Yuehwern Yih named a Senior Member of the prestigious National Academy of Inventors
Yih, Tompkins Professor in the Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering, is also a recent National Academy of Engineering electee.
*** The article below was originally published by the Purdue College of Engineering. ***
Yuehwern Yih, the Tompkins Professor in the Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering at Purdue University, was named a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) on Feb. 20. She is part of the 162 emerging academic inventors in the 2025 class of Senior Members who were identified by NAI’s member institutions. This year’s class is the largest to date and hails from 64 NAI member institutions across the nation. Collectively, they are named inventors on over 1,200 U.S. patents.
Yih has been granted one U.S. patent and two U.S. copyrights through her disclosures to the Purdue Innovates Office of Technology Commercialization.
Tompkins Professor in the Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering, Yuehwern Yih
Yih directs the Smart Systems & Operations (SOS) Laboratory, and previously served as director of the LASER PULSE Consortium at Purdue. Her research focuses on system modeling and decision making for complex systems and operations. Applications span manufacturing, supply chains, humanitarian relief, healthcare and tackling global challenges in lower-and-middle-income countries.
"Being recognized by the National Academy of Inventors underscores the transformative potential of industrial engineering in addressing complex global challenges through technology and innovation,” Yih said.
In healthcare, Yih has directly improved clinic operations that have saved lives and enhanced care of HIV patients and premature babies. Her work in last-mile humanitarian supply chains, implemented in South Sudan and Ukraine, delivered life-saving commodities to over one million people affected by drought and conflicts.
Recently, Yih earned one of the highest professional distinctions available to an engineer: membership in the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Her previous recognitions include being named a fellow of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE), a fellow of the Executive Leadership in Academic Technology and Engineering (ELATE), and receipt of the IISE David F. Baker Distinguished Research Award.
Paul R. Sanberg, president of NAI, said the growth of the program year over year is a testament to the dedication member institutions have in fostering innovation on their campuses and supporting their inventive staff and faculty.
“This year’s class comes from a multitude of impressive fields and research backgrounds from across the world,” he said. “We applaud their pursuit of commercialization to ensure their groundbreaking technologies can make a difference by tackling the world’s most pressing issues, improving quality of life across society and advancing the economy.”
The 2025 class of Senior Members will be celebrated during the Senior Member Induction Ceremony at NAI’s 14th Annual Conference taking place June 23-26 in Atlanta.
Writer: Della Pacheco
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