This honor is bestowed upon the highest level of academic inventors.

Natalie StingelinProfessor Natalie Stingelin has been elected to the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) Fellows Program, an honor bestowed upon the highest level of academic inventors.

This distinction recognizes Stingelin’s significant contributions in the broader area of polymer physics and organic electronics and photonics, including the advancement of novel strategies that enable processing and design of soft electronic materials (such as organic semiconductors and inorganic/organic hybrid materials) with unique functional properties and the creation of innovative device architectures.

Stingelin, who holds a joint appointment in Georgia Tech's School of Materials Science and Engineering and School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, said these developments are starting to revolutionize several technologies, including flexible/rollable ultrathin solar-cell panels, bio-compatible wearable electronics being self-powered and operating at the nanoscale, and smart materials that change their response and adapt to external conditions.

An internationally recognized authority in the polymer field, Stingelin serves as the director of Georgia Tech’s Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics, and she is an initiative lead for Georgia Tech’s Institute of Materials.

In addition to her election to the NAI Fellows, she is also a fellow of the Materials Research Society (MRS) and the Royal Chemical Society of Chemistry (RSC). In 2021, she was awarded a prestigious “Engineering and Physical Science” Suffrage Science award, which celebrates women in science for their outstanding scientific research, communication work, and support of women in STEM.

In 2021, she was selected for the French-British Prize by the French Society of Chemistry and the U.K.'s Royal Society of Chemistry. She was awarded a Chaire Internationale Associée by the Excellence Initiative of the Université de Bordeaux in 2017, and she won the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining's Rosenhain Medal and Prize in 2014.

“It is a great honor to be recognized for our intellectual contributions in the larger functional polymer/polymer physics field. The potential impact of these materials to lead to technologies to benefit mankind is extremely significant, and promises to affect areas such as health care, climate-neutral smart cities, and food security,” said Stingelin.

“This award would not have been possible without the contributions of my students, my collaborators, and the support I got from Georgia Tech when I moved here more than five years ago," she added. “With all the challenges of the past two years, including tragically losing Neil Anderson, a PhD student who just started in my group, this honor is even more important for my group and me. It reminds us why Neil selected us and came here from Australia to work with us. We shall dearly miss him”.

Founded in 2010, the National Academy of Innovators is focused on changing the culture of academic invention. Election to their Fellowship Program is bestowed upon the highest level of academic inventors to recognize their dedication to the welfare of society and improving general quality of life through exceptional inventions. This status is the highest professional distinction for academic inventors. 

The Fellows Induction Ceremony will be held at the NAI Annual meeting June 13-15, 2022 in Phoenix, Arizona. The sitting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will provide the keynote address for the ceremony.

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