April 7, 2026 Professor Riccardo Bonazza retires in Spring 2026 Written By: Caitlin Scott Departments: Mechanical Engineering Categories: Faculty Riccardo Bonazza Professor Riccardo Bonazza is retiring in Spring 2026 after completing 33 years at UW–Madison. For three decades, Bonazza has been the driving force behind aerospace opportunities in Engineering Mechanics. His vision and persistence helped make our new Aerospace Engineering degree launching in fall 2026 possible. Thank you to Riccardo for everything he’s contributed to our students and the engineering community around the world! What are some highlights from your career at UW, in Engineering Physics, and in Mechanical Engineering? TEACHING I started as a post-doc in Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics (NEEP), under Prof. Mike Corradini, in the summer of 1992 then became an assistant professor in September 1993. In 1995, the Engineering Mechanics (EM) department was discontinued and the Engineering Mechanics + Aerospace (EMA) program was moved to NEEP. I was put in charge of teaching EMA521, Aerodynamics. Over the next few years, I completely reworked the class content and format and continued teaching it each year (with a few exceptions) until 2016. Prof. Corradini elaborated… He joined our research group as a post-doc in NEEP in the summer of 1992. His work on the project was quite impressive, and his intellect and enthusiasm became apparent to other NEEP faculty members. I remember quite vividly that Prof. Hershkowitz, a noted expert in plasma physics, commented in a dept. meeting that Riccardo’s expertise in fluid instabilities and shock physics would be a very useful addition to our NEEP faculty and its mission. The NEEP faculty agreed and Riccardo accepted our offer and became an assistant professor Fall 1993. In 1996, Ron Thomspon, instructor for the EMA469/569 senior design sequence, heard that the company Greenheck of Schofield, WI, had donated a wind tunnel to the Milwaukee School of Engineering. He suggested to the students in his class that they ask Greenheck if it would donate a wind tunnel to UW-Madison as well. The company immediately agreed, but asked for the wind tunnel specs. Two students in the class (Matthew Orzewalla and Marty Gissel) took on the design of the wind tunnel as their senior design project. The tunnel was delivered in 1998 and I developed a new class, EMA522, Aerodynamics Laboratory, around this new facility. This was the educational component of my NSF-Career award and, with some of the grant funds, I acquired the initial instrumentation and test models to use in the wind tunnel. Over the years, I upgraded the tunnel with “passive flow conditioners” (screens to cut down the turbulence in the air entering the test section); I added a flow visualization demonstration based on smoke injection and laser illumination; and I “relented” to allow my graduate student Alex Ames to design and fabricate a major upgrade to the wing positioning system. At all times, the class was a favorite among the undergraduates. Alumnus Alex Ames shared… I took EMA521 with Riccardo and it fundamentally affected the course of my life. Over the course of my education, I took every single class and elective Riccardo taught: aerodynamics, flight dynamics & controls, aero lab, rocket propulsion, and gas dynamics. By the end, I knew his two-day introduction to the conservation laws governing fluid movement by rote. In 2001, I felt the EMA program could use an expansion of its aero-related course offerings, so I decided to develop a new class, EMA523, Flight Dynamics and Control. I had taken control theory as an undergraduate in Italy, but had never had a flight dynamics class, so I had quite some learning to do. I first offered the class in spring 2002 and made profound changes to the class content over the years. In particular, I added the use of Matlab and Simulink to analyze an aircraft’s stability and response to the pilot’s commands. In 2013, my dear friend and colleague Fabien Waleffe kindly accepted to teach EMA521, Aerodynamics, so that I could introduce a new class: EMA524, Rocket Propulsion. I had asked students in my previous aerodynamics class if there was a strong preference between airplane propulsion and rocket propulsion. The vote for rockets was overwhelming and that’s how the class came about. Per usual, over the first few years, I made major changes to the class material. Rocket propulsion was initially offered every other year until 2017 when it started being offered every fall semester. Between 2004 and 2007, I co-taught ME572, Intermediate Gasdynamics, with Prof. Rolf Reitz. After that, ME572 was no longer taught until spring 2017. At that time, Prof. Waleffe graciously agreed to teach EMA523, so that I could restart teaching ME572. As of 2022, another dear friend, Prof. Christian Franck, entered the rotation of EMA 523 teaching, giving me the chance to offer ME572 every year. Once again, over the years I made significant changes to the class content. Associate Professor Theva Ramathasan reflected… His commitment to educating our students is unparalleled. As I heard once, he never took sabbatical leave in his entire career because there was always a teaching need that he had to fulfill. That’s Riccardo in a nutshell—a passionate educator. Around 2010, I organized a visit to the Air Force National Guard base at Truax Field (by the airport). At the time, the base hosted a squadron of F16 fighter jets. The visit included a briefing by one of the pilots; watching a few of the planes take off; a visit to the hangar, with the ability to get really close to the aircraft; a visit to the engine shop, with the ability to see the jet engines up close; and a visit to the “hush house” where a jet engine would be tested. The visit was such a success that I made it a yearly event until 2020 when all visits were cancelled because of the COVID-19 epidemic. After the epidemic, the Truax Base switched from F16 to F35 jets, so for a few more years no visits were possible. Prof. Curt Bronkhorst has personal connections at the base and was able to restart our visits in May 2025. 