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This article is about engineers in the fields of aeronautics and astronautics. For people in other disciplines, see
Lists of engineers .
This is a list of notable aerospace engineers , people who were trained in or practiced
aerospace engineering and design.
A
B
Brunolf Baade (1904–1969) – lead designer of the
Baade 152
Erich Bachem (1906–1960) – designer of the
Bachem Ba 349 Natter rocket plane
Leonard Bairstow (1880–1963) –
National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom) researcher
Herman Barkey (1909–2005) – led the design team for the McDonnell Aircraft F-4 Phantom
V. P. Barmin (1909–1993) – designer of the rocket
launch complex
Frank Barnwell (1880–1938) – chief engineer
Bristol Aeroplane Company
Robert Ludvigovich Bartini (1897–1974) – designer of the
Bartini Beriev VVA-14 and other experimental projects, founder of the OKB-86 design bureau
L. E. Baynes (1902–1989) – designer of the
Baynes Bat tank glider
Ermanno Bazzocchi [
it ] (1914–2005) –
Aermacchi MB-326 designer
Jim Bede (1933–2015)
Rex Beisel (1893–1972) – lead engineer at
Curtiss and
Vought
Giuseppe Mario Bellanca (1886–1960) – aircraft pioneer,
blended wing designer
Dwight Henry Bennett (1917–2002) – developed
Fly-by-wire technology, helped design the
F2Y ,
F-102 , F-4 Phantom,
F/A-18
Thomas W. Benoist (1874–1917) – early
airline entrepreneur
Igor Bensen (1917–2000) –
autogyro designer
Max Bentele (1909–2006) – jet engine pioneer
Aleksandr Bereznyak (1912–1974) – designer of the
BI-1 rocket plane
Georgy Beriev (1903–1979) – founder of the
OKB-49 Beriev design bureau
J. D. Bernal (1901–1971) – invented the
Bernal sphere for space habitation
Albert Betz (1885–1968) – designer and researcher
Paul Bevilaqua (born 1945) – lift fan inventor
Ronald Eric Bishop (1903–1989) - chief designer of the
de Havilland Mosquito
Matus Bisnovat (1905–1977) – missile designer
Robert Blackburn (1885–1955) – aviation pioneer
Louis Blériot (1872–1936) – aviation pioneer
George Eugene Bockrath (1911–1998) – researched fracture mechanics
Hendrik Wade Bode (1905–1982) – NASA advisor
Jenny Body – former President of the Royal Aeronautical Society
[1]
William Boeing (1881–1956) – founder of
Boeing
Charles Bolden (born 1946) –
NASA Administrator
Viktor Bolkhovitinov (1899–1970) – lead designer of the
Bolkhovitinov DB-A bomber, founder of the OKB-293 design bureau
Ludwig Bölkow (1912–2003) – aerodynamicist for the
Me 262
Alan Bond (born 1944) – designed spaceplanes and an SST
Philip Bono (1921–1993) – space launcher developer
Frank Borman (1928-2023) – commanded first mission to circle the Moon
Karel Bossart (1904–1975) – lead designer of the
Atlas ICBM
Enea Bossi Sr. (1888–1963) – aviation pioneer
William Hawley Bowlus (1896–1967) – glider designer
John Boyd (1927–1997) – created the
energy–maneuverability theory
Frances Bradfield (1895–1967) – wind tunnel researcher
Ferdinand Brandner (1903–1986) – aircraft engine designer
Vance Breese (1904–1973) – engineer and test pilot
Louis Charles Breguet (1880–1955) – aviation pioneer, founder of
Bréguet Aviation
Maurice Brennan (1913–1986) – designer of flying boats, helicopters, transports, rockets, hovercraft
Yvonne Brill (1924–2013) – electrothermal hydrazine thruster
Arthur E. Bryson (born 1925) – "father of modern optimal control theory"
Carl Clemens Bücker [
de ] (1895–1976) – founder of Bücker-Flugzeugbau GmbH
Viktor Bugaisky [
ru ] (1912–1994) – designed the
Functional Cargo Block of several space missions
Isabelle Buret – engineer specializing in telecommunications and astronautics
Vincent Burnelli (1895–1964) – blended wing and
lifting body designer
Anne Burns (1915–2001) –
wind shear expert
Adolf Busemann (1901–1986) –
