Three University of Michigan engineering professors have been inducted into the National Academy of Engineering, one of the profession’s highest honors.
They are among the 86 U.S. and 14 foreign members announced this month, and bring the total NAE membership at U-M to 33.
The new U-M members are:
Sharon Glotzer
Nadine Sarter
• Alec Gallimore, Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering, Richard F. and Eleanor A. Towner Professor of Engineering, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, and professor of aerospace engineering and applied physics.
• Sharon Glotzer, Anthony C. Lembke Department Chair of Chemical Engineering, John Werner Cahn Distinguished University Professor of Engineering, Stuart W. Churchill Collegiate Professor of Chemical Engineering, and professor of chemical engineering, materials science and engineering, macromolecular science and engineering, and physics.
• Nadine Sarter, professor of industrial and operations engineering, and director of the Center for Ergonomics.
“Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to engineering research, practice or education,” according to an NAE statement.
This could include 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 or implementing innovative approaches to engineering education.”
Sarter is being honored for innovation in the design and use of tactile displays for improved safety in aviation, automobiles and health care.
She studies human-robot interaction and design of systems that support decision-making, as well as how to manage human error, attention and interruption. Her research has applications in aviation, medicine, military operations and the modern car cockpit.
Sater has been a member of the U-M faculty since 2004, and is a fellow of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.
Glotzer is being honored for developing computer-based design principles for assembly engineering and manufacturing of advanced materials and nanotechnology.
Her main research areas include manipulating matter at the molecular, nanoparticle and colloidal level to create “designer” structures; the fundamental principles of how nanoscale systems of building blocks self-assemble; and controlling the assembly process to engineer new materials.
She has been a member of the U-M faculty since 2001, and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Gallimore is being honored for advanced spacecraft electric propulsion, especially Hall thruster technology.
He is founder and director of the Plasmadynamics and Electric Propulsion Laboratory, which is developing the plasma drive system that ultimately may propel humans to Mars. In 2017, a Hall thruster he is designing broke records for operating current, power and thrust for a device of its kind.
He has been a member of the U-M faculty since 1992. He is a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
(Editor’s note: This article has been updated from its original version to reflect a change in the total NAE membership at U-M.)
