Former ASME President Nickell among new NAE members

Last month, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) released its list of 64 new members and nine foreign associates. Among the new NAE members were four ASME members, including Robert E. Nickell, a former ASME president and current member of the Mechanical Engineering magazine Editorial Advisory Board.

This latest group brings the total U.S. membership to 2,217 and the number of foreign associates to 188.

Robert E. Nickell

The other three ASME members elected to the National Academy of Engineering are John O. Hallquist, president of Livermore Software Technology Corp., Livermore, Calif.; ASME Fellow Stelios K. Kyriakides, Temple Endowed Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, University of Texas, Austin; and ASME Fellow Paul K. Wright, A. Martin Berlin Chair in Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley.

Election to the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions accorded an engineer. Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to "engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature," and to the "pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education."

Nickell, an ASME Life Fellow who is president of Applied Science & Technology in San Diego, was elected to the academy for his contributions to the finite element method and the safe operation of power plants. The president of ASME in 1999–2000, Nickell has been an active member of ASME since he joined in 1972.

In addition to his position on the Mechanical Engineering magazine Editorial Advisory Board, Nickell currently serves with a number of other Society groups, including the Committee on Honors and the Staff Pension Plan Trustees. He has held positions on the Committee on Staff, the Committee on Finance and Investment, the Nominating Committee, the Committee on Past Presidents, the ASME Industry Advisory Board, and the ASME Board of Governors. He is also an ASME Dedicated Service Award recipient.

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