Stephen Heister, a professor at Purdue for over 34 years, has won the J. Leland Atwood Award from the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). This annual award recognizes contributions in the aerospace field and in educating the next generation of aerospace engineers.

One of Heister’s great accomplishments, mentioned in multiple letters of support for this nomination, heralded his efforts to revitalize the university’s Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories. What at the time supported barely a dozen students has grown to more than 200 this academic year. Heister oversaw major portions of the Zucrow Labs expansion, making it what is now the largest academic propulsion lab in the world — and one of the most highly esteemed.

“Today, many regard [Zucrow Labs] as the premier university propulsion lab in the world, with numerous high-power combustors and turbomachinery rigs operating at real engine conditions of high pressure and high-power density,” wrote Jamie Canino, associate professor of engineering practice at Purdue, in a nomination letter for this award.

Despite Heister’s outsize role in making Zucrow a success and his numerous contributions to propulsion research, his most significant impact has been as an engineering educator.

Heister’s students have gone on to work in many different companies across the aerospace industry, including Blue Origin, ImpulseSpace, SpaceX, General Kinetics, and Virgin Orbit. Many of them credit Heister as one of the reasons for their successful careers, as he is known for helping students find jobs and network once they have graduated.

“Day after day, year after year, Steve has shaped the rocket and airbreathing propulsion curriculum at Purdue University and has enabled the growth of the Zucrow operation. Purdue students have taken the fundamental knowledge gained under Steve’s guidance forward to their roles at countless government, industry, and academic partners around the world. Steve is a tremendous educator, having received no less than 6 teaching awards at Purdue,” reads a supporting letter co-signed by Tim Pourpoint, a Purdue AAE professor, and Scott Meyer, the managing director of Zucrow Labs.

The formal announcement for the Atwood Award came during the 2024 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, hosted from June 23-26, 2024. It will be presented at the 2025 AIAA SciTech Forum in January 2025.