MechSE's King honored as AAAS fellow

William P. King, the College of Engineering Abel Bliss Professor of mechanical science and engineering and director of the NSF Center for Nano-CEMMS, has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Three other University of Illinois faculty members—Stephen A. Boppart, Sharon Hammes-Schiffer, and Kanti Jain—were also among the 388 recipients to be awarded this honor.

King was elected for his “seminal contributions to the engineering of nanometer-scale thermal and mechanical systems and their applications to fundamental understanding of the properties of materials.” He will be recognized in a ceremony February 15 at the AAAS 2014 annual meeting in Chicago.

“It is quite an honor to be recognized alongside so many extraordinary and accomplished researchers,” said King.

Chancellor Phyllis M. Wise noted that this year’s AAAS fellows “demonstrate that Illinois is at the forefront of research and innovation. These four faculty members embody the spirit of Illinois research, which seeks to advance science while shaping society.”

King has been a faculty member in MechSE since 2006, after starting his career at the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2002. He earned his B.S. in mechanical engineering in 1996 from the University of Dayton and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering from Stanford University. King is a leader in the engineering of micrometer and nanometer-scale thermal systems. Technologies developed by King’s research group have been broadly applied and adopted across many industries, including the materials, pharmaceuticals, energy, and semiconductor industries. A hallmark of the research in his group is the translation of new ideas across science, technology, and business.

King has been founder, advisor, or board member at more than a dozen early-stage technology companies, most recently with Hoowaki LLC, Anasys Instruments Inc., IP2Biz Inc., EDM Department Inc., and Tribogenics Inc.

King also is affiliated with the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, the Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory, the Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, the department of materials science and engineering, and the department of electrical and computer engineering. He is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and recently won the ASME Gustus L. Larson Memorial Award for outstanding achievement in mechanical engineering within 20 years of graduation. He is a member of the American Physical Society, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and the Materials Research Society.

AAAS, founded in 1848, is the world’s largest general scientific society, and elects fellows for their “scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.”