CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – University of Illinois electrical and computer engineering professor Kanti Jain has been elected to membership in the National Academy of Engineering, the academy announced today.
Jain was among 65 engineers selected for membership in the NAE, which was established in 1964 under a charter from the National Academy of Sciences as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers.
Election to the NAE is among the highest professional distinctions in engineering. The current NAE membership includes 2,246 U.S. engineers and 197 foreign associates.
Jain was cited for his contributions to the development of high-resolution, deep-ultraviolet excimer lithography for microelectronic fabrication.
“This prestigious honor is an indication of professor Jain’s pioneering contributions to the field of optical engineering,” Richard Herman, the chancellor of the Urbana campus, said today. “We are extremely proud of his accomplishments, which are emblematic of the continuing legacy of excellence of our university.”
Jain’s research focuses on developing novel micro- and nano-fabrication technologies that enable the patterning and microstructuring of a variety of organic and inorganic materials – including new polymers, semiconductors, metals and biological materials – and producing structures, devices and systems previously not deemed possible.
His research objectives include integrated, distributed, multifunctional sensors, antennas and electronic modules produced on flexible substrates using novel large-area fabrication techniques.
He earned his master’s degree in electrical engineering in 1970, and his doctorate in electrical engineering and physics in 1975, both from Illinois.
Jain is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the Optical Society of America and the International Society for Optical Engineering. He holds 68 patents, including inventions of core lithography technologies for the production of integrated circuits and displays.
Jain joined the Illinois faculty in 2006.
