Two faculty members from the Johns Hopkins Department of Biomedical Engineering have been elected as fellows of the National Academy of Inventors, a prestigious distinction that recognizes and honors the creators or co-developers of outstanding inventions that have made a difference in society. These professors join the more than 4,000 current fellows of the academy, which features members of more than 250 institutions worldwide.
The honorees from Johns Hopkins BME are:
Rama Chellappa, who joined the Department of Biomedical Engineering as a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor earlier this year. Chellappa’s work has shaped the field of facial recognition technology, and he is known as an expert in machine learning. At Hopkins he contributes to the Mathematical Institute for Data Science and the Center for Imaging Science.
Nitish Thakor, a professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Thakor conducts research on neurological instrumentation, biomedical signal processing, micro and nanotechnologies, neural prosthesis, and neural and rehabilitation techniques. Director of the Laboratory for Neuroengineering, Thakor also serves as director of the NIH Training Grant on Neuroengineering. Currently, he is developing a next-generation neurally controlled upper limb prosthesis alongside a multi-university consortium funded by DARPA.
Chellappa and Thakor will be formally inducted at the NAI Fellows Induction Ceremony on June 7 to 9, 2021 in Tampa, Florida.
For a full list of honorees from Johns Hopkins, visit the Hub.