Quanxi Jia named Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors

BUFFALO, N.Y. — University at Buffalo scientist Quanxi Jia, a world-renowned expert in materials science and technology, has been elected a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).

Election to NAI Fellow status is the highest professional distinction accorded by the organization to academic inventors who have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society.

“Quanxi’s election to the National Academy of Inventors recognizes his seminal work that links materials science to engineering design; and serves as an excellent example of the work done in MDI which aims to close the gap between fundamental research and engineering practice,” said Krishna Rajan, Empire Innovation Professor and Erich Bloch Endowed Chair, Department of Materials Design and Innovation (MDI).

Jia, PhD, is the Empire Innovation Professor and National Grid Professor of Materials Research in MDI, a joint program of UB’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and College of Arts and Sciences. He also serves as the scientific director of UB’s New York State Center of Excellence in Materials Informatics (CMI).

Prior to joining UB in 2016, Jia was the director of the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, a U.S. Department of Energy Nanoscale Science Research Center operated jointly by Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories.

Apart from his outstanding record of inventions, Jia is also known for his seminal contributions to the development of coated superconductors and to the advancement of processing and application of metal-oxide materials.

Coated superconductors, also known as second-generation superconducting tapes, are critical elements for magnets, motors and power transmission lines. Metal-oxides, due to their multi-functionalities and superior properties under extreme conditions, have had a profound impact on the development of next-generation electronic devices.

Jia has authored or co-authored more than 480 peer-reviewed journal articles, delivered more than 100 invited lectures and holds 49 U.S. patents.

Among his many awards and honors are two prestigious R&D 100 Awards, the 2005 Asian-American Engineer of the Year Award and the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer Awards for Excellence in Technology Transfer. He is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), American Ceramic Society (ACerS), the American Physical Society (APS), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Materials Research Society (MRS) and the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Jia received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Xian Jiaotong University, China, and a PhD in the same field from UB in 1991.

New fellows will be inducted at a ceremony on April 11 at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.