AIAA Activities & Contributions

Over the past 20 years, Sivaram has made significant contributions to AIAA in a wide variety of roles such as Member of Board of Directors, Section Chair, Deputy Director of Honors & Awards, Deputy Director of Technical Activities, Director of Region III, Committee Member for multiple technical committees (Fluid Dynamics, Management, Gas Turbines, Air Breathing Propulsion, Aerodynamic Measurement and Technology, and Ground Testing), Honors and Awards Committee, Conference Organizer, and Nominator for multiple local and national awards.

  1. Member - Board of Directors (2008 - 2015)
  2. Director - Region III (Jan. 2008 - 2015)
    • Responsible for leading Region III sections
    • One of Region III sections (Dayton-Cincinnati) won Outstanding Section Award consecutively over the past two years (2008 and 2009) in the Large Sections category. It also won several other 1st place awards (e.g., in Public Policy and Pre-College Outreach). In the Small Sections category, Columbus Section won the Outstanding Section Award (2009) and it also won several other 1st place awards (e.g. Communications). Currently working with other sections leadership in Region III for applying best practices to make their sections robust and vibrant.
    • Region III members won Engineer-of-the-Year award 5 times during 7 years of his leadership.
    • Several members in Region III won numerous Technical Committee awards and other national awards.
  3. Member - Honors and Awards Committee (2008 - present)
    • Committee Member - Von Karman Lectureship Award
    • Committee Member - Guggenheim Medal
    • Engineer of the Year Award
  4. Chair - AIAA Web Advisory Committee  (2003 - 2007)
    • Selected to serve from among 12 distinguished members; appointed by the President of AIAA to lead a team of 20 diverse, nationally recognized members in an effort to revamp the national AIAA website.
  5. Deputy Director - Technical Activities Committee, Region III (2003 - 2006)
    • Encouraged several regional members to join technical committees, and coordinated with section chairs on technical activities.
  6. Deputy Director - Honors & Awards Committee, Region III (2005 - 2008)
    • Evaluated Associate Fellow nominations from Region III
    • Nominated several individuals for technical and service awards within AIAA and for other professional societies
    • Encouraged sections to create a dedicated position for Honors & Awards within each section and provided assistance as necessary
    • Nominator for Senior Members - Successfully nominated 25 Members for the Senior Member Upgrade
    • Nominator for Associate Fellows - Successfully nominated 25 Senior Members for the Associate Fellow Upgrade
    • Nominator for Fellows - Nominated 10 Associate Fellows for the Fellow Upgrade (6 were selected and others are pending).
    • Provided reference letters to many deserving individuals
    • Committee Member - Von Karman Lectureship Award
  7. Technical Chair - 43rd AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Cincinnati, OH, Jul. 8-11, 2007
    • Successfully led the team to organize 675 conference papers in 150 sessions, special panels, and Brian Rowe Memorial Lecture; Secretary of Air Force Dr. Michael Wynne and Governor of Ohio Mr. Ted Strickland delivered keynote and luncheon speeches.
  8. Technical Program Chair - 26th AIAA Aerodynamic Measurement Technology and Ground Testing Conference, Seattle, WA, Jun. 23-26, 2008
    • Successfully organized conference papers and joint sessions with Fluid Dynamics and Ground Testing categories
  9. Chair - AIAA Dayton-Cincinnati Section (2002 - 2003)
    • Led the section through the historic 100 years of flight celebrations
    • Supported the popular passport-to-flight program for kids in our section among many other events
    • Organized several council meetings where some of the senior leadership in Dayton attended most of these meetings
    • Coordinated with WPAFB educational outreach office and advocated for K-12 math and science awareness programs
  10. Vice Chair - AIAA Dayton-Cincinnati Section (2001 - 2002)
    • Helped section chair to accomplish the objectives set by the council
  11. Membership Chair - AIAA Dayton-Cincinnati Section (2000 - 2002)
    • Significant efforts were made to update the email database for local members, which helped to eliminate newsletter costs, and increase savings
    • Promoted several members to Senior Member grade, Associate Fellow grade, and Fellow grade
    • Successfully nominated several distinguished members for the local, regional, and national AIAA and other professional awards
  12. Council Member - AIAA Dayton-Cincinnati Section (1999 - present)
    • Actively participate in council meetings
    • Mentor new members
    • Liaison for other professional societies
    • Liaison for TechFest (K-12 educational outreach effort)
    • Liaison for regional activities
  13. Registration Chair - AIAA Dayton-Cincinnati Aerospace Symposium (2000 - 2003)
    • Helped design online registration form and handled all registrations through web
    • Coordinated with symposium organization committee and registrants
  14. Corporate Sponsorship Chair - AIAA Dayton-Cincinnati Aerospace Symposium (2002 - present)
    • Raised funds worth of ~ $25,000 over the past few years to cover student registration and Honors & Awards expenses
  15. Keynote Chair - AIAA Dayton-Cincinnati Section (2004 - present)
    • Organized a panel session titled "Challenges for the U.S. Military and Aerospace Industry in the Global Economy" with distinguished panel members from Government, Academia, and Industry, 2004
    • Invited Dr. Peter Diamandis, Chairman of X-Prize Foundation to deliver a keynote on the topic titled "Challenges Involved in the Commercialization of Space." This item was well publicized in the Dayton community and was well attended, 2005
    • Invited Dr. Roger Launius of Smithsonian Institute to deliver a keynote on the topic titled "Robots and Humans in Spaceflight: Technology, Evolution, and Interplanetary Travel." 2006
    • Invited Mr. James Haas of Boeing Corp. to deliver a keynote on the topic titled "Boeing 787 - Making the Dream a Reality" 2007
    • Helped in the invitation ofDr. John Anderson of Smithsonian to deliver a keynote on the topic titled "Technological Advances that Enabled the Sound Barrier to be Broken on 14 Oct. 1947, in the Bell X-1, with Capt. Chuck Yeager at the Control" 2009
    • Invitated Dr. Tom Bussing of DARPA to deliver a keynote on the topic titled "Technology Development: One Project at a Time" 2010
  16. Web Designer - AIAA Dayton-Cincinnati Section (2002 - 2004)
    • Designed website in coordination with the section webmaster, and updated content as needed
  17. Co-Organizer - AIAA/ASME Honors & Awards Banquet (2002 - 2004)