swept wing
Robert W. Bussard (1928–2007) – designer of
nuclear thermal rocket engines
Fedor Ivanovich Bylinkin – aviation pioneer
C
D
Werner Dahm (1917–2008)
[2]
Frederick Dallenbach –
Auxiliary power unit designer
Louis Damblanc [
fr ] (1889–1969) – developed solid fuel rocket fuel
Corradino D'Ascanio (1891–1981) – helicopter pioneer
Marcel Dassault (1892–1986)
Serge Dassault (1925–2018)
Arthur Davenport (1891–1976) –
Westland Aircraft
Fred David (1898-1992) - designer at Heinkel, Mitsubishi, Aichi Kokuki and
Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation
Stuart Davies (1906–1995) – designed the
Avro Lancaster and
Vulcan
Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519)
Geoffrey de Havilland (1882–1965)
Louis de Monge (1890–1977) –
blended wing inventor
Juan de la Cierva (1895–1936) – inventor of the autogyro
Satish Dhawan (1920–2002)
Walter Stuart Diehl (1893–1976) – created US Navy test facilities, authored Engineering Aerodynamics
Paul Bernard Dilworth (1915–2007)
Wilhelm Dirks [
de ] (born 1947) – sailplane designer
Heini Dittmar (1911–1960) – record-breaking pilot
Jurgis Dobkevičius (1900–1926) – Lithuanian aviation constructor, military pilot
Takeo Doi (1904–1996) – designer for
Kawasaki Aircraft Industries
Tom Dolan – developed the
lunar orbit rendezvous concept for the Apollo program
Roy Dommett (1933–2015) – the United Kingdom's Chief Missile Scientist
Charles J. Donlan (1916–2011) – NASA manager
Allen F. Donovan (1914–1995) WW2 aircraft, Atlas and Titan missiles, nuclear rockets
Jimmy Doolittle (1896–1993) – instrument flying developer
Étienne Dormoy (1885–1959) – airplane and autogyro designer
Claude Dornier (1884–1969)
Anatoly Dorodnitsyn (1910–1994) – researched meteorology, vortex wing theory, boundary layer theory in a compressible gas, and supersonic gas dynamics
Donald W. Douglas (1892–1981) – founder of the
Douglas Aircraft Company
George Dowty (1901–1975) – designer of aircraft components
Charles Stark Draper (1901–1987) – developed inertial navigation
Hugh Latimer Dryden (1898–1965) – researcher and NASA administrator
Guy du Merle (1908–1993) – engineer, test flew captured Bf 109 and He 111 in Spain
Alberto Santos Dumont (1873–1932) – inventor of the
dirigible ; aeronautics pioneer
J. W. Dunne (1875–1949) – invented the first delta wing
Pedro Duque (born 1963) - engineer and astronaut
William F. Durand (1859–1958) – propeller designer, NACA chair
Ludwig Dürr (1878–1956) – airship designer
Leonid Dushkin (1910–1990) – rocket engine designer
E
F
G
H
I
J
Mary Jackson (1921–2005) – NASA engineer
Eastman Jacobs (1902–1987) – advanced wind tunnels, airfoils, turbulence, boundary layers, and Schlieren photography
Hans Jacobs (1907–1994) – sailplane pioneer
Jack James (1920–2001) –
Mariner program manager
Antony Jameson (born 1934) – pioneered
computational fluid dynamics
Robert P. Johannes (1934–2004) – developed
Fly-by-wire technology
Clarence "Kelly" Johnson (1910–1990) – formed
Lockheed 's
Skunk Works and led the design of the SR-71, U-2, F-117A, F-104, C-130, T-33, P-38, and Constellations
Katherine Johnson (1918–2020) – mathematician who worked as an aerospace technologist at
NASA
Robert Thomas Jones (1910–1999) – aeronautical engineer at NASA
Drago Jovanovich (1916–1983) – rotorcraft designer
Charles Joy (1911–1989) – engineer at Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft, Gloster Aircraft Company. and Handley Page
Hugo Junkers (1859–1935) – pioneered the design of all-metal airplanes
K
L
M
Paul MacCready (1925–2007) –
human-powered aircraft designer
Elsie MacGill (1905–1980)
Ernst Mach (1838–1916)
Georg Hans Madelung (1889–1972) – V-1 designer
Otto Mader [
de ] (1880–1944) – inventor of the Junkers flap
