Profile

Afzal Suleman is a Professor and Canada Research Chair in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Victoria. He is also an adjunct faculty in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Instituto Superior Tecnico where he steered and laid the foundations for a new undergraduate program in Aerospace Engineering in Portugal.

Afzal Suleman obtained his BSc (Honours) and MSc in Aeronautical Engineering from Imperial College, University of London in the UK followed by a PhD in Space Dynamics in 1992 from the University of British Columbia. Following the completion of the PhD, he attended the International Space University and completed the Advanced Space Studies Program in Japan in the summer of 1992. Next, he was awarded the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council Fellowship in the USA for a period of two years (1992-1994) to further his research in Advanced Aerospace Structures at Wright-Patterson AFB, U.S. Air Force.

In the international arena, he has been national delegate at both the United Nations Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN-COPUOS) and NATO Research and Technology Organization Applied Vehicle Technology (AVT-RTO), a member of Aeronautics and Space Advisory Council in Portugal. Member, Canadian Armed Forces Advisory Board (2015-2021) and Government of Canada Space Advisory Board (2016-2022). Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering. In 2022, he received the NATO Von Karman Medal.

Research interests in Aeronautics and Space, with emphasis on Aircraft Design, Aeroelasticity, Aeroacoustics, Multidisciplinary Design Optimization, Advanced Composite Structures, Autonomous Air Systems, Flight Testing and CubeSats.