About me

Matthew Clarke is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. He holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Howard University. He is a V/STOL Aircraft Systems Technical Committee member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Before joining UIUC, Professor Clarke was a Boeing Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has also worked on the advanced concepts team at A3 by Airbus and briefly as a battery modeling data scientist at Toyota Research Institute in the Accelerated Materials Design & Discovery Division.

Professor Clarke is the Principal Investigator of the Laboratory for Electric Aircraft Design and Sustainability (L.E.A.D.S.). The core research interests of L.E.A.D.S. are electric propulsion architecture design and aircraft noise modeling. These efforts position L.E.A.D.S. to address some of the technical challenges at the intersection between the key domains of energy and noise that impede progress toward sustainable aviation.

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Education

Doctor of Philosophy in Aeronautics & Astronautics, 2022 

Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Master of Science in Aeronautics & Astronautics, 2018

Stanford University, Stanford, CA 

Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, 2016

Howard University, Washington D.C. 

Professional Affiliations

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2016 - Present

AIAA V/STOL Aircraft Systems Technical Committee, 2022 - Present

Professional Member, 2022 - Present 

Graduate Student Member, 2016-2022

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. Created in 1963 by the merger of the two great aerospace societies of the day, the American Rocket Society (founded in 1930 as the American Interplanetary Society), and the Institute of the Aerospace Sciences (established in 1933 as the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences), AIAA carries forth a proud tradition of more than 80 years of aerospace leadership. Since 1963, members from a single professional society have achieved virtually every milestone in modern American flight. That society is the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. With more than 30,000 individual members from 88 countries, and 95 corporate members, AIAA is the world’s largest technical society dedicated to the global aerospace profession. AIAA's purpose to ignite and celebrate aerospace ingenuity and collaboration, and its importance to our way of life. The AIAA Foundation is devoted to the education of both practicing and future aerospace professionals. The AIAA Foundation funds numerous scholarships for both undergraduate and graduate students. The AIAA is also the U.S. representative on the International Astronautical Federation and the International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences.

Tau Beta Pi, 2015 - Present 

The Tau Beta Pi Association is the oldest engineering honor society and the second oldest collegiate honor society in the United States. It honors engineering students in American universities who have shown a history of academic achievement as well as a commitment to personal and professional integrity. Specifically, the association was founded "to mark in a fitting manner those who have conferred honor upon their Alma Mater by distinguished scholarship and exemplary character as students in engineering, or by their attainments as alumni in the field of engineering, and to foster a spirit of liberal culture in engineering colleges".

National Society of Black Engineers, 2012 - Present

Professional Member, 2022 - Present

Student Member, 2012-2022

The National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), was founded in 1975 Purdue University located in West Lafayette, Indiana by six undergraduates and a faculty advisor. It is one of the largest student-run organizations in the United States, with core activities centered on improving the recruitment and retention of Black and other minority engineers, in both academe and industry. NSBE is an organization that provides opportunities for personal and professional success, and remains unmatched by any other organization to date. NSBE has more than 30,000 members worldwide, with 2,000 elected leadership positions, 18 regional conferences, an annual international conference, and an annual national convention. Since its inception over forty years ago, NSBE has grown to include approximately 310 collegiate student chapters, 99 pre-college programs, and 88 professional chapters with their 6,000 technical members. A professional staff operates NSBE's World Headquarters in Virginia. In addition, NSBE has a number of corporate partners and affiliations that facilitate its mission and primary directives, which are essentially engineering excellence and community service. NSBE's Board of Corporate Affiliates (BCA) are businesses interested in diversity, and include companies like Chevron Corporation, Boeing, General Motors, Dow, IBM, United Technologies, Dell, all branches of the American Military, DuPont, 3M, Toyota, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Lockheed Martin, and many other note-worthy industries. With its corporate partners, dedicated students and professionals, NSBE has accomplished more for Black engineering students and working engineers than any other organization in the world.

