“Inventions are built on the shoulders of many giants.”

J.-C. Chiao
Mary and Richard Templeton Centennial Chair and professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering
.…on being named a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.

Chiao has been named a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, SMU announced Tuesday, noting that election as an NAI fellow is “the highest professional distinction awarded to academic inventors.”

One of 162 inventors selected for the 2023 class of fellows, Chiao is widely recognized for his research in using electromagnetic waves in medical applications including wireless closed-loop pain management systems and battery-less gastric motility management.

“I’m very honored to have been nominated by Provost Elizabeth Loboa, an NAI fellow at SMU, and supported by Vice Provost for Research and Chief Innovation Officer Dr. Suku Nair and many of my colleagues,” Chiao said in a statement.

Along with Chiao and Loboa in 2018, two others at SMU have been named an NAI fellow: Bruce Gnade in 2017 and Gary Evans in 2020, the university said.

Last January, Dallas Innovates did some naming of its own by adding Chiao to its Future 50 list under the category of Inventors.

Chiao was also one of three professors to receive the Texoma Semiconductor Tech Hub designation and strategy development grants in October. Under the leadership of the SMU Office of Research and Innovation, the hub aims to build on and drive innovation in the existing semiconductor supply chain in 29 counties in North Texas and southern Oklahoma through regional collaboration and workforce development.

The Texoma Semiconductor Tech Hub was one of 31 tech hubs selected nationwide.

Chiao has published and edited many peer-reviewed articles and received numerous awards for his teaching, research, and scholarship, SMU noted. He was named a fellow of both the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 2020 and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering in 2022.  

Chiao joined the faculty at SMU in 2018. Previously, he was a Janet and Mike Greene Endowed Professor of Engineering at UT Arlington and also served as an adjunct associate professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern. He received his B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from National Taiwan University and earned both M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology, SMU said. 

Chiao and the rest of the 2023 fellows will be inducted to the NAI on June 18, 2024, at its 13th annual meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina. The full list of fellows can be found here.  

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