• Robert G. Loewy
  • Professor

Contact Information

Office: Knight 421-B
Phone: 404-385-8587
Fax: 404.894.2760
  • robert.loewy@aerospace.gatech.edu

Education

  • B.A.E., 1947, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
  • M.S., 1948, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Ph.D., 1962, University of Pennsylvania

Biography

Professor Loewy spent 14 years in the aerospace industry as an engineer with increasing levels of responsibility at companies which have become Lockheed-Martin, Calspan and Boeing Helicopters, culminating in the position of Chief Technical Engineer at the last of these.  As a faculty member at the University of Rochester, he was Professor, Director of the Space Science Center and finally Dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences.  At Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, he was Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, then Institute Professor and the founder and Director of their Rotorcraft Technology Center. At Georgia Tech he was chair of the School of Aerospace Engineering from 1993-2008.  A consultant to government and industry, he was Chief Scientist of the US Air Force in ‘65-66, while on leave from his university position.  He has subsequently been Chairman of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, NASA’s Aeronautics Advisory Committee and the FAA Engineering Advisory Board.  Dr. Loewy was President of the Americal Helicopter Society in 2002-2003 and Board Chairman in 2003-2004.

Research

  • Structural dynamics and aeroelasticity
  • Rotary wing aircraft design

Honors and Distinctions

  • Member of the National Academy of Engineering
  • Air Force Exceptional Civilian Service Award,
  • NASA’s Distinguished Public Service Award,
  • AIAA’s Lawrence Sperry Award,
  • ASME’s Spirit of St. Louis Medal. 
  • Honorary fellow of the AIAA and also the American Helicopter Society.
  • Daniel Guggenheim Medal

Selected Publications

  • “Transfer Matrix Vibration Analysis of Cable-Supported Hoop Platforms: Additional Results, “ (with H.D. Kim), AIAA Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, Vol. 30, No. 1, Jan-Feb. 1993.
  • “Smart Structure-Stabilized Unstable Control Surfaces” (with Stephen S. Tseng), presented at the 34th AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC,  Structures, Structural Dynamics and Materials Conference, LaJolla, CA., pp. 3490-3498, April 19-22, 1993.
  • “Recent Developments in Smart Structures with Aeronautical Applications,” presented at the 37th Israel Annual Conference on Aerospace Sciences, Technion I.I.T., Haifa, Israel, February 26-27, 1997 and published in the Smart Materials and Structures Journal, Vol. 6, pp. R11-R42, 1997.
  • “Avionics: A New Senior Partner in Aeronautics," presented as the Dryden Lecture in Research, 37th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Reno, NV, January 11, 1999 and published in the AIAA Journal, Vol. 37, No.11, pp. 1337-1354, 1999.
  • “Aircraft Avionics”, Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology, Third Edition, Vol. I, Academic Press, pp. 319-336, 2002