Shaping the Future of Aerospace Together
By Clay Mowry|October 2024
Your greatness is measured by your horizons. – Michelangelo
Today, we embark on a journey to ensure a vibrant future for AIAA. I am thrilled to lead the Institute at this exciting time for the aerospace community as we push the boundaries of air and space. Together, we are charting a path to innovate and expand the Institute, ensuring its relevance for the next 100 years. The horizons we pursue are truly great.
I began my career in the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Aerospace three decades ago. Back then I told anyone who would listen that I had the best job in the U.S. government, helping the aerospace sector to thrive. Now, after leading a trade association, working as an executive in the satellite launch/human spaceflight industry, and serving on several nonprofit boards, I feel as if I’ve been training to take on the AIAA CEO role my entire career.
Looking back on the Institute’s birth, we owe the success of our first 100 years to remarkable technical leaders and innovators. We stand on the shoulders of giants like Robert H. Goddard, who demonstrated liquid-fueled rocket technology, and Orville and Wilbur Wright, who broke the hold of Earth’s gravity by sustaining controlled flight of an engine-powered aircraft.
Today’s Institute is propelled into the future by remarkable advances in aeronautics and astronautics produced by our very members. Modern aviation capabilities and space exploration missions are possible due to AIAA members’ purpose-driven technical pursuits.
I am truly grateful to Dan Dumbacher for his commitment to our community during his tenure at the yoke of AIAA. He led the Institute to address the needs of today’s aerospace professionals, invest in future generations, and increase our relevance to the broader community. He also helped us tap into our resilience, as we weathered the impacts of the pandemic and continued our financial recovery. Please join me in thanking Dan for all he has done.
The AIAA Board of Trustees and CEO Search Committee that brought me to the Institute recognize that AIAA must evolve to stay relevant over the career path of today’s aerospace professional. Technology allows us to be more efficient and productive. But it also means our members have less time to focus on AIAA volunteer activities like committees. While our 30,000-member-strong Institute is a mighty asset, we need to focus our efforts to provide meaningful programming, publishing, networking, and continuing education throughout the professional career arc if we are to remain the world’s premier aerospace technical society.
My task is to harness our members’ collective energy. We will honor the Institute’s proud heritage by refining our member services to better meet the needs of the aerospace professionals, engineers, scientists, researchers, educators, and students of today and tomorrow. Our focus will be clear.
• Engaging the next generation. We will involve more young professionals and students in deeper ways. They will be the leaders who chart our community’s bright future.
• Expanding our international reach. We will build bridges across the globe to strengthen our connections everywhere, growing the international contributions to the AIAA community.
• Reimagining member services. We will continue our digital transformation, making the vast amounts of expertise and content in our archives accessible, searchable, and even more valuable. We will revitalize our events, making them more engaging, interactive, and relevant. We will expand our lifelong learning opportunities through our continuing education courses that help members enhance their skillsets.
As I embark on this journey with you, it is my honor to represent our entire community – from aeronautics to aerospace R&D to space. The strength of AIAA has been built upon the strong technical connections our members make across the three AIAA Domains, working in all facets of government, industry, academia, and defense.
I am hitting the ground running. This fall I will be meeting members in our local sections and universities, as well as visiting Corporate Members and Corporate Partners. My goal is to connect with the AIAA community in person. We’ll also have a fantastic opportunity in January 2025 when our community gathers in Orlando for one of our signature annual events, AIAA SciTech Forum. I hope to see you there to introduce myself and listen to your thoughts on how to better serve the membership over the next century.
It’s a privilege to help shape the future of aerospace, leading the Institute and empowering members to achieve the next breakthroughs that will enable us to fly farther, faster, smarter, and safer in the Earth’s atmosphere and beyond the Kármán Line. I look forward to all we’ll do together.
