NASA Glenn Employees Named AIAA Associate Fellows 

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has named two distinguished engineers at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland AIAA Associate Fellows.  

The grade of Associate Fellow recognizes individuals who have accomplished or overseen important engineering or scientific work, done original work of outstanding merit, or have otherwise made outstanding contributions to the arts, sciences, or technology of aeronautics or astronautics. To be selected as an Associate Fellow, an individual must be an AIAA Senior Member in good standing, with at least 12 years of professional experience, and be recommended by three AIAA members. 

L. Danielle Koch, aerospace engineer, performs research and educational outreach at NASA Glenn. Her 34-year career at NASA has been dedicated to conducting research for safer, cleaner, and quieter aircraft engines; high-performance ventilation systems for spacecraft; and bio-inspired broadband acoustic absorbers. She has authored over 50 technical publications and has been granted three patents. Koch has been recognized for excellence in engineering and educational outreach with many awards, most recently named as one of the 2024 Women of Distinction by the Girl Scouts of Northeast Ohio. 

Dr. Sam Lee, a research engineer supporting the Aircraft Icing Branch, conducts research in NASA Glenn’s Icing Research Tunnel to study how ice builds up, or accretes, on aircraft surfaces. The results from the experiments are used to understand the physics of how ice accretes on aircraft during flight and to provide the validation data to develop computational tools to predict ice accretion. He also performs research on the effects of ice accretion on aircraft performance in aerodynamic wind tunnels. Lee has authored 17 conference papers and journal papers. He has contributed to the development of many future engineers and scientists as a mentor for NASA’s Explorer Scouts program and various college internship programs. Lee has been part of the Aircraft Icing Branch since 2002.   

AIAA will formally honor and induct the class at the AIAA Associate Fellows Induction Ceremony and Dinner on Jan. 8, 2025, during the 2025 AIAA SciTech Forum in Orlando.