Iain Boyd

Iain D. Boyd is the H.T. Sears Memorial Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, and Director of the Center for National Security Initiatives at the University of Colorado. He received a Ph.D. in aeronautics and astronautics (1988) from the University of Southampton in England. He worked for four years at NASA Ames Research Center in the areas of aerothermodynamics and space propulsion. Dr. Boyd was a faculty member in mechanical and aerospace engineering at Cornell University for six years. He joined the University of Michigan in 1999 and worked there for 20 years. His research interests involve the development and application of physical models and computational methods for analysis of nonequilibrium gas and plasma dynamics processes in aerospace systems. He has authored over 200 journal articles, more than 300 conference papers, and recently published a book entitled “Nonequilibrium Gas Dynamics and Molecular Simulation.” Dr. Boyd is a Fellow of the American Institute for Aeronautics & Astronautics (AIAA), and has received the 1998 AIAA Lawrence Sperry Award, the 1997 AIAA Electric Propulsion Best Paper Award, and the 2011 AIAA Thermophysics Best Paper Award. He is also a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the Royal Aeronautical Society. Dr. Boyd was awarded the Chief of Staff of the Air Force Award for Exceptional Public Service for his leadership role in the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board.