The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has named Jimmy C. Tai (AE 1990, M.S. AE 1991, and Ph.D. AE 1998), associate director of the Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory (ASDL), to its Class of 2026 Associate Fellows. 

The Associate Fellow distinction is given to individuals who have led major engineering or scientific efforts, produced original work of exceptional merit, or made significant contributions to the advancement of aeronautics or astronautics.

“Jimmy Tai’s promotion to AIAA Associate Fellow is well deserved,” said Regents' Professor Dimitri Mavris, director of ASDL. “Over his career at Georgia Tech, he has made exceptional and sustained technical contributions in the areas of propulsion and aircraft system design, specifically through method/tool development, program management, and workforce development. As the associate director of the Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory, he is critical to the success of our program.”

Tai has 30 years of experience in aerospace research and leadership. His specialty area is air-breathing propulsion system design, but more broadly his research includes vehicle design and advanced modeling techniques. 

“Jimmy exemplifies excellence in systems design and research leadership. His unwavering dedication strengthens our School and advances the field of aerospace,” said Mitchell Walker, chair AE School.

Tai conducts research on designing advanced airframes and advanced propulsion systems and matches them via mission analysis. He was the main architect and developer of a computer modeling and simulation (M&S) environment that allows engineers to do this matching process for unconventional concepts like blended wing body configurations and hydrogen powered propulsion systems, as examples. Within this M&S environment, one of Tai’s contributions is to size the propulsion system for several conditions simultaneously, which allows the engine to perform robustly within its operating envelope.

Tai is also working on combining higher fidelity and lower fidelity modeling in the conceptual design process to improve the design of unconventional concepts for which a historical database is not available. 

He has led over 50 projects as the principal investigator (PI) or co-PI and managed key collaborations with major aerospace organizations such as Boeing, Airbus, Pratt & Whitney, NASA, and the FAA. 

AIAA will formally honor the class during AIAA SciTech Forum 2026,  January 12–16, in Orlando, Florida. 

Ellen Yi Chen Mazumdar, assistant professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering (ME) and AE courtesy appointee; Alper Erturk, Carl Ring Family Chair, ME; and Michael Z. Miller, Georgia Tech Research Institute, were also among the 2026 class of Associate Fellows from Georgia Tech.