Dr. Michael W. Plesniak is Professor and Chair of the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at the George Washington University,with a secondary appointment in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. He is the Director of the GW Center for Biomimetics and Bioinspired Engineering. Prof. Plesniak earned his Ph.D. degree from Stanford University,and his M.S. and B.S degrees from the Illinois Institute of Technology; all in Mechanical Engineering. Dr. Plesniak is a Fellow of AIAA,ASME,APS,AIMBE and AAAS. He has authored over two hundred fifty refereed archival publications,conference papers and presentations. He has presented numerous invited seminars and keynote addresses. Prof. Plesniak received the 2017 ASME Fluids Engineering Award