Professor David Zingg (UTIAS) has been named the University of Toronto Distinguished Professor of Computational Aerodynamics and Sustainable Aviation. The Distinguished Professor Award recognizes individuals with highly distinguished accomplishments and those who display exceptional promise. Zingg will hold the professorship for a five-year term starting September 1, 2016. He is one of eight Distinguished Professors at U of T Engineering and 33 across the entire University.
“I am delighted that the University has recognized Professor David Zingg for his outstanding research and teaching contributions, as well as his exceptional leadership as Director of UTIAS for ten years,” said Dean Cristina Amon. “On behalf of the Faculty, I warmly congratulate him on this prestigious appointment.”
David Zingg is among the world’s leading authorities in the fields of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and aerodynamic shape optimization, particularly their application to aircraft design. His contributions range from fundamental algorithm development for CFD and aerodynamic shape optimization to the investigation of unconventional aircraft configurations for next-generation aircraft with improved fuel efficiency and reduced emissions. Software developed by his research group has been transferred to Bombardier on several occasions, and his software for analysis of high-lift configurations played an important role in the design of the Dash 8 Q400 commuter aircraft. Zingg is founding Director of the Centre for Research in Sustainable Aviation, which was launched in 2012.
Zingg recently completed his second five-year term as Director of UTIAS. Under his leadership, UTIAS underwent a period of exceptional progress — the number of graduate students nearly doubled and nine new faculty members were hired, many of whom have a research focus on sustainable aviation. A leader in his professional community, Zingg is chair of the Scientific Committee for the Green Aviation Research and Development Network, which brings together government, academic and industrial partners to foster the development of technologies to reduce aircraft noise and emissions.
The impact of Zingg’s research and leadership has been recognized through numerous honours and awards. In 2004, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for his research on environmentally friendly aircraft. In 2011 he received an Ontario Professional Engineers Medal for Research and Development. In 2013 he garnered the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute (CASI) McCurdy Award and in 2015 he was named the CASI Turnbull Lecturer. He has previously been recognized by U of T with the 2009 Faculty Award, for excellence in both teaching and research, and the 2016 JJ Berry Smith Doctoral Supervision Award. He is a Fellow of CASI and the Canadian Academy of Engineering.
