Supriyo Bandyopadhyay and Bennett Ward
Supriyo Bandyopadhyay, Ph.D., left, and Bennett Ward, Ph.D., have been named to the National Academy of Inventors’ inaugural class of NAI Senior Members. (Photos courtesy VCU College of Engineering)

Feb. 11, 2019

Engineering faculty elected as senior members of the National Academy of Inventors

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Two Virginia Commonwealth University College of Engineering professors have been named senior members of the National Academy of Inventors.

Supriyo Bandyopadhyay, Ph.D., Commonwealth Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Bennett Ward, Ph.D., director of project outreach and an associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering, were among the 66 academic inventors named.

Ward’s inventions range from fluid-handling components that make pregnancy test kits and other diagnostic devices more accurate to extreme heat- and chemical-resistant materials used in the semi-conductor, fuel cell and petrochemical industries. Bandyopadhyay's patents deal with the speed and performance of electronic devices and developing energy-efficient computing hardware.

NAI Senior Members are active faculty, scientists and administrators from NAI member institutions with success in patents, licensing and commercialization. They have produced technologies that have brought, or aspire to bring, real impact on the welfare of society. They also foster a spirit of innovation within their communities through enhancing an inventive atmosphere at their institutions, while educating and mentoring the next generation of inventors, according to the NAI.

The inaugural group of NAI Senior Members represents 37 research universities and government and nonprofit research institutes. They are named inventors on more than 1,100 issued U.S. patents.

A full list of NAI Senior Members is available on the NAI website.