“I look forward to working with the ERVA team to help transform the engineering community to collectively think about how we conduct and deliver future innovative research.”
Basil Hassan is the director of the chief research office and serves as Sandia’s deputy chief research officer. In this role, Hassan leads Sandia’s research strategy development including the execution of the Laboratory Directed Research and Development program and oversees Sandia’s external partnership and technology transfer programs. Since 1993, Hassan has managed all phases of research, development, and applications work. He has focused predominately on the thermal, fluid, and aero science technology areas, helping Sandia to accomplish its national security mission.
Hassan has served in a variety of positions in research and development in the areas of aerodynamics and aerothermodynamics of high-speed flight vehicles, drag reduction for low-speed ground transportation vehicles, and high-velocity oxygen fuel thermal sprays. Most notably, he helped support NASA in determining the cause of the Space Shuttle Columbia accident in 2003 and was part of the team that shut down the Deepwater Horizon oil well after the explosion and spill in 2010.
Hassan earned his bachelor’s, master’s, and his doctorate degrees in aerospace engineering from North Carolina State University. He is a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and serves as its president. Previously, he served on AIAA’s Board as director and vice president from 2008-2017, and president-elect from 2019 to 2020. He has also served on several national review boards for the National Academies, NASA, DARPA, and Air Force Office of Scientific Research. Since 2004, he has participated as an external member of the NASA Engineering and Safety Center. Hassan currently serves on the North Carolina State University’s Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Educational Advisory Board and has served on similar boards for New Mexico State University, Texas A&M University, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of New Mexico, and the Georgia Institute of Technology. He was the 2008 recipient of the AIAA Sustained Service Award and a 2017 recipient of North Carolina State University’s Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award.