Seven MIT researchers are among the 130 new members and 28 international members recently elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) for 2026. Twelve 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,” 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 seven MIT electees this year include:
Moungi Gabriel Bawendi, the Lester Wolfe Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry, was honored for the synthesis and characterization of semiconductor quantum dots and their applications in displays, photovoltaics, and biology.
Charles Harvey, a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, was honored for contributions to hydrogeology regarding groundwater arsenic contamination, transport, and consequences.
Piotr Indyk, the Thomas D. and Virginia W. Cabot Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and a member of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, was honored for contributions to approximate nearest neighbor search, streaming, and sketching algorithms for massive data processing.
John Henry Lienhard, the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Water and Mechanical Engineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, was honored for advances and technological innovations in desalination.
Ram Sasisekharan, the Alfred H. Caspary Professor of Biological Physics and Physics in the Department of Biological Engineering, was honored for discovering the U.S. heparin contaminant in 2008 and creating clinical antibodies for Zika, dengue, SARS-CoV-2, and other diseases.
Frances Ross, the TDK Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, was honored for ultra-high vacuum and liquid-cell transmission electron microscopies and their worldwide adoptions for materials research and semiconductor technology development.
Zoltán Sandor Spakovszky SM ’99, PhD ’01, the T. Wilson (1953) Professor in Aeronautics in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, was honored for contributions, through rigorous discoveries and advancements, in aeroengine aerodynamic and aerostructural stability and acoustics.
“Each of the MIT faculty and alumni elected to the National Academy of Engineering has made extraordinary contributions to their fields through research, education, and innovation,” says Paula T. Hammond, dean of the School of Engineering and Institute Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering. "They represent the breadth of excellence we have here at MIT. This honor reflects the impact of their work, and I’m proud to celebrate their achievement and offer my warmest congratulations.”
Twelve additional alumni were elected to the National Academy of Engineering this year. They are: Anne Hammons Aunins PhD ’91; Lars James Blackmore PhD ’07; John-Paul Clarke ’91, SM ’92, SCD ’97; Michael Fardis SM ’77, SM ’78, PhD ’79; David Hays PhD ’98; Stephen Thomas Kent ’76, EE ’78, ENG ’78, PhD ’81; Randal D. Koster SM ’85, SCD ’88; Fred Mannering PhD ’83; Peyman Milanfar SM ’91, EE ’93, ENG ’93, PhD ’93; Amnon Shashua PhD ’93; Michael Paul Thien SCD ’88; and Terry A. Winograd PhD ’70.
