Two faculty members in the College of Engineering at NC State have been named senior members by the National Academy of Inventors in the organization’s 2023 class.
Afsaneh Rabiei, professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and Zlatko Sitar, Kobe Steel Distinguished Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, are among 95 of the world’s foremost emerging academic inventors to earn the prestigious distinction, which seek to recognize inventors who have made real and significant contributions to their communities and the rest of the world.
According to the NAI website, senior members are active employees, faculty members, scientists and administrators with success in patents, licensing and commercialization who have produced technologies that brought or have the potential to bring real impact on the welfare of society.
The NAI established the Seniors Members program in 2018 to recognize the rising young stars of the Academy’s Member Institutions, and currently recognizes just 334 senior members internationally. This recognition is intended to provide some of the world’s greatest inventors with a pathway to greater success and NAI Fellowship.
Rabiei, a 23-year veteran of the MAE Department, heads the Advanced Materials Research Laboratory (AMRL) and much of her research focuses the processing and characterization of advanced materials, metal foams, coatings and composites.
“We cover materials’ manufacturing, characterization and failure analysis from nanoscale to micro and macro scales to address the needs of biomedical, mechanical, aerospace and nuclear engineering,” the lab website states.
Sitar founded the Wide Band Gaps research laboratory that focuses on bulk and thin film growth, characterization, and device development in wide bandgap semiconductors: GaN, AlN, and their alloys.
Sitar directs the Materials Research Center at NC State and holds joint appointments in the Physics Department at NC State and Electrical Engineering at the University of Nagoya, Japan. His collaborative network spans all four inhabited continents. Based on his research, he founded HexaTech, Inc., an NC State spin-out focusing on AlN crystal growth and wafer production, and Adroit Materials, Inc., which is focusing on the development of UV-light-emitting devices on the AlN platform and vertical devices on native GaN substrates.
The ability to nominate an individual for NAI Senior Member recognition is an exclusive opportunity afforded to NAI Member Institutions to recognize their outstanding innovators and foster an inclusive culture of innovation and invention on their campuses.
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