Innovation & Impact Podcast: Inventing for the Real World with Penn’s National Academy of Inventors Fellows

In this episode of Penn Engineering’s Innovation & Impact podcast, host Vanessa Chan, Vice Dean of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Jonathan and Linda Brassington Practice Professor in Materials Science and Engineering, sits down with three faculty members who were recently named Fellows of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), one of the highest distinctions for academic inventors whose work has made a measurable impact on society.

Chan is joined by Boon Thau Loo, RCA Professor in Computer and Information Science and Senior Associate Dean for Graduate Education and Global Initiatives, André DeHon, Boileau Professor of Electrical Engineering in Electrical and Systems Engineering, and Haim Bau, the Richard H. and S.L. Gabel Professor of Mechanical Engineering in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics. Together, they share the stories behind the inventions that have shaped their fields, from cloud infrastructure and AI hardware to point-of-care diagnostics, and discuss the mindset that drives transformative innovation.

Beyond the technologies themselves, the conversation explores the habits and perspectives that shape great inventors. The guests discuss questioning the status quo, embracing interdisciplinary thinking and learning from failure, lessons that echo Benjamin Franklin’s spirit of invention at the founding of the University of Pennsylvania.

From childhood curiosity and unconventional research paths to the realities of turning ideas into real-world impact, this episode offers an inside look at how Penn Engineering innovators translate research into technologies that improve lives around the world.

Listen to Episode 10 of Penn Engineering’s Innovation & Impact podcast to hear how these NAI Fellows approach invention and what their experiences can teach the next generation of engineers and entrepreneurs.

Subscribe to Penn Engineering’s Innovation & Impact podcast on Apple Music, Spotify or your favorite listening platforms, or find all the episodes on our Penn Engineering YouTube channel.