Eight researchers from MIT are included among the 128 newly elected members and 22 international members of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) for the year 2025. An additional thirteen alumni from MIT were also named as new members.
As one of the most significant professional honors for engineers, NAE membership is conferred to individuals who have made remarkable contributions to “engineering research, practice, or education, including, when relevant, notable contributions to the engineering literature” and to “the pioneering of emerging and evolving fields of technology, achieving significant advancements in established areas of engineering, or devising/implementing new approaches to engineering education.”
The eight electees from MIT this year comprise:
Martin Zdenek Bazant, the E.G. Roos (1944) Chair Professor within the Department of Chemical Engineering, received recognition for his work on nonlinear electrochemical and electrokinetic phenomena, which includes induced charge electroosmosis, shock electrodialysis, capacitive desalination, and energy storage applications.
Moshe E. Ben-Akiva SM ’71, PhD ’73, the Edmund K. Turner Professor within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, was recognized for his progress in modeling transportation and infrastructure systems as well as demand analysis.
Charles L. Cooney SM ’67, PhD ’70, professor emeritus in the Department of Chemical Engineering, was acknowledged for his contributions to biochemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing, which were instrumental in the establishment and growth of the global biotechnology industry.
Yoel Fink PhD ’00, a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), was honored for his work in the design and production of structured photonic fibers, facilitating surgeries, as well as the creation of fabrics that sense and communicate.
Tomás Lozano-Pérez ’73, SM ’77, PhD ’80, the School of Engineering Professor of Teaching Excellence in the Department of EECS and a principal investigator in the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, was recognized for his work on robot motion planning and molecular design.
Kristala L. Prather ’94, the Arthur Dehon Little Professor and chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering, was acknowledged for developing innovative methods to regulate metabolic flux in engineered microorganisms applicable to specialty chemicals production.
Eric Swanson SM ’84, a research affiliate at the Research Laboratory of Electronics and mentor for the MIT Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation, was recognized for his contributions and entrepreneurial efforts in biomedical imaging and optical communications.
Evelyn N. Wang ’00, MIT’s vice president for climate and the Ford Professor of Engineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, was honored for her contributions to clean energy, water technologies, and nanostructure-based phase change heat transfer, as well as her service to the nation.
“I am delighted that eight researchers from MIT, along with numerous others from our extended MIT community, have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering this year,” stated Anantha P. Chandrakasan, dean of the School of Engineering, MIT’s chief innovation and strategy officer, and the Vannevar Bush Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. “This is a well-earned acknowledgment of their remarkable contributions to the engineering domain, and I extend my warmest congratulations to each of them.”
An additional thirteen alumni were elected to the National Academy of Engineering this year. They include: Gregg T. Beckham SM ’04, PhD ’08; Douglas C. Cameron PhD ’87; Long-Qing Chen PhD ’90; Jennifer R. Cochran PhD ’01; Christopher Richard Doerr ’89, ’90, SM ’90, PhD ’95; Justin Hanes PhD ’96; Elizabeth Ann Holm SM ’89; Denise C. Johnson SM ’97; Wayne R. Johnson ’68, SM ’68, ScD ’70; Concetta LaMarca ’81; Maja J. Matarić SM ’90, PhD ’94; David V. Schaffer PhD ’98; and Lixia Zhang PhD ’89.