American Society of Mechanical Engineers

Student Member, 2012-2016 

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers is a nonprofit membership organization that enables collaboration, knowledge sharing, career enrichment, and skills development across all engineering disciplines, toward a goal of helping the global engineering community develop solutions to benefit lives and livelihoods. Founded in 1880 by a small group of leading industrialists, ASME has grown through the decades to include more than 100,000 members in 140+ countries. Thirty-two thousand of these members are students. From college students and early-career engineers to project managers, corporate executives, researchers and academic leaders, ASME's members are as diverse as the engineering community itself. ASME serves this wide-ranging technical community through quality programs in continuing education, training and professional development, codes and standards, research, conferences and publications, government relations and other forms of outreach. ASME’s mission is to serve diverse global communities by advancing, disseminating and applying engineering knowledge for improving the quality of life; and communicating the excitement of engineering.

Engineers Without Borders, USA, 2012-2017

Chapter President, Howard University, 2013-2015  

Engineers Without Borders is a global 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization partnering with communities to meet their basic human needs through engineering projects that empower communities to meet their basic human needs and equip leaders to solve the world’s most pressing challenges. These projects include water purification, water supply, power generation, sanitation, agriculture, education, transportation and infrastructure. EWB-USA's 13,800 members comprise of collegiate students and professionals who volunteer their time, their energy and their expertise in pursuit of our vision of a world where every community has the capacity to sustainable function.

Awards, Distinctions & Fellowships

Boeing School of Engineering Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow, 2022-2023

Massachusetts Institute of Technology | School of Engineering & Boeing

Established in 2021, the MIT School of Engineering Postdoctoral Fellowship Program for Engineering Excellence seeks to discover and develop the next generation of leaders to help guide the school toward a more diverse and inclusive culture. 

Lieberman Fellow, 2021-2022

Stanford University | Vice Provost for Graduate Education

One of the university’s highest honors, this award recognizes senior graduate students who have demonstrated outstanding accomplishments, the potential for leadership roles within academia, and promising careers in university teaching and research.

DARE Fellow, 2019-2021

Stanford University | Vice Provost for Graduate Education

The DARE (Diversifying Academia, Recruiting Excellence) Doctoral Fellowship Program awards two-year fellowships to advanced doctoral students who want to investigate and prepare for academic careers and whose presence will help diversify the professoriate.

EDGE Fellow, 2018-2022

Stanford University | Vice Provost for Graduate Education

The Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education (EDGE) Doctoral Fellowship Program supports the recruitment and academic success of outstanding doctoral students who have the potential to enhance the diversity - broadly defined - of their academic disciplines and fields.

Stanford Graduate Engineering Fellow, 2016-2018

Stanford University | School of Engineering

Harold M. King Fellow, 2016

Tau Beta Pi, The Engineering Honor Society

The Tau Beta Pi Fellowship Program recognizes and supports outstanding members who plan to pursue graduate education that advances the engineering profession Each year, 20 fellowships are awarded on the basis of scholarship, leadership and service, and the promise of substantial achievement.

Tau Beta Pi Scholar, 2015

Tau Beta Pi, The Engineering Honor Society 

ASME Foundation Scholar, 2015

American Society of Mechanical Engineers 

Winner of Global Collaborative and Innovation Challenge 

Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education

1 st Place   |   2013 Global Collaborative and Innovation Challenge in California, U.S.A. 

2nd Place  |  2014 Global Collaborative and Innovation Challenge in Turin, Italy

Legacy Scholar, 2012-2014

Howard University

Harold M. King Fellow, 2016

Tau Beta Pi 

Certifications

Engineering in Training, 2016

Department of Consumer Affairs State of California: Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors and Geologists

Engineering in Training, 2016

Department of Consumer Affairs State of California: Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors and Geologists

Siemens GO PLM Certification Exam for NX 8.5, 2014 

Siemens PLM Global Opportunities in Product Lifecycle Management