Dr. James Hubbard Jr. is part of the 2021 class of National Academy of Inventors (NAI) fellows.
Hubbard serves as Oscar S. Wyatt, Jr. '45 Chair I Professor in the J. Mike Walker '66 Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University. He is also a permanent member of the Hagler Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
Hubbard said he is humbled to be recognized by the prestigious organization and its members.
“In 1982, I created the very first smart structure and concomitantly received the first two patents while at Massachusetts Institute of Technology,” Hubbard said. “As time progresses — in an attempt to demonstrate the efficacy of the concept — I received on average a patent a year for the next 24 years conceiving of and reducing to practice many new smart systems. The NAI induction means national recognition of my efforts.”
One of 164 newly elected fellows, Hubbard leads the StarLab at The Texas A&M University System RELLIS Campus and focuses on research areas including smart or adaptive structures, morphing aircraft, autonomous vehicles and human-machine interface.
"Creativity is an inherent trait of engineers, but only a select few have the capacity to transfer that creativity into tangible inventions and even fewer do so while realizing a successful academic career," said Dr. Guillermo Aguilar, James and Ada Forsyth Professor and mechanical engineering department head. "Dr. James Hubbard Jr. is one of those few. Congratulations on this well-deserved recognition."
NAI fellows are recognized as inventors working in government, nonprofit or academic research institutes who hold patents with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The goal of the NAI is to increase the visibility of academic technology and innovation, encourage the disclosure of intellectual property, educate and mentor students, and help the inventions of its members to benefit society.
Hubbard and his peers will be inducted during the NAI annual meeting in June 2022.