Wu Li

Originally a full professor of applied mathematics at Old Dominion University, Dr. Li was funded by NASA to work on a robust design optimization project at Langley Research Center in 2001. This kindled Dr. Li’s dream of solving impactful mathematical problems in engineering applications. 

After a successful, 12-year academic career with 66 papers in peer-reviewed mathematical journals, including various SIAM journals, Dr. Li joined the Multidisciplinary Optimization (MDO) Branch at Langley Research Center in 2002. In search of significant applications of MDO technologies, Dr. Li found a home in research of low-boom supersonic aircraft, a research topic where the uncompromising conflicts between the supersonic cruise efficiency and low-boom requirement seem to be unresolvable. 

Successful applications of MDO technologies allow Dr. Li to break the barriers in conceptual design of low-boom supersonic transports to enable cruise-efficient and low-boom supersonic concepts. He continues to improve the fidelity of analysis tools used in aircraft conceptual design and advance the state-of-the-art for conceptual design of low-boom supersonic aircraft.

Awards

• A grant from Air Force Office of Scientific Research, “Nonparametric Data Regression and Surface Reconstruction by Wavelets,” 94-NM-390, Nov. 1994 to Nov. 1995
• A grant from National Sciences Foundation, “Minimization of Piecewise Quadratic Functions and Applications,” NSF-DMS-9973218, July 1999 to June 2002
• ASA Exceptional Achievement Award, 2013 

Education/Professional Experience

• M.S. in Computer Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University
• Ph.D. in Mathematics, The Pennsylvania State University 
• Assistant Professor in Applied Mathematics, Old Dominion University
• Associate Professor in Applied Mathematics, Old Dominion University
• Professor in Applied Mathematics, Old Dominion University
• Research Engineer, NASA Langley Research Center
• Senior Research Engineer, NASA Langley Research Center

Publications

• Li, W., Shields, E., and Le, D., “Interactive Inverse Design Optimization of Fuselage Shape for Low-Boom Supersonic Concepts,” Journal of Aircraft, Vol. 45, No. 4, 2008, pp.1381–1397. doi:10.2514/1.35543
• Li, W., and Rallabhandi, S., “Inverse Design of Low-Boom Supersonic Concepts Using Reversed Equivalent-Area Targets,” Journal of Aircraft, Vol. 51, No. 1, 2014, pp. 29–36. doi:10.2514/1.C031551
• Ordaz, I., and Li, W., “Approximation of Off-Body Sonic-Boom Analysis for Low-Boom Conceptual Design,” Journal of Aircraft, Vol. 53, No. 1, 2016, pp. 14–19. doi:10.2514/1.C033159
• Li, W., and Geiselhart, K., “Multidisciplinary Design Optimization of Low-Boom Supersonic Aircraft with Mission Constraints,” AIAA Journal, Vol. 59, No. 1, 2021, pp. 165–179. doi:10.2514/1.J059237
• Li, W., and Geiselhart, K., “Integration of Low-Fidelity MDO and CFD-Based Redesign of Low-Boom Supersonic Transports,” AIAA Journal, Vol. 59, No. 10, 2021, pp. 3923–3936. doi:10.2514/1.J060368
• Li, W., and Geiselhart, K., “Multi-objective, Multidisciplinary Optimization of Low-Boom Supersonic Transports Using Multifidelity Models,” Journal of Aircraft, Vol. 59, No. 5, 2022, pp. 1137–1151. doi:10.2514/1.C036656