Ceremony and Lecture honoring Joaquim R.R.A. Martins as the Pauline M. Sherman Collegiate Professor

Joaquim R.R.A. Martins was installed as the first Pauline M. Sherman Collegiate Professor at the University of Michigan in a ceremony last week.

This prestigious honor recognizes Martins’ seminal research contributions in multidisciplinary design optimization methods and application to the design of aircraft and other engineering systems. His exceptional commitment to the pursuit of excellence in this field has helped him to excel in all areas of research, education, service, and leadership.

Martins began his career at the University of Michigan in 2009, after serving as an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies. He completed his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees at Stanford University, where he was awarded the Ballhaus Prize for best thesis in the Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics. 

He leads the Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Laboratory and is a co-author of “Engineering Design Optimization”, a textbook published by Cambridge University Press (free PDF available here).  

Because of his achievements in research and education, Professor Martins’ has received many awards, and is a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. He has served as Associate Editor for the AIAA Journal, Optimization and Engineering, and Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization. He is currently an Associate Editor for the Journal of Aircraft. 

“I am deeply honored to receive this recognition from the College of Engineering. I am especially grateful to the MDO Lab members and colleagues who collaborated with me over the years to make this possible.”

The Pauline M. Sherman Collegiate Professorship was created to honor the first female professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan. Sherman joined the department as an assistant professor in 1960, becoming the first woman faculty member in the College of Engineering. Her research work was outstanding, colleagues say, and she was promoted to associate professor in 1963 and professor in 1971. Dr. Sherman taught both theoretical and laboratory courses in aerodynamics and propulsion. She conducted fundamental research in jet noise, low-density flows, two-phase flows and especially hypersonic flows.  Sherman’s esteemed career and service continued well beyond her retirement in 1987.
Martins’ collegiate professorship recognition was held on October 21, 2022. Watch his lecture, titled “Optimizing Airplanes, Life, And More” here.