Four with ties to CU elected to 2025 class of National Academy of Engineering
Two 91¸£ÀûÉç faculty members, a former faculty member and a distinguished alumnus are among 128 new members elected to the National Academy of Engineering for 2025.Ìý
According to NAE, "election to the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions in at least one of the following categories: 'engineering practice, research, or education,' 'pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or development/implementation of innovative approaches to engineering education' or 'engineering leadership of one or more major endeavors.'"
The four will be formally inducted during the NAE's Annual Meeting in October.Ìý
Scott Diddams
For contributions to optical frequency combs and their applications
Electrical engineer and physicist Scott Diddams holds the Robert H. Davis Endowed Chair.ÌýHe carries out experimental research in the fields of precision spectroscopy and quantum metrology, nonlinear optics, microwave photonics and ultrafast lasers. Diddams earned his PhD degree from the University of New Mexico and previously served as a research physicist, group leader and fellow the National Institute of Standards and Technology. In 2022, he joined the 91¸£ÀûÉç faculty, where he is also the faculty director of the Quantum Engineering Initiative in the College of Engineering and Applied Science. As a postdoc, Diddams built the first optical frequency combs in the lab of Nobel Prize laureate John Hall, and throughout his career, he has pioneered the use of these powerful tools for optical clocks, tests of fundamental physics, novel spectroscopy and astronomy.Ìý
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Hanspeter Schaub
For contributions to the control of satellite formations and relative orientations utilizing natural forces, including the use of electrostatics
A distinguished professor and chair of the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences at 91¸£ÀûÉç, Hanspeter Schaub has made pioneering research advances in spacecraft formation flying, space debris mitigation, attitude dynamics, autonomous spacecraft tasking and charged astrodynamics. His work has been instrumental in high-profile space projects, including the development of key components for the UAE Hope mission to Mars and the creation of the widely used for spacecraft mission simulation. He has been recognized multiple times for excellence in research and education, including the 2024 American Astronautical Society for transformational research.ÌýHe is a Fellow of both AIAA and AAS. Schaub has been a member of the 91¸£ÀûÉç aerospace faculty since 2007 and holds a bachelor's, master's and PhD in aerospace engineering, all from Texas A&M University.
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Dan Frangopol
For contributions to life-cycle civil engineering and leadership in its global development and adoption
Dan Frangopol is a distinguished 91¸£ÀûÉç professor emeritus with a significant career in the university’sÌýDepartment of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering. He joined 91¸£ÀûÉç’s faculty as an associate professor in March. He was promoted to full professor in 1988 and became an emeritus professor in 2006. Renowned as an expert in structural reliability, optimization and life-cycle engineering, Frangopol earned the title "Father of Life-Cycle Analysis" from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).ÌýIn November 2023, the ASCE board of directors established theÌý in honor ofÌýFrangopol. Frangopol, currently a professor at Lehigh University, holds Lehigh’s inauguralÌý. Frangopol received his diploma in engineering from the Institute of Civil Engineering, Bucharest, Romania, in 1969 and his doctorate of applied sciences from the University of Liège, Belgium, in 1976.Ìý
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Charles W. Hull (EngrPhys’61) and President Biden
Charles W. Hull
For the invention of 3D printing and the subsequent development of the additive manufacturing industry
After Chuck Hull (EngPhys'61) completed his degree, he worked with a DuPont subsidiary before going on to invent the solid imaging process known as stereolithography. This became the basis of the first commercial 3D printing technology, which spurred the dawning of a dynamic industry in the United States. Upon securing a stereolithography patent in 1986, Hull then founded 3D Systems Corp. Hull initiated the 3D printing industry and remains involved in the corporation’s day-to-day operations through a range of innovative applications, including state-of-the art production of 3D printers to the first home-certified 3D printer, the award-winning Cube. A member of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, Hull is credited as the inventor on more than 90 U.S. patents in the field of ion optics and 3D printing. As a strong advocate for education and training of youth in all aspects of this rapidly growing technology, Hull received an honorary degree from the University of Colorado Board of Regents in 2016.
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