Nikhil Gupta is elevated to senior membership in the National Academy of Inventors

The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) was established in 2012 in order to recognize and encourage academic inventors, enhance the visibility of academic technology and innovation, encourage the disclosure of intellectual property, educate and mentor students, and translate the inventions of its members to benefit society. 

Senior membership in the group is offered to only a select few leaders in their fields, chosen based on their creation of “technologies that have brought, or aspire to bring, real impact on the welfare of society.” Among the 2024 inductees is NYU Tandon Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Nikhil Gupta, who is also affiliated with the school’s Department of Civil and Urban Engineering and Center for Cybersecurity.

Gupta holds seven patents, including one for a strong yet lightweight syntactic foam that could speed next-generation ships, automobiles, protective gear, and other innovations to market. 

Recently, he entered into a multi-year collaboration with Anton Paar USA (the leading makers of scientific laboratory instruments) to leverage the company’s high-end dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) device in his lab. The collaboration demonstrates the direct relevance of Gupta’s research to the industry and is already bearing fruit; they have recently published papers making fundamental advancements in the method of processing data obtained from DMA – an innovation that makes it possible to convert viscoelastic properties to elastic properties when studying how materials behave when they are deformed.

The NAI is far from the only august organization to recognize the value of Gupta’s work. He is also a Fellow of the American Society for Composites, a Fellow  of ASM International (formerly known as the American Society for Metals), and a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, as well as the recipient of the Brimacombe Medal; the ASM International Silver Medal; and the Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society’s Young Professional Development Award.

Gupta will be inducted as a Senior Member at the NAI’s annual conference in June. He joins a noteworthy group of other NYU Tandon faculty members who have been recognized by the Academy, including these Fellows: Shivendra Panwar, Jef D. Boeke, Jin Kim Montclare, Daniel Sodickson, Theodore Rappaport, Bud Mishra, H. Jonathan Chao, and Kurt Becker.