Achille Messac facts for kids

Achille Messac is a very smart engineer and a leader in education. He is currently the Dean of the College of Engineering, Architecture and Computer Sciences at Howard University. Before that, he was a professor at Mississippi State University. In 2019, he was recognized as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which is a big honor for scientists.

Early Life and Learning

Achille Messac grew up in Haiti, living in Port-au-Prince until he was fifteen. He was part of a special student program at Hughes Aircraft Company. There, he helped work on the Venus Orbiting Imaging Radar system, which was used to study the planet Venus.

He went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for his college and advanced degrees. In 1986, he finished his PhD in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering. After MIT, Dr. Messac worked at the Draper Laboratory. He focused on how different parts of a system move together and how to make structures as strong and light as possible. He was also a leader in combining control systems with structure design and using computers to create visual models. In 1994, he started teaching at Northeastern University.

Research and Career

In 2000, Dr. Messac joined Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. By 2008, he became the Head of the Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering Department there.

He moved to Syracuse University in 2010. At Syracuse, he was named a Distinguished Professor and led the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department. He worked to make the department more diverse, meaning he helped bring in more students and teachers from different backgrounds. Under his leadership, Syracuse University's ranking in the U.S. News & World Report Best Global University Ranking went up by twelve spots.

In 2010, Dr. Messac visited Haiti after a major event there. He met Nannette Canniff, who started the St. Boniface Haiti Foundation (SBHF), an organization that helps people in Haiti.

In 2013, he joined Mississippi State University. He held an important position there as the Earnest W. and Mary Ann Deavenport, Jr., Chair and Dean of Engineering. He was the first African-American person to become a Dean at Mississippi State University in the university's history. In 2015, Dr. Messac became a Director at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. In this role, he guided nine different technical groups.

Dr. Messac moved to Howard University in 2016 to become the Dean of the College of Engineering, Architecture and Computer Sciences. As Dean, he helped the architecture program get re-approved and improved the national ranking of many Howard University programs. In just three years, Howard University moved up 66 spots in the U.S. News & World Report Best Global University Rankings. He also worked with Carnegie Mellon University to create a special program for students to earn two degrees at once.

Awards and Honors

Dr. Messac has received many important awards and honors, including:

• 2008: Elected Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
• Elected Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
• 2010: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Award
• 2019: Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

Selected Publications

He has also written many important scientific papers.