Lu named senior member of National Academy of Inventors
The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) has named Frank Lu, a University of Texas at Arlington professor of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, as a senior member.
Lu is among 95 of the nation’s foremost emerging academic inventors identified by NAI’s member institutions in its 2023 class of senior members. NAI senior members are active faculty, scientists and administrators who have demonstrated remarkable innovation producing technologies with the potential to make a significant impact on the welfare of society. They demonstrate growing success in patents, licensing and commercialization, while also educating and mentoring the next generation of inventors.
“I am honored and very pleased to be elected an NAI senior member,” Lu said. “To be recognized by one’s peers in such a fashion is a humbling acknowledgement of a lifetime of work.”
Erian Armanios, chair of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, said Lu’s contributions to UTA’s Aerodynamics Research Center are substantial.
“Dr. Lu’s work in aerospace research and education span far beyond UTA’s campus,” Armanios said. “He and, more importantly, his work are known worldwide.”
Other NAI senior members at UTA include Jon Weidanz, associate vice president for research; Wei Chen, professor of physics; Haiying Huang, professor of mechanical engineering; and Robert Woods, professor of mechanical engineering. A full list of NAI Senior Members is available on the NAI website.
Lu also is a life fellow of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics and a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering and the Royal Aeronautical Society.
He joined the UTA College of Engineering in 1987 and was director of the University’s Aerodynamics Research Center from 1993-2018. His research has focused on fluid dynamics, shock and viscous phenomena, aerodynamic heating, jets and sprays, supersonic and hypersonic flows, propulsion, detonation, fuel reformation and power production, fail-safe construction, shape memory alloys, natural convection, flow visualization and instrumentation and facility development. He has authored or co-authored more than 100 journal articles, conference papers and other publications and has mentored dozens of graduate and undergraduate students during his tenure at UTA. In addition, he holds seven U.S. patents.
This latest class of NAI senior members, the largest to date, demonstrates a shared commitment to celebrate the diversity of the academic ecosystem, with 48 outstanding female and/or minority academic inventors included. The newest senior members hail from 50 NAI member institutions and research universities across the nation.
“I’m delighted to see how this program has expanded in just a couple years’ time,” said Paul R. Sanberg, president of NAI. “It really reflects the shift we are seeing at universities where invention is not only being recognized, but prioritized as well.”,