EAPS News Faculty News: Dara Entekhabi Elected to the National Academy of Engineering. Helen Hill and Lauren Hinkel Thursday, February 9, 2017

Yesterday, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) elected 84 new members and 22 foreign members; among them was Dara Entekhabi, the Bacardi and Stockholm Water Foundations Professor in MIT’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) and Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences. He becomes one of 2,281 members to join the academy, and  was selected “for leadership in the hydrologic sciences including the scientific underpinnings for satellite observation of the Earth’s water cycle.”

Work in Entekhabi’s Group spans a variety of topics in hydrology, including land-atmosphere interactions, surface water – groundwater interactions, data assimilation, and remote sensing with research covering both the areas of hydrometeorology and hydroclimatology. Recent projects have focused on land-atmosphere boundary layer estimation, remote sensing of precipitation and soil moisture, wintertime climate dynamics, designing and validating ground-based networks and urban canyon airflow. Additionally, Entekhabi is the science team leader for the NASA Soil Moisture Active/Passive (SMAP) satellite launched in 2015. SMAP is measuring soil moisture and soil freeze/thaw status using two instruments: radar and a radiometer.

Selection to the National Academy of Engineering is one of the highest distinctions bestowed upon an engineer and 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.”

A formal induction ceremony will occur at the NAE’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 8, 2017.  

Among the other newly elected members is Ali H. Dogru a Visiting Scientist in the Earth Resources Laboratory and regular visitor and lecturer in EAPS. Dogru, who was selected for "the development of high-performance computing in hydrocarbon reservoir simulation", is chief technologist and fellow, computational modeling technology, EXPEC ARC (Exploration and Petroleum Engineering Center – Advanced Research Center), Saudi Aramco/Saudi Arabian Oil Co., Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. 

Story image: Dara Entekhabi - courtesy: IKIAM. Story by Helen Hill and Lauren Hinkel

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