Two NC State MSE alumni were elected Fellows of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Prof. Haiyan Wang, Turner Professor of Engineering at Purdue University, and Prof. Ranji Vaidyanathan, Varnadow Chair Professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Oklahoma State University (OSU), were among the 175 newly elected NAI fellows of the 2020 class. Both Professors are alumni of Prof. Jay Narayan’s research group.
Prof. Wang graduated with her Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from NC State in 2002, after which she joined Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) as a Director Funded Postdoctoral Fellow. She then became a professor at Texas A&M University before joining the faculty of Purdue University as a Turner Chair of Engineering with a joint appointment in both the Schools of Materials Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering. Prof. Wang holds 8 patents on topics relating to thin film processing and architectures.
Prof. Vaidyanathan earned his Ph.D. from NC State and completed his postdoctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins University. He then spent several years in industry at MER Corporation where he served as a senior scientist, followed by work at Advanced Ceramics Research where he was Director of Polymer Composite Materials research, producing 10 U.S. patents and 22 pending patents. Currently at OSU, Prof. Vaidyanathan works with companies in Oklahoma on product development and mentors and works closely with student startups, MITO Material Solutions and ICT.
Congratulations Prof. Wang and Prof. Vaidyanathan!