Peyton M. Magruder (1911–1982) – lead designer of the
Martin B-26
Viktor Makeyev (1924–1985) –
SLBM designer
Frank Malina (1912–1981) – rocket engineer, JPL administrator
John C. Mankins – NASA space-based solar power researcher
Frank E. Marble (1918–2014)
Frederick Marriott (1805–1884)
Glenn L. Martin (1886–1955) – founder of the Glenn L. Martin Company
Pierre Mauboussin [
fr ] (1900–1984) – co-designer of the
Fouga CM.170 Magister
Hans Mauch (1906–1984) – jet engine pioneer, artificial limb developer
Mark D. Maughmer (born 1950) – aerodynamicist
Owen Maynard (1924–2000) – Avro Canada, NASA
Alessandro Mazzoni [
it ] (1931–2016) –
Piaggio chief engineer
William C. McCool (1961–2003) – died in the Columbia disaster
James Smith McDonnell (1899–1980) – founder of
McDonnell Aircraft Corporation
Colin R. McInnes (born 1968) – solar sail researcher
Marion O. McKinney Jr. (1921–1999) – NACA and NASA engineer, researched VTOL flight
William B. McLean (1914–1976) – lead designer of the
AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile
George J. Mead (1891–1949) – engine designer
William C. Mentzer (1907–1971) – contributed to aircraft maintenance and economics
Wilhelm Messerschmitt (1898–1978) – designed Bf 109 and jet powered Me 262
Artem Mikoyan (1905–1970) – co-founder of the
OKB-155 MiG design bureau
Mikhail Mil (1909–1970) – founder and general designer of the
OKB-329 Mil design bureau
Alexander Mikulin (1895–1985) – engine designer, founded the OKB-24 Mikulin design bureau
Frederick George Miles (1903–1976) – designer at
Miles Aircraft , husband of Maxine Blossom Miles
John W. Miles (1920–2008) – pioneer in theoretical fluid mechanics
Maxine Blossom Miles (1901–1984) – pilot, designer, draughtswoman, aerodynamicist and stress engineer, designer of the Miles Hawk
Clark Blanchard Millikan (1903–1966) - professor of aeronautics
Arseny Mironov (1917–2019) – Russian scientist, aerospace engineer and aircraft pilot
Don Mitchell (1915–1993) – sailplane designer
R. J. Mitchell (1895–1937) – designed the
Spitfire aircraft
Swati Mohan –
Mars 2020 engineer
Paul Moller (born 1936) – circular aircraft designer
Montgolfier brothers (1740–1810) (1745–1799) – inventors of the hot air balloon
John J. Montgomery (1858–1911)
Albert Mooney (1906–1986) – general aviation designer
Hans Moravec (born 1948) – space tether developer
Morien Morgan (1912–1978) – 'Father of the
Concorde '
George Mueller (1918–2015) – NASA administrator
Alan Mulally (born 1945) – Boeing executive and President of
Ford
Hans Multhopp (1913–1972)
Elon Musk (born 1971) – founder of
SpaceX and co-founder of
Tesla
Vladimir Mikhailovich Myasishchev (1902–1978) – founder of the
OKB-23 Myasishchev design bureau
N
O
P
Q
R
S
Friedrich Wilhelm Sander (1885–1938) – pyrotechnics and rocket technology engineer
Eugen Sänger (1905–1964) –
spaceplane designer
Irene Sänger-Bredt (1911–1983) – wife and collaborator of Eugen Sänger
George S. Schairer (1913–2004) – lead designer at Consolidated and Boeing
Helmut Schelp – jet engine pioneer
Alexander Schleicher (1901–1968) – sailplane designer
Paul Schmidt (1898–1976) – V-1 engine designer
Edgar Schmued (1899–1985) – lead engineer on the P-51, F-86, F-100, F-5, T-38
Raemer Schreiber (1910–1998) – nuclear rocket engine designer
Bernard Schriever (1910–2005) – managed ICBM development
Schweizer brothers – sailplane designers
William T. Schwendler (1904-1978) – co-founder of Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation
Robert Seamans (1918–2008) – engineer, NACA and NASA administrator
William R. Sears (1913–2002) – flying wing designer
Ernest Edwin Sechler (1905–1979) – researched thin-shell structures
Anita Sengupta – led the JPL team that designed the
Curiosity Mars rover parachute system
