Two Penn Engineering Faculty Elected to National Academy of Engineering

Two Penn Engineering faculty members have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), one of the highest professional honors accorded to engineers, bringing the total Penn Engineering NAE faculty membership to 16. Nader Engheta, H. Nedwill Ramsey Professor in Electrical and Systems Engineering, and Karen Winey, Harold Pender Professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and in Materials Science and Engineering, join a distinguished group of 130 new members and 28 international members that comprise the NAE Class of 2026. Together with alumnus Ken Goldberg (ENG’84), one of the early members of the GRASP Lab and current Professor in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at UC Berkeley, this year’s NAE class includes three members of the Penn Engineering community.

Nader Engheta

Engheta, known for pioneering work in metamaterials and photonics, has been elected for “contributions to the development of metamaterials and their applications.” The Engheta Group is focused on the physics and engineering of fields and waves and the various features and characteristics of wave-matter interaction in metamaterials and metasurfaces.

Karen Winey

Winey, a leading researcher in polymer-based nanostructured materials, has been elected for “contributions to understanding and advancing polymer nanocomposites and ion-containing polymers.” The Winey Group employs a variety of experimental and computational tools to probe the structural and physical properties of advanced polymers, with current interests that focus on nanoparticle and polymer dynamics in electrochemical devices.

The 2026 Class brings the total U.S. membership to 2,534 and the number of international members to 356. NAE membership recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to engineering research, practice or education, including significant contributions to the engineering literature. It also honors those who have pioneered new and developing fields of technology, made major advancements in traditional engineering fields or implemented innovative approaches to engineering education.

Learn more about the NAE Class of 2026 here.