Palaniappan honored with Young Engineering Alumnus Award
Murugan Palaniappan (BSAAE ’10) was honored with the Young Engineering Alumnus Award at the Purdue Engineering Alumni Association dinner and awards presentation Sept. 27.
Palaniappan received the award “in recognition of extraordinary career advancement.”
He is the vice president of sales and marketing for the Asia Pacific Goshawk team, based in Hong Kong. The aerospace leasing company delivered its first AIRBUS A321 Neo to Philippine Airlines in July. Before starting in his current role in May, Palaniappan worked in aircraft leasing for eight years, generating more than $800 million in commercial leased aircraft deals in Asia.
Before joining Goshawk, Palaniappan served in origination roles with Avolon as vice president of its Singapore operations and CIT Aerospace, moving through the ranks of marketing analyst to assistant vice president.
“I would like to thank the College of Engineering and School of Aeronautics and Astronautics for the opportunities given to me,” Palaniappan said in his remarks. “I would like to thank Professor (Steven) Collicott, who I’ve had the pleasure of working with in the past and who nominated me for this award. I’m humbled and honored. Finally, I’d like to thank my parents, who have worked hard to support me in my journey that started right here at Purdue.
“It’s truly been a privilege.”
At Purdue, Palaniappan participated in two student design-build-test projects, one in microgravity fluid dynamics experiments and one in airborne Earth remote sensing.
In August 2017, he traveled from Singapore to Purdue to participate in AAE’s annual Young Professional Advisory Council (YPAC) to share insights gained from a successful career start. He and YPAC met with more than 100 students over the course of two evenings, answering questions about transitioning to the workplace and choosing senior design options in AAE.