Since graduating from Wichita State with a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, Kauser Imtiaz ’79 has amassed acclaim for his work on some major NASA projects. This past June, Imtiaz, who is a technical fellow, structures and mechanisms, space exploration at Boeing in Houston, was a guest of honor at NASA Langley, where he received one of the agency’s biggest honors, a Distinguished Public Service Medal for his “service and leadership in international cooperation and advancements in International Space Station (ISS) Structural Integrity and Fracture Control.”
A multidisciplined expert in structural engineering, Imtiaz was recognized at the awards ceremony as being “an invaluable asset” to the ISS for more than 24 years. He was, for example, the first engineer sought out by NASA to tackle emerging structural anomalies. In 2000, he took charge of the overall ISS structure and led teams to complete assembly by 2012.
An authority on fracture mechanics and one of a handful of experts on Composite Overwrap Pressure Vessels, Imtiaz holds the distinction of being the sole structural engineer who has made critical analytical contributions to every U.S. and international component of ISS – the largest human-made structure in space.
