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Three Stanford faculty elected to the National Academy of Engineering

Stanford School of Engineering faculty members Anne Kiremidjian and Kunle Olukotun and School of Medicine faculty member Joshua Makower have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering, which is one of the highest professional distinctions accorded engineers.

Anne Kiremidjian, professor of civil and environmental engineering; Kunle Olukotun, professor of electrical engineering and of computer science; and Joshua Makower, adjunct professor of medicine, have been elected to the 2021 class of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE).

From left to right: Joshua Makower, Anne Kiremidjian and Kunle Olukotun. (Image credit: Stanford Engineering (Kiremidjian and Olukotun) and New Enterprise Associates (Makower))

The three Stanford faculty members are among the 106 researchers nominated and chosen by their peers to join the academy, which is among the highest professional distinctions accorded any engineer.

Kiremidjian, the C. L. Peck, Class of 1906, Professor, is known for her research into the design and implementation of the first wireless sensors and a sensor network for diagnosing the health of buildings and other structures, and for developing advanced damage diagnosis algorithms, as well as advanced probabilistic seismic hazard, risk and resilience models.

Olukotun, the Cadence Design Systems Professor, was recognized for pioneering research in multicore processor design while leading the Stanford Hydra chip multiprocessor project. His role in advancing multicore processors to commercial realization and broad industry adoption was also cited.

Makower, co-founder of Stanford’s Biodesign Innovation Program, and general partner of New Enterprise Associates, was recognized for inventing balloon sinuplasty, a treatment for chronic sinus inflammation that uses a small balloon catheter to modify the dimensions of the bony passages draining the major sinuses. Founder of medical device incubator ExploraMed, Makower was also cited for his role in developing and commercializing multiple other innovative medical device and health technologies.

The NAE announcement brings to 2,355 its total U.S. membership, with 113 from Stanford. The 23 new international members announced this week bring non-U.S. membership to 298. Newly elected members will be formally inducted during the NAE’s annual meeting on Oct. 3, 2021.