AIAA

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), headquartered in Reston, Virginia, is the world's largest aerospace professional society, formed in 1963 from the merger of the Institute of the Aerospace Sciences (IAS, founded 1932) and the American Rocket Society (ARS, founded 1930). With over 30,000 individual members and 95 corporate members, AIAA serves as the primary professional home for aerospace engineers and scientists across aviation, space, and defense.

The organization runs three major flagship conferences that define the annual calendar of the global aerospace R&D community: the AIAA SciTech Forum (January, the largest aerospace research conference in the US with ~5,000 technical papers), the AIAA Aviation Forum (June), and the AIAA Propulsion and Energy Forum (August). AIAA publishes 10+ peer-reviewed journals including the AIAA Journal, Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, Journal of Propulsion and Power, and Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics — the definitive venues for aerospace engineering research.

The organization develops aerospace technical standards adopted by NASA, DoD, and FAA, and administers prestigious awards including the von Kármán Lectureship and Medal of Honor. Student chapters at hundreds of universities worldwide serve as primary professional development pathways for emerging aerospace engineers.