Distinguished University Innovator Ceremony and Lecture

Khalil Najafi and Kensall Wise have been selected as the Distinguished University Innovators for 2011.

The pair is being honored for their role developing breakthrough technologies in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and working with colleagues, students and industry partners to move these innovations from university laboratories to new startups to further develop the technology into successful products over the last three decades.
Najafi is the Schlumberger Professor of Engineering and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the Department of Biomedical Engineering in the College of Engineering (CoE), and is chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Wise is the William Gould Dow Distinguished University Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, the J. Reid and Polly Anderson Professor of Manufacturing Technology, professor of biomedical engineering, and professor of atmospheric, oceanic and space sciences in CoE.