Two MIT faculty, a principal staff member of MIT Lincoln Laboratory, and 13 additional alumni are among the 114 new members and 21 international members elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) on Feb. 6.
One of the highest professional distinctions for engineers, membership to the NAE is given to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to “engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature” and to “the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education.”
The three MIT electees this year include:
Marc Baldo, the Dugald C. Jackson Professor in Electrical Engineering in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and director of the Research Laboratory of Electronics, was honored for efficient light-emitting diodes for the modern display industry. Baldo conducts research in the areas of light-emitting devices and solar cells, electrical and exciton transport in organic materials, exciton fission and fusion, chemical sensors, and spintronics.
Jacopo Buongiorno, the Tokyo Electric Power Company Professor in Nuclear Engineering in the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, director of the Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems (CANES), and director of science and technology of the MIT Nuclear Reactor Laboratory, was honored for his work on nuclear reactor safety, advanced nuclear power development, and community outreach. He has published over 100 journal articles on reactor safety and design, two-phase flow and heat transfer, and nanofluid technology.
Hsiao-hua K. Burke, a principal staff member in the Air, Missile, and Maritime Defense Technology Division at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, was honored for technology and leadership in remote sensing techniques and systems for ballistic missile defense and space systems. Burke has held several leadership positions since joining the lab in 1981 and helped to support the development of integrated ballistic missile defense systems for the Missile Defense Agency, air defense systems for the Navy, and prototype sensor development and data exploitation for intelligence programs. For her involvement with the Lincoln Laboratory Technical Women’s Network, Burke received a 2010 MIT Excellence Award for Fostering Diversity and Inclusion.
Thirteen additional alumni were elected to the National Academy of Engineering this year. They are: Nancy Lynn Allbritton PhD ’87; Antonio Conejo MS ’87; Shanhui Fan PhD ’97; Dario Gil SM ’00, PhD ’03; Gargi Maheshwari PhD ’99; Daniel A. Nolasco SM ’01; Constantinos Pantelides SM ’83; Maureen Fahey Reitman ’90, SCD ’93; Admiral John Michael Richardson EE ’89, Eng ’89, SM ’89; Raj N. Singh ScD ’73; Sven Treitel ’53, SM ’55, PhD ’58; Steven D. Weiner SM ’00; and Jeannette M. Wing ’78, SM ’79, PhD ’83.
“I offer heartfelt congratulations to Marc, Jacopo, Hsiao-hua, and the 13 MIT alumni elected to the National Academy of Engineering this year. This well-deserved recognition is a testament to the substantial impact of their contributions across fields,” says Anantha Chandrakasan, the dean of the MIT School of Engineering and the Vannevar Bush Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Including this year’s inductees, 172 members of the National Academy of Engineering are current or retired members of the MIT faculty and staff, or members of the MIT Corporation.