SimCenter Professor Inducted in Royal Academy of Engineering

Drapers Hall in the city of London was the scene of a black-tie dinner hosted by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh to celebrate the induction Dr. Henry “Harry” McDonald and other distinguished 2003 inductees to the Royal Academy of Engineering. Over 200 people came to honor the group.

The Royal Academy of Engineering brings together over 1200 distinguished engineers, among them Dr. Gordon Moore, founder of Intel, who come from all engineering disciplines to promote excellence in engineering for the benefit of the people of the United Kingdom.

McDonald is the former director of the NASA-Ames Research Center who holds the Chair of Excellence in Computational Engineering in the Computer Simulation and Design Center at UTC. He also serves as interim vice president for research of the UT system.

McDonald is considered to be the premier expert of space shuttle safety. He was interviewed by news outlets worldwide after the shuttle Columbia disaster. McDonald wrote a report in 1999 that warned NASA of safety issues in the shuttle program, and he was asked to present testimony during the public hearing by the board investigating the incident.