Lucien Servanty (1909–1973) –
SO.6000 Triton and Concorde designer
Alexander P. de Seversky (1894–1974) – founder of Seversky Aircraft, later Republic Aviation
Joseph Francis Shea (1925–1999) – NASA Administrator for the Apollo Program
Beatrice Shilling (1909–1990) – perfected the carburetor on the
Rolls-Royce Merlin engine
Leonid Shkadov (1927–2003) – aircraft development and optimization engineer
Nevil Shute (1899–1960) – aeronautical engineer and author
Arkady Shvetsov (1892–1953) – chief engine designer at the
OKB-19 design bureau
Igor Sikorsky (1889–1972) – pioneered
helicopters
Ozires Silva (born 1931) – founder of
Embraer
Abe Silverstein (1908–2001) – engineer, NACA and NASA administrator
Apollo M. O. Smith (1911–1997) –
Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak ,
F3D , and
F4D designer, pioneer in
computational fluid dynamics
Herbert Smith (1889–1977) – designer of the
Sopwith Triplane
John Maynard Smith (1920–2004) – military aircraft designer, later evolutionary biologist and geneticist
Joseph Smith (1897–1956) – designer at Supermarine
Ted R. Smith (1906–1976) – designer of the
Aero Commander and
Aerostar
Pavel Solovyov (1917–1996) – chief engine designer at the OKB-19 design bureau
Song Wencong (1930–2016) - lead designer of the
Chengdu J-10
Thomas Sopwith (1888–1989) –
Sopwith Aviation Company
Tony Spear –
Mars Pathfinder project manager
Percival H. Spencer (1897–1995) – designer of the
Republic RC-3 Seabee
Dorothy Spicer (1908–1946) – aeronautical engineer
Reginald Stafford (1903–1980) – designer of the Handley Page Victor
John Stack (1906–1972) –
Bell X-1 designer
Lloyd Stearman (1898–1975) – founder of
Stearman Aircraft
Adam Steltzner (born 1963) – JPL engineer for Mars rovers'
entry, descent, and landing
Alan Stern (born 1957) – engineer and planetary scientist, principal investigator of the
New Horizons mission to Pluto
Homer Joseph Stewart (1915–2007) – helped develop
Explorer 1 ,
Pioneer 4 , and several rockets
Edward Stinson (1893–1932) – founder of the
Stinson Aircraft Company
Luigi Stipa (1900–1992) – invented the "intubed propeller"
Harrison Storms (1915–1992) – directed North American Aviation's Apollo Program
William Bushnell Stout (1880–1956) –
Ford Trimotor designer
Ernst Stuhlinger (1913–2008) –
ion engine developer
Pavel Sukhoi (1895–1975) – founded the
OKB-51 Sukhoi design bureau
Martin Summerfield (1916–1996) - co-founder of Aerojet
Sun Cong (born 1961) - chief designer of the FC-31 and
Shenyang J-15
Joe Sutter (1921–2016) – chief engineer for the
Boeing 747
Ed Swearingen (1925–2014) - general aviation designer
G. P. Swischjov [
ru ] (1912—1999) – aerodynamicist
Clarence Syvertson (1926–2010) – NACA / NASA researcher, developed sounding rockets, compression lift, lifting bodies
Victor Szebehely (1921–1977) – aerospace engineering and celestial mechanics
T
Max Taitz (1904–1980) – scientist in
aerodynamics and flight testing of
aircraft , one of the founders of
Gromov Flight Research Institute
Kurt Tank (1898–1983) – designer of aircraft in Germany, Argentina, and India
Clarence Gilbert Taylor (1898–1988) – designer of the
Piper Cub
Moulton Taylor (1912–1965) – experimental aircraft pioneer
Peter Theisinger (born 1945) – JPL
Mars Exploration Rover project manager
Theodore Theodorsen (1897–1978) – aerodynamicist at NACA
Richard G. Thomas (1930–2006) – aeronautical engineer and test pilot
Mikhail Tikhonravov (1900–1974) – rocket and spacecraft pioneer
Milton Orville Thompson (1926–1993) – NASA engineer and test pilot
Grigori Tokaty (1909–2003) – rocket engineer
Alessandro Tonini (1885–1932) – designer at Gabardini, Macchi, and IMAM
Ivan I. Toropov [
ru ] (1907–1977) – chief missile designer at OKB-132, now
Vympel NPO
Myron Tribus (1921–2016) – deicer developer, heat transfer researcher
Robert Truax (1917–2010) – Aerojet engineer, designer of the
Sea Dragon heavy launch vehicle
Richard Truly (born 1937) – former astronaut and head of NASA
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857–1935) – rocketry pioneer
Tu Jida (1927–2011) - participated in the development of the Shenyang JJ-1, chief designer of the
Nanchang CJ-6 ,
Shenyang J-5A ,
Chengdu JJ-5 , and
several variants of the J-7 fighter, including the
Chengdu J-7M
Sergey Tumansky (1901–1973) – engine designer, founder of the OKB-300 Tumansky design bureau
Andrei Tupolev (1888–1972) – founder of the
OKB-156 Tupolev design bureau
U
V
W
Lawrence Wackett (1896–1982) – "father of the Australian aircraft industry", lead designer of the
CAC Boomerang
Gerhard Waibel (born 1938) – sailplane designer
Dwane Wallace (1911–1989) – early
Cessna CEO and designer
[4]
Richard Walker (1900–1982) – main designer for jet aircraft of Gloster Aircraft Company
Barnes Wallis (1887–1979)
Ken Wallis (1916–2013) – autogyro
Hellmuth Walter (1900–1980) –
rocket engines
Joseph F. Ware Jr. (1916–2012) – Lockheed engineer and test pilot
Edward Pearson Warner (1894–1958) – NACA research engineer
Kyūichirō Washizu (1921–1981)
Frank Wattendorf (1906—1986) – von Karman assistant, wind tunnel designer
Johanna Weber (1910–2014) – aerodynamicist for the
Handley-Page Victor and
Concorde
Fred Weick (1899–1993) – airmail pilot, NACA research engineer who designed the NACA cowl, and designer of the
Ercoupe and
Piper Cherokee
Daniel Weihs (born 1942)
Edward Curtis Wells (1910–1986) – Boeing executive and designer
Ted A. Wells (1907–1991) – co-founder of
Beech Aircraft Corporation
Michael J. Wendl (born 1934) – developed terrain following technology, energy management theory, and integrated fly-by-wire controls with engine inlets/nozzles and advanced pilot displays
Günter Wendt (1924–2010) – McDonnell Aircraft and North American Aviation engineer; pad leader, prepared all crewed Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo spacecraft
Alexander Weygers (1901–1989) – discopter designer
Ray Wheeler (1927–2019) – Saunders-Roe designer of rockets and hovercraft
Orville A. Wheelon (1906–1966) – invented the Verson-Wheelon process for aircraft sheet-metal forming, introduced titanium fabrication
Richard Whitcomb (1921–2009) – NACA/NASA inventor of the
area rule ,
supercritical airfoil , and
winglet
Ed White (1930–1967) – Apollo 1 fire victim on January 27, 1967
Gustave Whitehead (1874–1927) – aviation pioneer
Frank Whittle (1907–1996) – pioneer of the
jet engine
Michel Wibault (1897–1963) – invented
vectored thrust
Robert H. Widmer (1916–2011) – lead designer on the
B-36 ,
B-58 ,
F-111 , and
F-16
Sheila Widnall (born 1938) –
fluid mechanics researcher
Stanisław Wigura (1901–1932)
Geoff Wilde (1917–2007) – Rolls-Royce engine designer
Heather Willauer (born 1974) –
United States Naval Research Laboratory researcher of jet fuel manufacture from seawater
Oswald S. Williams Jr. (1921–2005)
Sam B. Williams (1921–2009) – small fanjet engine developer
Thornton Wilson (1921–1999) –
B-47 , B-52, and
Minuteman missile designer
Steve Wittman (1904–1995) – air-racer and aircraft designer
Julian Wolkovitch (1932–1991) – promoted the
closed wing
Homer J. Wood – auxiliary power unit designer
Pete Worden (born 1949) – NASA director
Wright brothers (1871–1948) (1867–1912) – made first powered airplane flight on Dec 17, 1903 at Kitty Hawk, NC
Theodore Paul Wright (1895–1970) – engineer and administrator
Georg Wulf (1895–1927) – aviation pioneer
James Hart Wyld (1912–1954) – co-founder of Reaction Motors, designed the rocket engines for the Bell X-1 and
RTV-A-2 Hiroc
X
Y
Z
See also
References