We are pleased to announce that Professor Emeritus Alon Gany has been selected to receive the 2025 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Wyld Award.
This award is presented to recognize outstanding achievement in developing or applying rocket propulsion systems. This prestigious award is proudly sponsored by the AIAA Electric Propulsion Technical Committee (EPTC), the Hybrid Rockets TC (HRTC), the Liquid Propulsion TC (LPTC), the Nuclear and Future Flight Propulsion TC (NFFPTC), and the Solid Propulsion TC (SPTC).
The Wyld Propulsion Award Committee selected Professor Gany “For pioneering contributions in propulsion research on metalized propellants, energetic materials, hybrid rockets, ramjets, and scramjets, with sustained excellence in educating generations of propulsion experts.”
Professor Daniella Raveh, Dean of the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, stated: “We congratulate Professor Gany on receiving the prestigious Wyld Propulsion Award. His decades of groundbreaking research and commitment to training future generations of aerospace engineers and scientists make him a deserving recipient. Professor Gany helps our department achieve its mission of becoming a world-class academic hub for aeronautics and astronautics, dedicated to creating, expanding, and sharing knowledge in aerospace sciences and engineering.”
About Professor Alon Gany
Alon Gany is Professor Emeritus at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel. He was the holder of the Lena and Ben Fohrman Chair in Aeronautical Engineering (1998-2012). He managed the Propulsion and Combustion Laboratory and was the Academic/Planning Advisor and Head of the Sylvia and David IA Fine Rocket Propulsion Center (1996-2014), as well as the Director of the Aerothermodynamics Laboratory (2009-1014). From January 2000 to December 2002, he was also the Dean of Students of the Technion. Alon Gany is a graduate of the Technion (BSc in Chemical Engineering (1968), MSc (1971) and DSc (1975) in Aeronautical Engineering). His post-doctoral studies and research were carried out at the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering of Princeton University (1976-1979), where he was also a Visiting Associate Professor (1994-1995). He spent another year in the USA as a National Research Council (NRC) Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics of the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA (1983-1984). Prof. Gany has taught propulsion courses at Princeton University and in various professional workshops in Israel and abroad, and has given numerous seminars and lectures in universities and research institutions around the world.
Alon Gany is International Member of the US National Academy of Engineering (NAE), Member of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Fellow of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA), Honorary Fellow of the High Energy Materials Society of India (HEMSI), Honorary Fellow of the Australian Institute of High Energetic Materials (AIHEM), and Member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the Combustion Institute, the International Association of Hydrogen Energy (IAHE), and Israel Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Alon Gany has taught propulsion courses (rockets, ramjets and other related subjects) to generations of students and has been the Thesis Supervisor of over 100 Doctoral and Master students. He has been recognized as Technion’s Permanent Distinguished Lecturer and has won many awards for excellence in research, innovation, and education including the prestigious 2025 AIAA Wyld Propulsion Award. Alon has some 150 refereed journal publications, 22 book chapters, about 160 major scientific reports, 20 registered patents worldwide, a Rocket Propulsion Text (in Hebrew), and 450 papers and presentations in international and national professional conferences including many invited and plenary lectures. He is a member of the Editorial and Advisory Board of several international journals, and has been a reviewer to numerous journals and conferences. Prof. Gany’s main research interest and expertise are in aerospace propulsion, energy, and related areas, including rocket, ramjet, and scramjet propulsion, as well as marine derivatives (water-air and water-breathing ram rockets) jet propulsion. He investigated the solid fuel ramjet (SFRJ) and its application to gun-launched projectiles starting in the 1980s, established the first ever static firing tests of solid fuel scramjets in conditions mimicking hypersonic flights (Mach 5.5 and over), starting in the 1990s till recently. He was the academic leader of the first design and launching of an SFRJ vehicle in Israel (2006). Alon studied extensively hybrid rockets, conducting hundreds of firing tests. His research has also included aluminized propellants, metal and boron combustion, nozzleless motors, thrust modulation of solid motors by electric field, enhancement of hybrid, solid, and SFRJ motor burning rate by expandable graphite additives, scaling rules for rockets and ramjets, and more. In the energy field his main contribution has been the development of original patented process to activate aluminum to react spontaneously with water to produce hydrogen on-demand, further demonstrating the capability of electric power generation via hydrogen fuel cell and operation of mobile laboratory-scale vehicles.
His research has received external support from the Government and aerospace industries as well as via international collaboration.
Alon Gany has also consulted to industry and government when seeking for professional advice.
