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Professor Jianjun “Jan” Shi, who holds the Carolyn J. Stewart Chair in Georgia Tech’s Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE), has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering’s (NAE) Class of 2018. Election to the NAE is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. 

Two other Tech faculty were included in the 2018 NAE class: Timothy Lieuwen, executive director of Georgia Tech’s Strategic Energy Institute and professor and David S. Lewis Jr. Chair in the Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering; and Gary Mary, current chancellor at University of California Davis and adjunct faculty member at Tech’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

In announcing Shi’s election to the prestigious organization, the NAE commended him “for development of data fusion-based quality methods and their implementation in multistage manufacturing systems.” Shi is an early pioneer in the development and application of data enabled manufacturing. His methodologies integrate system informatics, advanced statistics, and control theory for the design and operational improvements of manufacturing and service systems by fusing engineering systems models with data science methods.

“This is amazing news and a well-deserved honor for Jan,” said Nagi Gebraeel, Georgia Power Early Career Professor and associate professor in ISyE. “His pioneering work in integrating quality data to control manufacturing systems has revolutionized automated multi-stage processes that are omnipresent in key industries like automotive manufacturing, steel casting processes, aircraft assembly, and many others. We are very proud of Jan's achievements, and it's an honor to be his colleague.”

“We all know Jan is a pioneer and leader in his field and an outstanding member of the Stewart School and Georgia Tech community,” said H. Milton and Carolyn J. Stewart School Chair Edwin Romeijn. “I am very proud to have him as a colleague and friend, and I congratulate him on receiving this well-deserved and significant honor.”

“We are delighted that the National Academy of Engineering has recognized our Georgia Tech faculty members for their outstanding contributions to engineering and as leaders in their fields,” said Steve McLaughlin, dean of the College of Engineering and Southern Company Chair. “Jan’s induction is a testament to the quality of our faculty members and their contributions to the engineering profession.”

Shi received his B.S. and M.S. in electrical engineering from the Beijing Institute of Technology in 1984 and 1987, and his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan in 1992. He joined ISyE in 2005.

Upon hearing the news of his NAE election, Shi said, “It is a great honor indeed to be elected to the NAE.  I am very happy to be a member of the Stewart School, with its outstanding faculty and talented students, for the past 10 years. I am thankful to H. Milton and Carolyn J. Stewart for their generous support, which has enabled me to make many innovations happen.”

Shi and the other 82 newly elected members will be formally inducted during a ceremony at the NAE’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C., on September 30, 2018.

Shi joins other ISyE faculty who are already members of the NAE, including John Hunter Chair and Professor Arkadi Nemirovski; A. Russell Chandler III Chair and Institute Professor George Nemhauser; Coca-Cola Chair in Engineering Statistics and Professor Jeff Wu; Regent’s Professor Emeritus H. Donald Ratliff; Professor Emeritus William Rouse; and Professor Emeritus Ellis Johnson.