Gandhinagar: Prof Sudhir K Jain, Director of the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN), has been elected as an International Member of the US National Academy of Engineering (US NAE), a premier independent body of the most eminent engineers, business leaders, and academicians from across the globe.
Presently, there are only 16 other international members from India on US NAE, including Mr Ratan Tata, Mr Mukesh Ambani, Mr N R Narayana Murthy, Dr Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, and Dr Raghunath A Mashelkar.
Prof Jain is among 23 international members elected in 2021 and the only current Director of IITs to be ever elected to this prestigious body. He will be formally inducted during the NAE’s annual meeting on October 3, 2021.
The announcement was made by the US NAE on February 9, 2021. The organisation has 2,355 US members and 298 international members.
Election to the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer for their outstanding contributions to engineering research, practice, or education, including significant contributions to the engineering literature and for pioneering new and developing fields of technology, making significant advancements in traditional areas of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education. Individuals can not apply for membership in the NAE. Members are elected by their peers (current NAE members) after a year-long process.
Prof Jain was cited by the organisation for his “leadership in earthquake engineering in developing countries.”
Prof Sudhir Jain said, “It is a great honour for me. I am humbled and grateful to the fellow members and distinguished colleagues in the US National Academy of Engineering for giving me the opportunity to represent IITs and India on this prestigious international platform along with the top-notch leaders from the field of engineering, technology, business and academia.”
Dr Jain is currently serving his third term as Director of IITGN, which he joined as the founder director in June 2009. He is an internationally reputed scholar of earthquake engineering and a passionate academic administrator recognised for his leadership in earthquake engineering in India and introducing numerous innovations in engineering education and institutional management to inculcate and promote excellence. He has also served as President of the International Association for Earthquake Engineering from 2014-18 and was conferred Life Membership by the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering (NZSEE) in 2013. He was awarded the Padma Shri by the Indian government in 2020.
Dr Jain has served as a consultant for several major projects, such as bridges, petrochemical pipelines and concrete dams and has published more than 150 scholarly papers. He was instrumental in the development of several important seismic codes in India and has trained thousands of professional engineers and college teachers in earthquake engineering through his continuing education programmes.
