PITTSBURGH- Carnegie Mellon University professors Cristina H. Amon, Egon Balas, Manuel Blum, Pradeep K. Khosla and Krzysztof A. Matyjaszewski have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE).

Membership in the NAE honors people who have made important contributions to engineering theory and practice and who have demonstrated unusual accomplishments in pioneering new and developing fields of technology. It is one of the highest professional distinctions an engineer can achieve. This year, Carnegie Mellon faculty join more than 2,000 NAE members and 186 foreign associates in an award process that began in 1964.

The NAE shares responsibility with the National Academy of Sciences to advise the federal government on questions of policy in science and technology. Carnegie Mellon awardees are scheduled to attend a gala celebration Oct. 15 at The National Academies building at 2101 Constitution Ave. in Washington, D.C.

"The National Academy's recognition of the outstanding engineering achievements of these five senior faculty members is well deserved, in each case," said Carnegie Mellon President Jared L. Cohon. "Their contributions to advancing knowledge are a source of pride to the entire university and we congratulate them on this honor."

All five professors are leaders in their respective research fields, which span work in a variety of sectors, from planning industrial facilities and encrypting information on the Internet to designing sensor-based control in robotic systems.

Amon, the Raymond J. Lane Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering and head of the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems, was elected to the academy for her contributions to engineering education and advances in heat transfer and thermal design.

Balas, University Professor of Industrial Administration and Applied Mathematics and the Thomas Lord Professor of Operations Research at the Tepper School of Business, was elected to the academy for his contributions to integer programming and its applications to the scheduling and planning of industrial facilities.

Blum, the Bruce Nelson Professor of Computer Science, was elected to the academy for contributions to abstract complexity theory, cryptographic protocols and the theory and applications of program checkers.

Khosla, the Philip and Marsha Dowd Professor of Engineering and Robotics and dean of the College of Engineering, was elected to the academy for his contributions to the design and sensor-based control in robotic systems for the assembly of precision electronics, and for innovative leadership in engineering education.

Matyjaszewski, the J.C. Warner Professor of Natural Sciences and director of the Center for Macromolecular Engineering, was elected to the academy for his work in expanding the capabilities of controlled/living polymerizations and developing ATRP, a robust catalytic process that allows precise, nanoscale control over the formation of polymers.

Other Carnegie Mellon faculty who are members of the academy include David H. Archer, Alfred Blumstein, Randal E. Bryant, Edmund M. Clarke, Robert F. Davis, Richard J. Fruehan, Ignacio Grossman, Angel Jordan, Takeo Kanade, Mark H. Kryder, Harold W. Paxton, Raj Reddy, Daniel P. Siewiorek, Herbert L. Toor and Arthur W. Westerberg.