Azad Madni
December 1, 2025 – The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) will be honoring USC Professor of Astronautics, Aerospace, and Mechanical Engineering, Azad Madni, with the 2026 Spirit of St. Louis Medal, established in 1929. This recognition is one of the most prestigious honors in the aerospace field. Past honorees include Neil Armstrong (1972), Michael Collins (1980), Robert Liebeck (2005), and Charles Draper (2017).
Azad Madni was selected for “pioneering contributions to model-based performance assessment of NASA Space Shuttle Navigation Filters, pivotal work in AI-based planning and decision aiding of fighter aircraft aircrew, and visionary transformation and leadership in aerospace systems engineering education.”
Madni’s career in aerospace began when he was hired by Rockwell International, Space Division, to work on NASA’s Space Shuttle Program. At Rockwell, he was a key contributor to the Kalman Filter trade studies for the Orbiter navigation system used in the reentry and approach landing mission phases. He led the development of a cost-effective probabilistic modeling methodology for navigation system performance verification by analysis, which significantly reduced the need for Monte Carlo simulations and physical testing in Rockwell’s Avionics Development Laboratory.
After completing his doctorate, he joined Perceptronics, a small R&D company that conducted AI research for the aerospace and defense industries. After leading the company’s highly successful AI and Man-Machine Systems Division, Azad rose to the position of EVP for R&D and CTO of the company. Under Navy and DARPA sponsorship, he led the development of AI-enabled tactical decision aids and “associate systems” for fighter aircraft. In particular, he demonstrated how the tactical decision aiding problem in fighter aircraft can be successfully addressed by combining methods from AI, control theory, fast-time simulation, dynamic programming, and human-machine systems.
In 1994, Madni founded Intelligent Systems Technology, Inc. to pursue AI advances for the real-time support of aircrew/pilots on airborne platforms. With research sponsorship from Northrop Grumman, the Air Force, and midsize defense contractors, he advanced the field of AI-enabled autonomous and human-in-the-loop decision-making in next-generation fighter aircraft and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) teams, while also advancing the field of complex systems engineering.
His academic career began in 2009 when he joined the USC Viterbi School of Engineering as Professor and Executive Director of the Systems Architecting and Engineering Graduate Program, which was primarily focused on the aerospace industry. Today, he holds the rank of University Professor of Astronautics, Aerospace, and Mechanical Engineering (for accomplishments across multiple disciplines). At USC, he introduced the construct of transdisciplinary engineering and wrote an award-winning book on the subject. He employed transdisciplinary thinking to transform both the engineering education paradigm and the teaching approach, while also creating new courses and introducing new “bridging” material to existing, siloed courses that were the norm nationwide. In 2023, he received the NAE’s Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education and the IEEE Simon Ramo Medal for exceptional achievements in systems engineering and systems science.
Madni has several meritorious achievements in aerospace engineering, including advancing the field of Augmented Intelligence and Human-AI Teaming, intelligent digital twinning and environmentally conscious deep learning (“green learning”), interactive storytelling in virtual worlds, and creation of an MBSE testbed for experimenting with autonomous and human-in-the-loop system configurations.
“Madni’s pioneering contributions to aeronautics and astronautics have transformed the consideration of aerospace and astronautics as a complex systems problem,” said Yannis Yortsos, dean of the Viterbi School of Engineering.
Madni is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, an Honorary Fellow of AIAA, an Honorary Member of ASME, a Life Fellow of IEEE, and an IEEE Simon Ramo Medalist, and the recipient of the IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Pioneer Award, Judith A. Resnik Space Award, and Industrial Innovation Award. He is also the recipient of the IEEE SMC Norbert Wiener Outstanding Research Award and the AIAA/ASEE John Leland Atwood Award for Excellence in Aerospace Education. He is a Life Fellow/Fellow of several other professional societies. These achievements place Madni among a distinguished group of aerospace entrepreneurs and academics.
ASME will present Madni with the Spirit of St. Louis Medal at its Aerospace, Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference (SSDM) on June 8-10, 2026, in Long Beach, California.
Published on December 1st, 2025
Last updated on December 1st, 2025
