The Zarem Award in the field of astronautics is selected from the collection of graduate student papers originating from seven AIAA Regions. In order to qualify, Haddad had to first compete and rank in the Masters Division of the 63rd AIAA Southeastern Regional Student Conference, which took place at Cape Canaveral, FL, April 2-3, 2012. According to Stephen J. Brock, Student Programs Manager, “The judges found your paper ‘On the Sidewall Boundary Layer of Transverse Waves in Simulated Liquid Rocket Engines’ to be of outstanding quality.” Comments made by the five judges who reviewed this paper echoed similar sentiments regarding the originality of this work and its scholarly value. The paper in question has since undergone an independent review process, which led to its acceptance for publication “as is” in the flagship journal of AIAA.

Haddad’s award winning paper was coauthored by Joseph Majdalani, UTSI Professor and Arnold Chair of Excellence in Advanced Propulsion. Their work introduces a groundbreaking framework for modeling transverse waves in liquid rocket engines. When combined with the preceding publications of Haddad and Majdalani, the newly devised corrections give rise to a more complete model for describing oscillatory motions in cylindrically-shaped rocket chambers. It may also be viewed as an important step-forward in understanding acoustic instability, a phenomenon that has repeatedly plagued large combustors. The work pursued by Haddad was partly funded by the National Science Foundation and is part of his M.S. thesis in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Tennessee.

At UTSI, Haddad completed his M.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering in December 2011 with a 4.0 GPA. He also holds a B.E. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Notre Dame University, Lebanon, where he graduated with the Highest Distinction. After receiving the J. B. Dicks Fellowship in Fall 2010, Haddad joined Majdalani’s group at UTSI. In the scope of 16 months, he completed a major research project and published two journal and four conference papers. He was recruited in 2012 by Schlumberger as part of their Tech and Field program.