Eight MIT researchers are among the 128 new members and 22 international members recently elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) for 2025. Thirteen additional MIT alumni were also elected as new members.

One of the highest professional distinctions for engineers, membership in the NAE is given to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to “engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature” and to “the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education.”

The eight MIT electees this year include:

Martin Zdenek Bazant, the E.G. Roos (1944) Chair Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, was honored for contributions to nonlinear electrochemical and electrokinetic phenomena, including induced charge electroosmosis, shock electrodialysis, capacitive desalination, and energy storage applications.

Moshe E. Ben-Akiva SM ’71, PhD ’73, the Edmund K. Turner Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, was honored for advances in transportation and infrastructure systems modeling and demand analysis. 

Charles L. Cooney SM ’67, PhD ’70, professor emeritus of the Department of Chemical Engineering, was honored for contributions to biochemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing that propelled the establishment and growth of the global biotechnology industry. 

Yoel Fink PhD ’00, a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), was honored for the design and production of structured photonic fibers, enabling surgeries and the invention of fabrics that sense and communicate. 

Tomás Lozano-Pérez ’73, SM ’77, PhD ’80, the School of Engineering Professor of Teaching Excellence in the Department of EECS and a principal investigator in the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, was honored for contributions to robot motion planning and molecular design. 

Kristala L. Prather ’94, the Arthur Dehon Little Professor and head of the Department of Chemical Engineering, was honored for the development of innovative approaches to regulate metabolic flux in engineered microorganisms with applications to specialty chemicals production. 

Eric Swanson SM ’84, research affiliate at the Research Laboratory of Electronics and mentor for the MIT Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation, was honored for contributions and entrepreneurship in biomedical imaging and optical communications. 

Evelyn N. Wang ’00, MIT’s vice president for climate and Ford Professor of Engineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, was honored for contributions to clean energy, water technology, and nanostructure-based phase change heat transfer, and for service to the nation.

“I am thrilled that eight MIT researchers, along with many others from our broader MIT community, have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering this year,” says Anantha P. Chandrakasan, dean of the School of Engineering, MIT’s chief innovation and strategy officer, and the Vannevar Bush Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. “This is a well-deserved recognition of their outstanding contributions to the field of engineering, and I extend my heartfelt congratulations to them all.”

Thirteen additional alumni were elected to the National Academy of Engineering this year. They are: Gregg T. Beckham SM ’04, PhD ’08; Douglas C. Cameron PhD ’87; Long-Qing Chen PhD ’90; Jennifer R. Cochran PhD ’01; Christopher Richard Doerr ’89, ’90, SM ’90, PhD ’95;  Justin Hanes PhD ’96; Elizabeth Ann Holm SM ’89; Denise C. Johnson SM ’97; Wayne R. Johnson ’68, SM ’68, ScD ’70; Concetta LaMarca ’81; Maja J. Matarić SM ’90, PhD ’94; David V. Schaffer PhD ’98; and Lixia Zhang PhD ’89.