Aimy Wissa. Photo by David Kelly Crow
The School of Engineering and Applied Science has honored Aimy Wissa with a junior faculty award for early-career excellence in research and teaching. Wissa is one of four recipient of the Howard B. Wentz, Jr. Junior Faculty Award and one of seven assistant professors to receive a junior faculty award this year. Each recipient will receive $50,000 to support their research.
An assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, Wissa is interested in bio-inspired design for locomotion and adaptive structures. Wissa models and experiments with robotic structures inspired by animal biology, such as the wings of birds and insects. Naomi Ehrich Leonard, chair of the department, noted in her nomination letter that Wissa is "an intellectual leader in this growing field" and has "taken a leading role in defining the agenda for research and education in bio-inspired design."
Before joining the Princeton faculty in 2022, Wissa was an assistant professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her work has been recognized by an NSF CAREER award (2021) and a Young Investigator Award from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (2018). Leonard said Wissa has also made outstanding contributions as a mentor and teacher in the department. In addition to advising nine undergraduate independent work projects in the past two years, she redesigned a key departmental course on aerospace structures. "This is a testament to the interest Aimy has generated in the field and to her superb advising abilities," Leonard said.