The honor highlights their research leadership and impact on aerospace engineering.
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has announced that Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering professors Cristina Riso and Beckett Zhou have been elected to the 2027 Class of Associate Fellows.
The distinction recognizes individuals who have accomplished important engineering or scientific work, produced original research of outstanding merit, or made significant contributions to the advancement of aeronautics and astronautics. Associate Fellows are among AIAA's most accomplished members and leaders in the aerospace profession.
“I am proud to see Cristina Riso and Beckett Zhou recognized with this prestigious honor,” said Stephen Ruffin, interim AE School chair. “Their research is advancing the frontiers of aerospace engineering, and their leadership, scholarship, and dedication to our students exemplify the excellence of our faculty. We congratulate them on this well-deserved achievement.”
Cristina Riso
Riso leads the Structural Dynamics and Aeroelasticity Research Laboratory, where her team investigates dynamic aeroelastic phenomena in fixed-wing and rotary-wing aerospace vehicles using new computational models and analysis methods. Her work focuses on nonlinear aeroelastic systems, flutter instabilities, limit-cycle oscillations, and the integration of aeroelastic constraints into aircraft design optimization.
A recognized leader in her field, Riso serves on the AIAA Structural Dynamics Technical Committee and the AIAA Publications Committee, and she is deputy chair of the Vertical Flight Society Dynamics Technical Committee. She is an associate editor for the Journal of Aircraft.
Since joining Georgia Tech in 2022, she has earned numerous honors, including selection to the National Academy of Engineering's U.S. Frontiers of Engineering Symposium, selection to the Boeing Visiting Professor program, an invited keynote lecture at the International Forum on Aeroelasticity and Structural Dynamics, and Georgia Tech's Outstanding Research Advisor for M.S. Students award.
Beckett Zhou
Zhou’s research has contributed to advances in aircraft and propeller noise prediction, aerodynamic and aeroacoustic optimization, and next-generation computational methods that help improve the performance and environmental impact of aerospace systems. He leads the Computational Laboratory for Aerodynamics and Aeroacoustics Research (CLAAR), where his team develops simulation and optimization frameworks for aerospace applications using multi-fidelity and data-driven methods. His work focuses on computational aerodynamics and aeroacoustics, including flow physics, noise generation mechanisms, and innovative approaches for flow and noise control.
Before joining Georgia Tech in 2024, Zhou led computational aeroacoustics research as a lecturer (assistant professor) at the University of Bristol and conducted postdoctoral research at NASA’s Langley Research Center through the National Institute of Aerospace. Zhou serves on the AIAA Aeroacoustics Committee, the AIAA
Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Committee, and the Vertical Flight Society Acoustics Committee. He is also one of the US academic leads for the NASA-led UAM Noise Working Group (UNWG).
Riso and Zhou will be officially inducted as AIAA Associate Fellows in January during the 2027 AIAA SciTech Forum and Exposition.
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