The National Academy of Engineering has elected S.V. Sreenivasan, professor in the Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin as part of the Class of 2021.

Sreenivasan is being recognized by the academy for his innovation and entrepreneurship in industrial deployment of nanoimprint lithography equipment, having pioneered the creation of nanoscale manufacturing systems that have enabled broad commercial deployment of unmanned vehicle nanoimprint lithography technology.

“S.V. is renowned for his technical innovations and his leadership in nanomanufacturing,” said Sharon L. Wood, dean of the Cockrell School of Engineering and NAE member. “Through his inventions and commercial developments, he has truly exhibited the university’s motto — What starts here changes the world — and we are extremely proud of his accomplishments and election to the academy.”

S.V. Sreenivasan holds the Joe C. Walter Jr. Chair in Engineering in the Cockrell School of Engineering’s Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering. His research in high throughput nanomanufacturing is applied to electronics, photonics, flexible and wearable devices, and emerging biomedical and clean energy applications. Sreenivasan is the director of the UT-led NASCENT Center, a multi-university National Science Foundation research center that develops nanomanufacturing systems for mobile computing and mobile energy technologies. He co-founded Molecular Imprints, a nanopatterning company spun out of his research at UT that was acquired by the Canon Corporation in 2014. Sreenivasan also currently serves as chief technologist for Canon Nanotechnologies. He holds more than 100 U.S. patents and has received numerous recognitions for his work, including the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ Design Award and Leonardo da Vinci Award, the TAMEST O’Donnell Award for Technology Innovation, the Technology Pioneer Award by the World Economic Forum, and he was named a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. Sreenivasan received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Trichy, India, and his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from The Ohio State University.

Membership in the National Academy of Engineering is one of the highest professional distinctions for an engineer, honoring those who have made outstanding contributions to engineering research and practice, including pioneering of new and developing fields of technology and making major advancements in engineering. This year, 106 new members and 23 foreign members were elected.