Jonathan Pitt has been appointed associate professor in the Kevin T. Crofton Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech. He is one of 28 new faculty members hired by the college for the 2018-19 academic year. He is also the first faculty member representing aerospace and ocean engineering at Virginia Tech’s Northern Virginia campus.

Pitt’s research is focused on the core technologies in the field of computational mechanics, including  multi-physics modeling, advanced numerical methods, and novel high-performance computing techniques. Throughout the aerospace and ocean engineering spectrum, Pitt is interested in such applications as computational fluid dynamics for aero and undersea systems, structural analysis, and fully coupled fluid-structure interaction modeling.

“I am excited to join the aerospace and ocean engineering department because of the distinctly high caliber of students and faculty,” said Pitt. “The quality and breadth of research happening is impressive. I am eager to start collaborating with new fellow faculty members and working with the highly capable students. The flexibility to be located in the greater Washington, D.C., area and still be a part of the Blacksburg campus is very exciting due to the number of opportunities it presents.”

Pitt will serve as a department ambassador with the goal of increasing the number of distance education graduate students in the Washington, D.C., metro area, marketing online graduate education opportunities to government and corporate institutions. Being located in Arlington, Virginia, enables distance-learning students to have in-person conversations about their thesis and dissertation progress. It also gives them access to laboratory or computational facilities.

In addition to his teaching duties, Pitt also serves as associate director of the Aerospace and Ocean System Laboratory at the Hume Center for National Security and Technology. His affiliation with the Hume Center provides opportunities for students and faculty to collaborate on problems with national security relevance – a service to our country through the study of science, mathematics, and engineering. Students interested in this career path will work with Pitt through the Hume Center as  summer researchers or full-time graduate students.

Written by Jama Green

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