2011 class visit to the Air Force National Guard base at Truax Field to see the F16 fighter jets RESEARCH With my start-up package, I established the Wisconsin Shock Tube Laboratory (WiSTL). We launched the first shock on February 20, 1998. The facility is still unique in the world for orientation, size, and structural capability. In 2008, Prof. David Rothamer began his career in the ME department as an assistant professor and immediately joined the WiSTL team. His contribution to the laboratory has been immeasurable, steadily advancing our diagnostic capabilities for 15 years. All the Ph.D. students that graduated from the lab went on to very successful careers in academia, the national laboratories, or industry. My last graduate student, Tanner Diring, is completing his M.S. thesis with work on a new, ground-breaking experiment in the shock tube. Final graduate student Tanner Diring shared… When I began considering graduate school, I reached out to Riccardo for a letter of recommendation. That conversation unexpectedly turned into an opportunity to join him as a research assistant in the Wisconsin Shock Tube Lab, an offer I quickly and graciously accepted. Riccardo took a chance on me by giving me the opportunity to prove myself in academia, and for that I will always be grateful. He supported my research ideas, allowed me to start the first experimental shock-induced combustion campaign of its kind in our lab, and guided me to success. This same guidance and mentorship is something he has provided to countless undergraduate and graduate students over the course of his career. First shock tube run, 2/20/1998. Pictured: Jason Oakley, Paul Brooks, Mark Anderson, Prasanna Puranik ME 572 visits the Shock Tube Lab in 2012 In the shock tube lab, 2006. Pictured: Brad Motl, Paul Brooks, Devesh Ranjan Grainger Dean of the College of Engineering Devesh Ranjan reflected… Riccardo took a chance on me when I arrived in Madison as a young graduate student from India, and that decision changed the course of my life. Under his guidance I learned far more than science. Riccardo often reminded me to “make sure you have time to smell the roses.” It was his way of saying that even in the midst of ambition and hard work, life’s most meaningful moments should never be overlooked. When I became dean, he gave me a simple gift—a ping pong ball—to remind me that even in the busiest schedules we must make time for the things that truly matter, especially family. Some of my favorite memories are actually around the ping pong table. We must have played more than a hundred matches, and I think I managed to win only one. In hindsight, I do wish he had let me win a few more—but knowing Riccardo, I suspect that was part of the lesson too. SOCIAL For many years, on Friday mornings, my graduate students, scientists, and myself used to go to the Shell for one hour of ping pong. Then we would gather for lunch at Big Ten Pub on Regent Street. Those were truly wonderful hours together. SERVICE In 2013, I organized the 19th International Symposium on Shock Waves and held it at Memorial Union. That effort gave me a chance to showcase our laboratory, our campus, and our beloved city to an international community of about 275 scientists and students. For years, I kept hearing that the conference had been a great success and that everyone had thoroughly enjoyed our venue. What are you going to miss? The classroom. To this date, the happiest moments of my work are when I am in front of the students. What are you most proud of? On the teaching front: the five classes I developed will form a very important component of the Aerospace Engineering degree that the department will launch in fall 2026. All the course materials and all the homework problems I wrote in my 33 years of service should be quite helpful for anyone who will take over those classes, even if they never taught them before. On the research front: the recognition our shock tube lab has earned worldwide. While our group size has always been small and the number of papers we produced is not that large, the quality and novelty of our work and the caliber of the students that completed their work in the lab are well known among the people who are active in our same area of research. Also, while I never used the wind tunnel for research, the facility turned out to be an excellent starting point for the career of my friend and colleague Prateek Jaiswal. What are your plans for retirement? Professionally, I would like to maintain a connection to the shock tube lab research activities. Personally, I plan on doing some volunteering (I have a few ideas but will keep them private for now); I hope to be able to dedicate more time to my hobby (photography); and to do some traveling with my wife. Any parting messages for your students and colleagues, past and present? Whatever you do, always aim for high standards. Between 2014 and 2018, we had an end-of-the-academic-year tradition: a softball game at Vilas Park, between the AIAA and ANS student chapters. The COVID19 pandemic put an end to it and it never restarted. I urged the AIAA officers to reach out to their ANS counterparts to restart the tradition but so far it has not happened. It was always a very happy time, and I strongly encourage everyone to try it again. ANS and AIAA chapters student softball Top image: Bonazza and students at Truax field in 2015. All images provided by Riccardo Bonazaa.