Two Purdue Engineering professors elected to National Academy of Inventors
The Purdue University College of Engineering and the Mitch Daniels School of Business are pleased and honored to announce that professors Stephan Biller and Luna Lu have been elected as National Academy of Inventors (NAI) fellows.
This prestigious honor recognizes their exceptional achievements as inventors and their significant impact on the innovation ecosystem, economic development and society. As a member of the 2025 Class of NAI fellows, they join a distinguished group of innovators who have demonstrated an abounding spirit of invention. Their election reflects not only their inventiveness but their dedication to advancing technology and fostering innovations for the gain of society.
“It is a tremendous honor to be elected to the Academy,” said Biller, who is the Harold T. Amrine Distinguished Professor in the Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering and the Daniels School. “Periods of rapid technological and economic upheaval always pose a great challenge to societies. My work to innovate around the digital transformation of manufacturing is intended to help bring about a renaissance in American companies’ competitiveness on the national and global stage. I am humbled by the NAI’s recognition of this effort.”
“I am deeply honored to be elected as an NAI fellow,” said Lu, who is the Indiana ACPA Professor in the Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering. “Innovation is most meaningful when it improves people’s lives, and I am proud that our work in intelligent infrastructure is helping build better, safer and more resilient communities. This recognition reflects the dedication of my students, collaborators, and partners at and outside of Purdue who share a commitment to translating research into real-world impact.”
The National Academy of Inventors comprises U.S. and international universities, governmental agencies, and non-profit research institutes. There are more than 2,000 fellows affiliated with more than 300 institutions worldwide. It was founded to recognize and encourage inventors with numerous U.S. patents, enhance the visibility of academic technology and innovation, encourage the disclosure of intellectual property, educate and mentor innovative students, and broaden public understanding of how its members’ inventions benefit society.
Biller additionally serves as director of the Dauch Center for the Management of Manufacturing Enterprises at Daniels and is co-director and founder of eXcellence in Manufacturing and Operations (XMO), Purdue’s national initiative to effect a contemporary renaissance in manufacturing. He has twice received Purdue’s Outstanding Educator Award for excellence in teaching, advising, and mentoring, as well as Purdue’s inaugural Faculty Mentor Award and Distinguished Faculty Mentor Lecture in 2025. He holds 11 patents and has co-authored more than 100 refereed scholarly publications.
Biller’s election represents a widening recognition of the importance of innovation in the manufacturing sector to the United States. His expertise revolves around smart manufacturing, digital twin, Industry 4.0, and supply chain management. He focuses on AI and the Internet of Things (IoT), integrated with lean Six Sigma manufacturing processes, to facilitate the digital transformation of large and especially small and medium manufacturing enterprises at scale.
Biller’s innovations not only build upon his research prowess at Purdue but also his extensive industrial experience at manufacturing and supply chain juggernauts. He has previously served as founder and CEO of Advanced Manufacturing International; vice president of Product Management for AI and Watson IoT at IBM; chief manufacturing scientist and manufacturing technology director at General Electric; and tech fellow and global group manager for manufacturing systems at General Motors. A Six Sigma Master Black Belt, he is an IEEE fellow and member of the National Academy of Engineering.
Lu is focused on developing AI-powered IoT sensor technology that enables communication with infrastructure to understand its condition. Her technology breakthrough is in hardware, including sensors that generate an electrical charge in response to mechanical stress, and software, such as AI-driven analytics that interpret the signals from the sensor. She’s part of a major push to develop “smart” infrastructure, a market expected to increase from some $586 billion in 2023 to $1,030 billion in 2030, according to a report from Market Research Future.
Lu additionally serves as vice president of the Office of Industry Partnerships at Purdue, where she spearheads campus wide strategic collaborations between Purdue with corporate parnters across diverse sectors. She is the founding director of the Center for Intelligent Infrastructure at Purdue and an Indiana American Concrete Pavement Association endowed professor. Her research has garnered several prestigious awards and honors, including the 2014 National Science Foundation CAREER Award, a 2019 Purdue Faculty Scholar award, a 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers Gamechanger recognition, the 2022 ASCE Alfred Noble Prize, a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2022 and an Edison Award and R&D 100 finalist in 2024.
Lu is the founder and CEO of the venture-backed startup company Wavelogix Inc., which has garnered national industry recognition for its sensor system. In November, the company received a nearly $1 million Small Business Innovation Research Phase II grant from the National Science Foundation. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ Committee on Materials and Pavements approved as a new national standard (AASHTO T412) for testing concrete strength based on her invention. Wavelogix received a 2024 Edison Awards gold honor in April for critical human infrastructure. The award is considered the “Oscars of innovation.” The sensor was also on TIME’s Best Inventions of 2023 list, and Fast Company magazine named this invention one of its Next Big Things in Tech for 2022. Her technology has been used in 38 states in U.S. and Canada Quebec.
The professors are the 19th and 20th Purdue Engineering faculty members to be elected to the Academy. They will be inducted as fellows of the Academy during the NAI’s milestone 15th annual conference, which takes place June 1-4 in Los Angeles. The event is a premier global stage for breakthrough ideas, impactful discussion and shaping the future of innovation, gathering together the world’s brightest minds, boldest ideas and most influential ecosystem leaders.