Two Technion Professors Elected to National Academy of Engineering
Friday, February 7, 2014
By: Kevin Hattori

Two faculty members from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), among the highest professional distinctions that can be awarded to an engineer.

Professor Moshe Shoham and Professor Emeritus Alon Gany were among 11 foreign associate fellows (the designation reserved for non-American members) elected to the NAE for outstanding contributions to engineering research, practice or education, the academy announced yesterday.  The acdemy also named 67 new members from the U.S. 

Prof. Emeritus Alon Gany	Prof. Moshe Shoham

Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to the field of engineering, “including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature," and to the "pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education."

Prof. Shoham – the Tamara and Harry Handelsman Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and head of the Technion Robotics Laboratory – was elected for his contributions to robotic technology for image-guided surgery.  He is the founder of Mazor Surgical Technologies, and the creator of the renowned SpineAssist surgical guidance system.

Prof. Emeritus Gany, of the Faulty of Aeronautical Engineering, is the head of the university’s Fine Rocket Propulsion Center and Aerothermodynamics Laboratory.  He was cited for advances in the development of solid propellants for rockets and scramjets. 

The U.S. National Academy of Engineering is the most prestigious in the world. It currently has 2,250 members, including 214 foreign associate fellows.  Seven of the 11 foreign associates who hail from Israel are from the Technion, and Nobel Laureate and Distinguished Professor Dan Shechtman is a full member.

The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology is a major source of the innovation and brainpower that drives the Israeli economy, and a key to Israel’s renown as the world’s “Start-Up Nation.” Its three Nobel Prize winners exemplify academic excellence. Technion people, ideas and inventions make immeasurable contributions to the world including life-saving medicine, sustainable energy, computer science, water conservation and nanotechnology.

 American Technion Society (ATS) donors provide critical support for the Technion—more than $1.9 billion since its inception in 1940. Based in New York City, the ATS and its network of chapters across the U.S. provide funds for scholarships, fellowships, faculty recruitment and chairs, research, buildings, laboratories, classrooms and dormitories, and more.