Six College of Engineering faculty members named AAAS Fellows

Five tenured faculty members and an adjunct professor from the College of Engineering at North Carolina State University have been elected as Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for 2020.

They are part of a group of 10 new Fellows from NC State that represents the largest class of AAAS Fellows elected from the University since it was founded in 1887. AAAS, the world’s largest scientific society and publisher of the journal Science, has been awarding fellowships since 1874.

NC State has the second-highest number of AAAS Fellows of any university this year. Ohio State and the University of California, Davis, tied for the most, with 11 each. Duke University has six new Fellows, while the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has three.

New Fellows from the College of Engineering are:

• Ruben Carbonell, the Frank Hawkins Kenan Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering, for distinguished contributions to the field of chemical and biomolecular engineering, particularly innovations in multiphase reactor design, high-pressure thin-film coating and novel bioseparation processes.
• Elizabeth Dickey, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and co-director of the Center for Dielectrics and Piezoelectrics, for distinguished contributions to materials engineering research and education, particularly for the utilization of electron microscopy techniques for quantifying atomic- to micrometer-scale structure of materials.
• Peter Fedkiw, Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professor and head of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, for distinguished contributions to electrochemical engineering, including electrochemical-based mass transfer separation processes, optimal control of electrochemical reactors and composite electrolytes for rechargeable lithium batteries.
• Munindar Singh, Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professor in the Department of Computer Science, for distinguished contributions to the field of computer science, particularly to foundations of multiagent systems and their applications in service-oriented computing, sociotechnical systems, and governance.
• Paul Turinsky, professor emeritus of nuclear engineering, for distinguished contributions to nuclear engineering, particularly the development of simulation technology for the safety, economic operation and life extension of nuclear power facilities.
• Cliff Wang, adjunct professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, for distinguished contributions to the field of science of security, and outstanding leadership in national research and transforming results into high impact cyber defense capabilities.

With these appointments, the College of Engineering at NC State will have 14 active faculty members who are AAAS Fellows.

Other NC State faculty members inducted as 2020 Fellows were:

Phil Castellano, Goodnight Innovation Distinguished Chair in the Department of Chemistry and co-director of the Organic and Carbon Electronics Cluster

Lewis Owen, professor and head of the Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences

Jean Ristaino, William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology and director of the Emerging Plant Disease and Global Food Security Cluster

Brian Space, professor of chemistry

Each year, the AAAS Council — the policymaking body of the society — elects members who have shown “scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.” Fellows are nominated by their peers and undergo an extensive review process.

AAAS named 489 Fellows this year. They will be formally recognized in the journal Science on Nov. 27. A virtual induction ceremony will be held on Feb. 13, 2021.