02/22/94

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Two professors named to NAE

STANFORD -- Two Stanford University professors have been elected members of the National Academy of Engineering. They are Donald C. Cox, professor of electrical engineering, and George S. Springer, professor and chairman of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Cox, a pioneer in the telecommunications field was who awarded the Alexander Graham Bell Medal by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers in 1993, was cited by the engineering academy for his "research and leadership in wireless personal communication technologies and systems."

Cox came to Stanford in September 1993 from Bellcore (formerly Bell Laboratories). While there he began developing the field of wireless personal communication services, currently one of the fastest growing areas in telecommunications, and also made significant contributions to satellite communications research.

Springer, a Hungarian-born materials scientist, works with composite materials fusing plastics or resins with fibers such as graphite. His composite work, which has influenced vehicle and sports- equipment markets, includes projects as disparate as the fiberglass bodies of Pontiac Fieros, windmill blades at Altamont Pass, Beech's Starship I airplane and an artificial heart.

Springer was named to the engineering academy for his "technical, educational, and developmental contributions in composite materials for lightweight structures." By employing his breakthrough new method of manufacturing composite structures, using plastic instead of epoxy to bind fibers, scientists can shorten the manufacturing process and also control more precisely how the structures are formed .

Springer joined the Stanford faculty in 1983 and became chairman of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1990.

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