College of Engineering Distinguished Alumni
2023 Gonzalo Mendoza
BSAE 1998 Summa Cum Laude
Director of Engineering, Textron Aviation
with responsibility over aircraft and systems advanced design, product plan development
and tracking, airplane aerodynamics development, vehicle performance, stability and
control, aeroelasticity, acoustics, vibration, structural dynamics, and external loads.
Has received multiple awards for his contributions in the development of new aircraft
and related technologies, including two Chairman’s Awards for Innovation, while leading
teams developing the exceptional cabin acoustics environment and the novel lateral-directional
flight stabilization mechanisms for the Citation Longitude. He led the team tasked
with the certification of the Citation X+ airplane, as the fastest civilian airplane
with a cruise speed of Mach 0.935, a record that stands to this day. Over his two
decades at Textron Aviation, he has participated in the development and certification
of over a dozen new airplanes and derivatives, as well as numerous concepts yet to
come to fruition.
