Menachem Elimelech Elected to the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering
Menachem Elimelech, the Sterling Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, has been elected as a member of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE).
The organization brings together Australia’s leading experts in applied science, technology, and engineering to provide impartial, practical and evidence-based advice on how to achieve sustainable solutions and advance prosperity. Each year, in addition to candidates from Australia, ATSE elects one member from outside Australia.
Elimelech, cited by ATSE “for his work addressing the global water crisis,” was officially welcomed into the organization as the Foreign Fellow 2021 at an online event Nov. 26.
“Professor Elimelech’s groundbreaking research in the use of membranes for desalination and water reuse is widely recognized as having shaped the modern state of the field of water treatment, representing one of Yale Engineering's singular contributions toward our goal of improving our environment,” said Jeffrey Brock, dean of the School of Engineering & Applied Science and FAS dean of science. “His election to ATSE is a well-deserved honor and a reflection of his role in building our world-class Environmental Engineering program here at Yale's SEAS.”
Elimelech’s lab focuses on developing new membrane-based processes to make desalination and wastewater reuse more efficient. It also explores the use of advanced materials for next-generation water decontamination technologies and environmental applications of nanomaterials.
Earlier this year, he was appointed the Sterling Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering. The Sterling Professorship is awarded to a tenured faculty member considered one of the best in his or her field, and is one of the university’s highest faculty honors. Elimelech is the first Yale engineer to be named for this professorship since its establishment in 1920.
Among his numerous awards and honors are the Eni Award for Protection of the Environment in 2015, election to the National Academy of Engineering in 2006, election to the Chinese Academy of Engineering in 2017, and the Clarke Prize for excellence in water research in 2005.
In 1999, Elimelech founded the Environmental Engineering Program at Yale University. The program has been listed in the top 10 of the U.S. News & World Report university rankings for the past several years.
Elimelech has also contributed in a number of ways to advancing the science and engineering of water treatment and desalination in Australia by participating in major research centers, hosting Australian scholars, mentoring young faculty, and co-authoring research articles. He is a key member of the scientific advisory committee of the Australian Research Council Industrial Transformation Research Hub for Energy-efficient Separation.
Elimelech has authored more than 470 refereed journal publications, including invited articles in Science and Nature, and is the lead author of the book “Particle Deposition and Aggregation” (1995). He has been recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher each year in the past decade.
He has advised 43 Ph.D. students and 40 postdoctoral researchers, many of whom now hold leading positions in academia and industry. In recognition of his excellence in and dedication to teaching and mentoring, he received the W.M. Keck Foundation Engineering Teaching Excellence Award in 1994, the Yale University Graduate Mentoring Award in 2004, and the Yale University Postdoctoral Mentoring Prize in 2012.