AUSTIN, Texas—Four engineering professors at The University of Texas at Austin have been elected to membership in the National Academy of Engineering, widely considered the highest honor to be earned in the engineering profession.
Dr. Ivo M. Babuska, holder of the Robert Trull Chair in Engineering, and a professor in aerospace engineering, was elected for contributions to the theory and implementation of finite element methods for computer-based engineering analysis and design.
Dr. George Georgiou, holder of the Joe C. Walter Jr. Endowed Chair, and a professor of chemical engineering and biomedical engineering, was elected for protein engineering, especially the development of therapeutics to biological warfare agents, protein manufacturing technologies and combinatorial library screening methodologies.
Dr. John R. Howell, holder of the Ernest Cockrell Jr. Memorial Chair, and a professor of mechanical engineering, was elected for the development and dissemination of methods of addressing complex radiation heat-transfer problems.
Dr. Danny David Reible, holder of the Bettie Margaret Smith Chair in Environmental Health Engineering, and a professor of environmental engineering, was elected for the development of widely used methods of managing contaminated sediments.
“This brings the total number of active academy members on our faculty to 29—a tremendous body of engineering talent and influence that benefits our students and Texas’ high tech development,” said Dr. Ben G. Streetman, dean of the university’s College of Engineering. “These ‘tech stars’ offer the nation’s best minds toward solving problems ranging from environmental cleanup to more efficient computers. UT now has the second highest number of national academy members on its faculty among public universities, bested only by the University of California at Berkeley. The only schools ahead of Berkeley and UT Austin are two private universities, MIT and Stanford. I’m proud to associate with these high quality professionals.”
Streetman is also a member of the National Academy of Engineering, elected to the lifetime post in 1987.
The National Academy of Engineering serves as an advisory board to federal government departments and agencies, to examine and report upon any engineering topic of interest to the government. It also conducts independent studies to analyze important topics in engineering and technology.
For more information contact: Becky Rische, College of Engineering, 512-471-7272.
