A&A Distinguished Speaker Seminar with Joe Armas, President, Otis Americas
Reception following the seminar.
Bio:
As President, Otis Americas, Joe Armas is responsible for driving growth in our New Equipment and Service businesses throughout North and South America, while focusing on safety, quality and exceptional customer service.
During his 20-plus year Otis career, Joe has held several leadership roles in the U.S. and Asia, most recently having served as President of U.S. and Canada. He has been involved in numerous projects that have introduced innovative technology in the industry, including several iconic projects around the world. Joe is well respected by his colleagues and professional network for his knowledge of diverse markets and customers. He was proud to serve as Chairman for the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong in 2022.
"In each city I've lived and worked, I am always reminded of the powerful role that Otis has in people’s daily lives,” he says. “Whether it’s a small apartment building or commercial skyscraper, an iconic tourist landmark or a bustling metr…
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Student Union Building (HUB). Online Meeting Link: https://washington.zoom.us/j/97745008428. Campus room: 145. Accessibility Contact: aafrontdesk@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Monday, February 23, 2026, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM.
A&A Professional Programs Info Session
Register for one of our upcoming information sessions to explore if our professional graduate programs align with your career goals and aspirations. You will receive the zoom link after you register.
We will cover the Master of Aerospace Engineering program and our three Graduate Certificates. The professional master's and certificate programs teach skills to apply cutting-edge research and technology in industry, with no research or thesis required.
Application deadline for Autumn 2026 admission is April 1, 2026.
If you have questions, please contact advising team at aeropro@uw.edu.
Event interval: Single day event. Accessibility Contact: aafrontdesk@uw.edu. Event Types: Information Sessions.
Monday, February 23, 2026, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM.
For more info visit engrwashington.event451.sites.451.io. Samuel Buckner's PhD General Exam
Samuel Buckner's General Exam, Perception-Aware Trajectory Optimization for Autonomous Systems in Complex and Stochastic Environments, Committee
Behcet Acikmese (Chair), Mehran Mesbahi, Karen Leung, Abhishek Gupta, Aleksandr Aravkin and Purnanand Elango
Abstract
The capabilities of autonomous systems have been challenged in recent years by the complexity of spatial perception combined with agile motion demands. Such tasks require reasoning about unknown and hazardous environments--requiring high-dimensional parameterizations of the physical world--and are critical to accomplish meaningful interaction-driven autonomy. In this research proposal, several candidate techniques are presented to address these difficulties in the context of continuous-time trajectory optimization. We first investigate the set-based viewplanning problem, where an autonomous agent must gather perceptive measurements of a set-parameterized region of interest. Moreover, we show how the resulting infinite-dimensional constraint can be…
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Aerospace and Engineering Research Building (AER). Online Meeting Link: https://washington.zoom.us/j/99175797647. Campus room: 130. Accessibility Contact: aafrontdesk@uw.edu. Event Types: Academics.
Thursday, February 26, 2026, 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM.
A&A Distinguished Speaker Seminar with Helion Energy's Michael Hua
Nuclear Engineering on the Frontier of Commercial Fusion Energy
Abstract: Helion Energy is a private fusion energy company founded in 2013 and headquartered in Everett, Washington. To date, Helion has built seven fusion generator prototypes and was the first private fusion company to achieve fusion-relevant ion temperatures of 100 million °C (9 keV). Helion has also signed fusion’s first power purchase agreement to deliver 50 MW of electricity to Microsoft Corporation, as well as an agreement to develop a 500 MW fusion power plant at a Nucor steel manufacturing facility. Helion’s approach is based on forming and merging plasmas in a field-reversed configuration (FRC). This talk introduces Helion, provides an overview of the core technology, and highlights exciting ongoing work.
Bio: Michael Hua, Ph.D. is Director of Nuclear Science at Helion Energy, a fusion energy company developing pulsed fusion generators to deliver commercial electricity. He leads a multidisciplinary organization spanning Nuclear…
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Student Union Building (HUB). Campus room: 145. Accessibility Contact: aafrontdesk@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Monday, March 2, 2026, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM.
A&A Faculty Meeting
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Guggenheim Hall (GUG). Campus room: 211D. Accessibility Contact: aafrontdesk@uw.edu. Event Types: Meetings.
Thursday, March 5, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM.
Winter Quarter Exams
Event interval: Single day event. Accessibility Contact: aafrontdesk@uw.edu. Event Types: Academics.
Saturday, March 14, 2026 – Friday, March 20, 2026.
Spring Break begins
Event interval: Single day event. Accessibility Contact: aafrontdesk@uw.edu. Event Types: Academics.
Saturday, March 21, 2026.
Spring Quarter begins
Event interval: Single day event. Accessibility Contact: aafrontdesk@uw.edu. Event Types: Academics.
Monday, March 30, 2026.
A&A Faculty Meeting
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Guggenheim Hall (GUG). Campus room: 211D. Accessibility Contact: aafrontdesk@uw.edu. Event Types: Meetings.
Thursday, April 2, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM.
A&A Distinguished Speaker Seminar with MIT Professor Chuchu Fan
Details coming.
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Student Union Building (HUB). Campus room: 145. Accessibility Contact: aafrontdesk@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Monday, May 4, 2026, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM.
A&A Faculty Meeting
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Guggenheim Hall (GUG). Campus room: 211D. Accessibility Contact: aafrontdesk@uw.edu. Event Types: Meetings.
Thursday, May 7, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM.
A&A Distinguished Speaker Seminar with UC Berkeley Professor Lining Yao
Details coming.
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Student Union Building (HUB). Campus room: 334. Accessibility Contact: aafrontdesk@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Monday, May 18, 2026, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM.