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

February 12, 2019

Supriyo Bandyopadhyay, Ph.D. and Bennet Ward, Ph.D.
Supriyo Bandyopadhyay, Ph.D., Commonwealth Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Bennett Ward, Ph.D., director of project outreach and associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering.

National Academy of Inventors logo

Two Virginia Commonwealth University College of Engineering professors have been named to the National Academy of Inventors’ inaugural class of NAI Senior Members.

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

Bandyopadhyay's patents deal with two aspects of his research: (1) nanoscale self assembly that lead to three US patents dealing with nanopattern formation, bistable memory devices and infrared photodetection, and (2) spintronics and straintronics that have lead to two US patents dealing with devices and systems for both Boolean and non-Boolean computing hardware. His invention of the memory device, made while he was at University of Nebraska-Lincoln, has been licensed.

Ward’s inventions range from fluid handling components which make pregnancy test kits and other diagnostic devices more accurate to extremely heat and chemically resistant materials used in the semiconductor, fuel cell and petrochemical industries.

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. Senior members 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.

The inaugural class 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.

“The fact that we have two NAI Senior Members at VCU speaks volumes about the spirit of innovation that pervades our university,” said Barbara D. Boyan, Ph.D., Alice T. and William H. Goodwin Jr. Dean of the VCU College of Engineering.  “Of course I am particularly proud to say that Drs. Ward and Bandyopadhyay are faculty in the college, which is a great inspiration for our students as they create and develop their own inventions.”

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