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Minta Martin Professor of Aerospace Engineering Norman Wereley was selected as a 2026 Fellow of the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE), one of the organization’s highest honors.
The SAMPE Fellow Award recognizes members who have made distinguished contributions to materials and processes over an extended period, demonstrating sustained leadership and achievement in areas including research, design, development, manufacturing and education.
Wereley was recognized for his “pioneering contributions to smart composite materials and adaptive structural systems for energy absorption, occupant protection, and actuation applications, and for sustained leadership in advancing materials research, manufacturing innovation, and education within the global advanced materials community.”
A University of Maryland faculty member since 1993, Wereley’s research spans smart and composite materials, adaptive structures and technologies designed to mitigate vibration, shock and impact. His work includes magnetorheological materials and devices for vibration control and occupant protection, pneumatic artificial muscles for morphing aircraft and robotics, and additively manufactured cellular structures designed to absorb energy during impacts.
Beyond the laboratory, Wereley is a co-inventor on more than twenty awarded and pending patents, with technologies developed through his research for applications ranging from adaptive helicopter landing gears and crashworthy seating to morphing aircraft and robotic systems.
Wereley has also maintained a more than two-decade relationship with SAMPE. He served as faculty advisor for UMD’s SAMPE Student Chapter since 2004 and previously served as vice chair for student affairs and chair of the organization’s Baltimore-Washington chapter. In 2015, he became a SAMPE Lifetime Member and currently serves as editor-in-chief of the SAMPE Journal.
His work with students has been similarly extensive. Wereley founded UMD’s Aerospace Engineering Honors Program and currently serves as its director. He established the Aerospace Engineering Research Opportunity Summer (AEROS) Scholarship program while serving as department chair, and more than 200 students have participated in AEROS since the program’s inception. In addition, Wereley has provided more than 60 undergraduate students research experience in his Composites Research Laboratory.
The SAMPE honor marks Wereley’s second professional society fellowship announced in 2026. Earlier this year, he was named a Fellow of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering, which recognized his excellence in mechanical engineering and outstanding contributions to the profession. He is also a Fellow of several other professional organizations, including the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Royal Aeronautical Society, Institute of Physics and SPIE, and a Technical Fellow of the Vertical Flight Society.
Wereley will be formally inducted during the SAMPE Awards Ceremony and Dinner at the Composites and Advanced Materials Expo (CAMX) on Sept. 21, 2026, in Atlanta.
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August 25, 2026
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