Dr. F. Javier Diez got his B.S. and M.S. from Saint Louis University and his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan. He is a Full Professor at Rutgers University in the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering with a graduate faculty appointment in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
He is the head of the Applied Fluids Laboratory where over 100 students have done research. His expertise includes UAV/UUV, aerodynamics and propulsion, aviation, sensors, and he has been funded by NSF, ONR, DIU, AFOSR, FAA and DARPA among others. He is the recipient of the 2019 Outstanding Engineering Faculty Award.
Dr. Diez has given over 25 invited lectures, and authored over 100 journal articles, conference papers, and technical publications. He is the founder with his graduated Ph.D. students of two Rutgers startups, SubUAS LLC and XTT LLC. Dr. Diez is the CEO and president of SubUAS LLC, that it is commercializing the Naviator, the first unmanned vehicle that can fly, float, swim, dive, and transition between air and water in less than a second. He is he CTO of XTT LLC, that it is commercializing aerodynamic flow deflectors for enhancing wind turbine performance.