Karen Willcox

{{short description|Aerospace engineer and computational scientist}}

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Karen Willcox

| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=NZL|MNZM|size=100%}}

| image = Karen_Willcox_at_Purdue,_2024_-_img_03.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Willcox in 2024

| birth_place = Auckland, New Zealand

| fields = {{Hlist|Computational science|aerospace engineering}}

| workplaces = {{ubl|Massachusetts Institute of Technology|University of Texas at Austin}}

| alma_mater = {{ubl|University of Auckland|Massachusetts Institute of Technology}}

| thesis_title = Reduced-order aerodynamic models for aeroelastic control of turbomachines

| thesis_url = https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/9265

| thesis_year = 2000

| doctoral_advisor = {{ubl|Jaime Peraire|James Paduano}}

| known_for = Reduced-order modeling, multi-fidelity methods

}}

Karen Elizabeth Willcox {{post-nominals|country=NZL|MNZM}} is an aerospace engineer and computational scientist best known for her work on reduced-order modeling and the study of multi-fidelity methods. She is currently the director of the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences and professor of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at the University of Texas at Austin, Texas.{{Cite news|url=https://www.ices.utexas.edu/people/1617/|title=Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences {{!}} University of Texas at Austin|work=ICES|access-date=2018-09-25|language=en-us}}

Personal life and education

Willcox was born and raised in New Zealand where she earned a bachelor's degree in Engineering Science from the University of Auckland in the year 1994.{{Cite web|url=http://kiwi.oden.utexas.edu/papers/Willcox-resume.pdf|title=Curriculum Vitate|last=|first=|date=|website=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927211853/https://kiwi.oden.utexas.edu/papers/Willcox-resume.pdf|archive-date=27 September 2020|access-date=|url-status=dead}} She subsequently moved to Boston, Massachusetts to join the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for graduate studies. At MIT, she received a master's degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1996 and a PhD in the same subject in the year 2000. Her thesis, titled 'Reduced-Order Aerodynamic Models for Aeroelastic Control of Turbomachines', was completed under the supervision of Jaime Peraire and James Paduano.{{Cite web|url=https://acdl.mit.edu/Willcox_thesis.pdf|title=Thesis|last=|first=|date=|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=}} While at MIT, Willcox played for the MIT Women's Rugby team.{{Cite web|url=https://infinitehistory.mit.edu/video/karen-e-willcox-sm-96-phd-00|title=Karen E. Willcox SM '96, PhD '00 {{!}} MIT Infinite History|website=infinitehistory.mit.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-09-25}} She is also an avid marathon-runner and an experienced mountain climber.{{Cite web|url=https://sirpeterblaketrust.org/posts/2018/3/23/karen-willcox-dt|title=Sir Peter Blake Trust|website=sirpeterblaketrust.org|language=en|access-date=2018-09-25|archive-date=25 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180925144141/https://sirpeterblaketrust.org/posts/2018/3/23/karen-willcox-dt|url-status=dead}}

Willcox had long wanted to be an astronaut. She made the shortlist of candidates for NASA's astronaut training program in 2009{{Cite web|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/2539011/Kiwi-misses-out-on-Nasa-space-training|title=Kiwi misses out on Nasa space training|website=Stuff|date=28 June 2009 |language=en|access-date=2018-09-25}} and 2013, but both attempts remained unsuccessful.

Career

Following her doctoral studies, Willcox worked at Boeing Phantom Works in the Blended-Wing-Body aircraft design group for a year. In 2001, she joined the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT as a professor. In 2008, she additionally became a founding co-director of the MIT Center for Computational Engineering. She stayed at MIT until July 2018. During this period, she also had short-term visiting appointments at Sandia National Laboratories, the University of Auckland and Singapore University of Technology and Design. In August 2018, Willcox joined the University of Texas at Austin to succeed J. Tinsley Oden as the director of the Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences.{{Cite news|url=https://news.utexas.edu/2018/04/10/new-director-of-no-1-ranked-computational-institute|title=UT Hires Next Director of No. 1 Ranked Computational Institute|date=2018-04-10|work=UT News {{!}} The University of Texas at Austin|access-date=2018-09-25|language=en}}

Willcox has served on the editorial board of several journals; she is currently a Section editor for the SIAM Journal on Scientific Computing{{Cite web|url=https://www.siam.org/Publications/Journals/SIAM-journal-on-scientific-computing-sisc/editorial-board|title=SISC {{!}} Editorial Board {{!}} SIAM|website=www.siam.org|language=en-US|access-date=2018-09-25}} and an Associate editor for the AIAA Journal{{Cite web|url=https://arc.aiaa.org/page/aiaaj/masthead|title=AIAA Journal|website=arc.aiaa.org|language=en-US|access-date=2018-09-25}} and for Computing in Science & Engineering, an IEEE technical magazine.{{Cite web |title=CSDL {{!}} IEEE Computer Society |url=https://www.computer.org/csdl/magazine/cs/about/14589?title=Editorial%20Board&periodical=Computing%20in%20Science%20&%20Engineering |access-date=2023-03-19 |website=www.computer.org}}

In addition to research, Willcox is involved in science education and policy as well. An advocate for innovation in teaching, she served as co-chair of the Online Education Policy Initiative at MIT.{{Cite news|url=https://news.mit.edu/2015/mit-creates-new-online-education-policy-initiative-0414|title=MIT creates new Online Education Policy Initiative|work=MIT News|access-date=2018-09-25}} Since 2014, she has served on the Advisory Board of Girls' Angle. In 2015, she received a First in the World grant from the US Department of Education.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/department-awards-60-million-first-world-grants-17-colleges-universities-and-organizations|title=Department Awards $60 Million in First in the World Grants to 18 Colleges, Universities and Organizations {{!}} U.S. Department of Education|website=www.ed.gov|language=en|access-date=2018-09-25}}

Recognition

Willcox was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to aerospace engineering and education, in the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours.{{citation|url=https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/queens-birthday-honours-2017-citations-for-members-of-the-new-zealand-order-of-merit|title=Queen's Birthday Honours 2017 – Citations for members of the New Zealand Order of Merit|date=20 June 2017 |publisher=New Zealand Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet|accessdate=2018-10-01}}

She was elected as a fellow of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics in 2018, "for contributions to model reduction and multifidelity methods, with applications in optimization, control, design, and uncertainty quantification of large-scale systems".{{citation|url=https://sinews.siam.org/Details-Page/siam-announces-class-of-2018-fellows|journal=SIAM News|date=March 29, 2018|title=SIAM Announces Class of 2018 Fellows|accessdate=2018-10-01}} She was elected as a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 2019.{{citation|url=https://www.aiaa.org/docs/default-source/uploadedfiles/honors-and-awards/aiaa-fellow-roster_2023.pdf?sfvrsn=2d0c760b_2|title=AIAA Fellow roster|publisher=AIAA|year=2023|access-date=2023-08-29}}