Khalifa University AERONYX Wins IMAC Gulf Cup 2026 | UAE News
Khalifa University’s AERONYX team secures first place at the Al Ain IMAC Gulf Cup 2026 with their Raven RC aircraft, highlighting excellence in UAE higher education aerospace engineering.
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Dr. Rafic Ajaj is an Associate Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Khalifa University of Science and Technology. He joined the university in August 2019 and manages the department’s Flight Dynamics and Simulation Laboratory. He is also a Visiting Academic in Aerospace Structures at the Aerodynamics and Flight Mechanics Group of the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom. His academic background includes a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Balamand in Lebanon in 2008, an MSc in Integrated Aerospace Systems Design from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom in 2009, a PhD in Aerospace Engineering from Swansea University in the United Kingdom in 2013, and a Diploma in Aviation Studies from the International Air Transport Association in Canada in 2017.
Prior to joining Khalifa University, Dr. Ajaj served as an Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the United Arab Emirates University from 2017 to 2019 and as an Assistant Professor (Lecturer) of Aerospace Structures at the University of Southampton from 2013 to 2017, during which he was seconded to Airbus Operations Limited in the United Kingdom for one year. From 2009 to 2013, he worked as a Research Assistant in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Bristol and Swansea University. His research focuses on VTOL aircraft, morphing wings, aircraft and UAV design, flight mechanics, aeroelasticity, and adaptive structures. In 2015, he received a Royal Academy of Engineering Industrial Secondment and was granted a patent with Airbus UK (US11203410B2). He is listed among Stanford University’s Top 2% Most Influential Scientists for single-year impact from 2022 to 2025 and career-long impact in 2025. Dr. Ajaj is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in the United Kingdom since 2015 and received the Boeing UK Prize for the best master’s research project in aerospace engineering in 2009 as well as the Faculty of Engineering Award for the Most Outstanding Student in Integrated Aerospace Systems Design at the University of Bristol in 2009. He is a member of the Royal Aeronautical Society and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, serving on the AIAA Adaptive Structures Technical Committee and the RAeS Membership Committee. He also serves on the editorial boards of Aerospace and the International Review of Aerospace Engineering.
Khalifa University’s AERONYX team secures first place at the Al Ain IMAC Gulf Cup 2026 with their Raven RC aircraft, highlighting excellence in UAE higher education aerospace engineering.
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