    • Conceived the idea of organizing the joint awards banquet and co-organized the event for the past three years

  18. Technical Committee Member - Aerodynamic Measurement Technology (2000 - 2011)

    • Liaison to Fluid Dynamics TC
    • Organized AIAA summer meeting in Seattle, 2008
    • Reviewed abstracts and papers for several conferences
    • Served as session chair
  19. Technical Committee Member - Fluid Dynamics (2001 - 2007)

    • Liaison to AMT TC
    • Chair - Information and Publications Sub-Committee
    • Co-Editor - Annual Review Article on Fluid Dynamics, 2003
    • Co-Editor - Annual Review Article on Fluid Dynamics, 2004
    • Web Designer
    • News Letter Editor
  20. Technical Committee Member - Management TC (2005 - present)

    • Chair - Membership Sub-Committee, 2006 - 2007
    • Chair - Special Projects, 2009 - present
  21. Technical Committee Member - Air Breathing Propulsion TC (2007 - 2008)

    • Chair - Honors & Awards Sub-Committee

  22. Technical Committee Member - Gas Turbines TC (2008 - present)

    • Chair - Honors & Awards Sub-Committee

  23. Technical Committee Member - Ground Testing Technical Committee (2009 - present)

  24. Nominator -- Successfully nominated several deserving and distinguished individuals for the following awards:

    • Hap Arnold Award for Excellence in Program Management (2002)
    • Propellants & Combustion Award (2003)
    • Public Service Award (2007)
    • Pendray Aerospace Literature Award (2007)
    • Aerodynamic Measurement Technology Award (2006)
    • AIAA President-Elect (2006, 2008)
    • Plasmadynamics and Lasers Award (2009)
    • Applied Aerodynamics Award (2007)
    • Special Service Citation Award (2007)
    • Distinguished Service Award (2007)
    • Nominated several Senior Members for Associate Fellow upgrades, Associated Fellows for Fellow Upgrades (1997 - present)
    • Evaluated Associate Fellow nominations from Region III over the past 5 years (2005 -present)
    • Sustained Service Award (2009)
  25. Reviewer - AIAA Journal

  26. Session Chair, 1999 - present

  27. Reviewer - AIAA Conference Abstracts, 1999 - present

  28. Contributor - AIAA Conferences & Journals

  29. Recipient - AIAA Special Service Citation, 2003

  30. Recipient - AIAA Sustained Service Award, 2005

  31. Congressional Visits Day Participant, 2002 - 2009

  32. Participant - AIAA Regional Leadership Conference, 2001, 2003, 2005 - 2007, 2009

  33. Contributor - Aerospace America Magazine, Dec. 2002

  34. Executive Committee Member - ICAS/AIAA Symposium, Jul. 2003

  35. Associate Fellow - AIAA, 1999

  36. Council Member - AIAA Dayton-Cincinnati Section, 2000 - present

  37. Invited Speaker - AIAA Passport to Teachers Workshop, Jul. 9, 2007

  38. Special Certificate Recognition - AIAA Management TC, 2007

  39. Special Certificate Recognition - AIAA (for serving as Technical Chair for JPC2007)

  40. Fellow - AIAA, 2006

  41. Member - Corporate Membership (2008 - present)

  42. Member - Regions and Sections Activities Committee (RSAC) (2008 - present)

  43. Member - Board Of Directors Nominating Committee (2008 - 2009)

  44. Chair - New Horizons Forum -- 50th Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Nashville, TN (2011)

With Participants at Region III Student Conference (2009)

Addressing Students at the Region III Student Conference (2009)

Congratulating Sarah Lane (Second Place Winner -- 2009)

Congratulating Ian Tobasco (Third place Winner -- 2009)

With TeamOhio during Congressional Visits Day (2009)

With Region III Members during Congressional Visists Day (2009)

With John Blanton (GE), Gov. Ted Strickland, and AIAA President Paul Nielson at JPC (2007)

With AIAA Honors & Awards Committee (2008)

With DCASS Award Winners (2006)

Conducting Dayton-Cincinnati Section Council Meeting as a Section Chair (2003)

JAXA Facility Tour in Tokyo, Japan (2005)

Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad Facility Tour With Managment TC Members (2007)

With Houston Section Officers and Region IV Director during Student Paper Conference (2010)

Presentating at AIAA DCASS Conference - Dayton (2010)

Sivaram travels around the world to attend professional conferences, organizing symposia, and delivering invited lectures. During these events, he finds time to enjoy with some of the participants.

Preparing a Dough for Rice Cake in Seoul, South Korea

With Street Entertainer in Vienna, Austria

With Prof. Lex Smits of Princeton Univ. in Toronto, Canada

Playing Drums in Tokyo, Japan

Having a Traditional Lunch in Sendai, Japan