Sandra Boetcher

Sandra Kathleen Sparr Boetcher is an American mechanical engineer specializing in heat transfer. She is a professor of mechanical engineering at Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University, where she is also interim chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department and director of the Thermal Science Laboratory.^[1]

Education and career

Boetcher was a student of mechanical engineering at the University of Minnesota, where she received a bachelor's degree in 2001, a master's degree in 2003, and a Ph.D. in 2006.^[1] Her dissertation, External fluid flow and heat transfer in natural convection and forced convection, was supervised by Ephraim M. Sparrow.^[2]

Prior to joining Embry-Riddle in 2011,^[3] Boetcher worked in industry at Honeywell, 3M, and the Donaldson Company, and was a faculty member at the University of North Texas.^[1]

Recognition

Boetcher received the ASHRAE Presidential Award of Excellence in 2017,^[1] and the ASHRAE E.K. Campbell Award in 2025.^[3] She was elected as an ASME Fellow in 2019,^[4] and received the ASME Dedicated Service Award in 2023.^[1]