August 20, 2025
By Mikey Fuller

Ari Glezer, George W. Woodruff Chair in Thermal Systems and professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, was selected by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) as the recipient of the 2025 Fluid Dynamics Award.

This award is presented to individuals for their outstanding contributions to the understanding of the behavior of liquids and gases in motion as related to the needs in aeronautics and astronautics. Glezer was named the winner of the Fluid Dynamics Award for his groundbreaking contributions to fundamental understanding, application, and invention of actuation strategies for active flow control.

The award committee recognized Glezer’s pioneering research contributions, initiation of successful collaborative, active flow control (AFC) research programs, the education of outstanding graduate and undergraduate students, and his leadership within the AIAA.

Specifically, the award committee noted Glezer’s seminal research on virtual aerosurface shaping by fluidic control of the apparent aerodynamic shape that has led to the development of a unique engineering approach for controlling aerodynamic performance of lifting surfaces and bluff bodies. This novel engineering approach to virtual aerosurface shaping was based on his groundbreaking investigations of the fundamental receptivity mechanisms and scaling that control the stability and evolution of canonical, wall-bounded, and free turbulent shear flows. His pioneering work on actuation strategies for active flow control in aerodynamics has spawned the development of innovative electromechanical, fluidic, and chemical actuation technologies. One of his best-known contributions, the synthetic jet actuator, has been widely adopted and studied worldwide with numerous citations.

Glezer was also recognized for being the driving force behind the establishment of cutting-edge, collaborative research efforts involving academia, government, and industry, as well as for the development of major U.S. government-sponsored AFC research programs. These programs have applied his fundamental AFC findings and vision to a diverse range of applications, including high-lift aerodynamics, embedded propulsion, control of aero-optical effects for directed energy systems, and avionics thermal management.

Glezer joined Georgia Tech in 1992 as an associate professor before he was named the Woodruff Chair in Thermal Systems in 2002. He was an assistant and associate professor at the University of Arizona before joining Tech.

The award was presented at the AIAA Awards Recognition Ceremony during the AIAA Aviation Forum on July 22, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada.