CenTiRe Congratulates Dr. Rakesh Kapania on His Appointment as Editor-in-Chief of AIAA’s Journal of Aircraft

CenTiRe is proud to congratulate Dr. Rakesh Kapania, Norris and Wendy Mitchell Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Virginia Tech and a valued CenTiRe faculty researcher, on his appointment as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Aircraft, one of the most prestigious journals in aircraft engineering. His service in this role begins in January 2026.

Dr. Kapania was selected following a highly competitive international search led by the AIAA Publications Committee and succeeds Dr. Mark Drela of MIT. His appointment reflects decades of leadership and impact in aerospace structures, computational aeroelasticity, multidisciplinary design optimization, composite materials, and machine learning. With nearly 240 archival journal publications, more than 385 conference papers, and mentorship of over 150 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, Dr. Kapania’s influence on the aerospace engineering community is profound.

As Dr. Kapania noted, this is an especially exciting moment for the field, with rapid advancements underway in advanced air mobility, autonomy, artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, and hypersonic vehicles—areas that closely align with CenTiRe’s mission to advance engineering innovation through industry–university collaboration.

For additional details on Dr. Kapania’s appointment and his distinguished career, readers are encouraged to view the official announcement published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) on its website.

AIAA Announces Next Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Aircraft | AIAA

CenTiRe congratulates Dr. Kapania on this well-earned recognition and looks forward to the continued impact of his leadership on the global aerospace research community. We are honored to count him among our Virginia Tech faculty researchers and partners.

Congratulations, Dr. Kapania!