{"id":1387,"date":"2022-06-08T09:38:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-08T13:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/mae\/?p=1387"},"modified":"2025-07-30T09:40:31","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T13:40:31","slug":"schmisseur-named-new-ut-space-institute-director","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/mae\/news\/schmisseur-named-new-ut-space-institute-director\/","title":{"rendered":"Schmisseur Named New UT Space Institute Director"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

University of Tennessee Space Institute<\/a> (UTSI) Professor and H.H. Arnold Chair John Schmisseur<\/a> has been selected to serve as the institute\u2019s next director and as associate dean in the Tickle College of Engineering, effective August 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m very honored and grateful to have been selected to be the next executive director of UTSI, a position that I hoped I would have an opportunity to one day grow into since I arrived here in 2014,\u201d said Schmisseur. \u201cUTSI is a special place with incredible potential and I\u2019m hoping we can work closely with the Knoxville campus to see it grow into a vital asset to UT in the performance of our mission as the state\u2019s land grant university.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schmisseur\u2019s goal of increasing the institute\u2019s reach and importance to key sectors and to the state was shared by Dean Matthew Mench of UT\u2019s Tickle College of Engineering, which includes UTSI in Tullahoma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are excited to have Dr. Schmisseur take the position, and are looking forward to implementing his vision for growth of UTSI and providing a greater impact on the nation\u2019s aerospace and defense programs,\u201d said Mench, the Wayne T. Davis Dean\u2019s Chair of the college. \u201cThis is an exciting time for UTSI and for the university in both Tullahoma and Knoxville.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mench also was quick to praise James Simonton, who served as interim executive director of UTSI for the last two years, his second stint in that position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want to thank Dr. Simonton for his great work in providing steady leadership and facilitating significant growth for UTSI during his term,\u201d said Mench. \u201cI am grateful for his service.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Schmisseur, the new role is an opportunity to utilize the experience he developed over the last eight years in establishing and growing UTSI\u2019s hypersonics research group, using it to develop a much broader aerospace and defense portfolio that supports faculty and students on both campuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schmisseur credited Mench and UT\u2019s senior leadership as being incredibly supportive of UTSI\u2019s growth and direction and said that he feels fortunate to have a chance to work closely with them to ensure UTSI fulfills its \u201cgreat potential\u201d within the mission of UT and for the people of Tennessee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also noted that UTSI\u2019s location gives it a unique opportunity to be a partner and major player throughout the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUTSI can play an even greater role for the state as the cornerstone of an advanced technology ecosystem that can draw from the nearby technology-intensive Huntsville, Alabama, region,\u201d said Schmisseur. \u201cWe can leverage our engagement there to promote the expansion of aerospace and defense industries in southern Tennessee and foster economic development.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He first came to UTSI in 2014 after spending 23 years in the US Air Force. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, a Fellow of the Air Force Research Laboratory, and has numerous other Air Force and aeronautics accolades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schmisseur earned his bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s from the University of Texas in aerospace engineering in 1990 and 1992, respectively, and his doctorate from Purdue University in 1997 in aeronautics and astronautics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking to the horizon, UTSI has a solid core of research capabilities it will continue to nurture and grow along with establishing new strengths to broaden the research base. The Tennessee Aerothermodynamics Laboratory (TALon) is home to some of the largest high-speed wind tunnels in academia and a focal point for collaborations with external partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UTSI\u2019s Center for Laser Applications pioneers advanced methods for laser-based materials processing, and the Propulsion Research Facility is shared with Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) and features one of the only afterburning jet engines on a university campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Planned areas for expansion of research capabilities include aerospace propulsion, materials for aerospace and defense applications, and advanced optical instrumentation. The establishment of collaborative research space to connect leading-edge research from both Knoxville and Tullahoma with industrial and government end-users is also planned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also notable to UTSI is its long history with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, including the graduation of nine astronauts who account for more than 1,000 days in space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UTSI was founded in 1964 to connect and support faculty and scientists in coordination with nearby AEDC and has since graduated more than 2,000. It has countless examples of scientific breakthroughs, improvements in materials and mechanics, and advancements in flight both on and off planet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John Schmisseur\u00a0has been selected to serve as the UTSI’s next director and as associate dean in the Tickle College of Engineering,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1388,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[384,7],"tags":[20,21],"class_list":["post-1387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty","category-news","tag-john-schmisseur","tag-utsi"],"yoast_head":"\nSchmisseur Named New UT Space Institute Director - Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"John Schmisseur\u00a0has been selected to serve as the UTSI's next director and as associate dean in the Tickle College of Engineering,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tickle.utk.edu\/mae\/news\/schmisseur-named-new-ut-space-institute-director\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Schmisseur Named New UT Space Institute Director - 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