convergence of engineering with other fields of knowledge and practice. His award-winning book on the subject, “Transdisciplinary Systems Engineering: Exploiting Convergence in a Hyperconnected World” (2018), explains how this approach serves to understand, frame and explore solutions to complex sociotechnical systems problems that appear intractable when viewed solely through an engineering lens.
Madni presents his acceptance speech as an AIAA honorary fellow, alongside AIAA Immediate Past President Laura J. McGill
Drawing upon these principles, Madni created TRASEE™: a transdisciplinary systems engineering education paradigm that seeks to advance learning by removing unnecessary siloes within engineering curricula. By foregrounding the power of storytelling and role-playing approaches for enhanced information retention and problem solving, TRASEE™ serves as an exemplar of progressive pedagogy in a STEM discipline. This innovation in engineering education received the 2023 Gordon Prize from the National Academy of Engineering (NAE).
Madni’s pioneering achievements have been recognized with multiple prestigious honors and awards. In addition to being a member of the NAE and an honorary member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), he is a Life Fellow or Fellow of several other professional science and engineering societies including the IEEE, AAAS, INCOSE, IISE, AIMBE, WAS, IETE and SDPS.
He is now the first USC faculty member to be elected as an honorary fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). This is particularly significant in the context of California, which holds approximately 9% of the combined global space and aircraft market (according to a 2021 economic impact report).
“To be made an honorary fellow of AIAA is one of the crowning moments of my career,” stated Madni at the award ceremony that took place on 14 May at the Washington Plaza Hotel, Washington D.C., and at the gala that took place at the Kennedy Center on 15 May where he made his formal acceptance speech.
“I have always sought to open fluid pathways between academia and industry, and AIAA’s recognition of my work and guiding principles is a testament to the necessary integration of distinct realms – an attitude that is equally true of the pedagogical paradigm established by TRASEE™.”
Madni receives Distinguished Career Award in Systems Engineering from the Washington Academy of Sciences, alongside Ram Sriram and Mahesh Mani
During his visit to the nation’s capital, Madni also received a Distinguished Career Award in Systems Engineering from the Washington Academy of Sciences. The award marked his role not only as an educational pioneer, but also an industry innovator specializing in model-based approaches for addressing complex sociotechnical systems problems of national and global significance.
“Professor Madni’s achievements are numerous, impressive and very impactful,” said Dean Yannis Yortsos. “I join my colleagues in congratulating him on these and many more honors to come.”
Visit Madni’s USC Viterbi bio to learn more about the scope of his practice and multiple awards.
Published on June 6th, 2024
Last updated on June 15th, 2024
