Two IC Professors enter the American National Academy of Engineering
Giovanni De Micheli and Anastasia Ailamaki © 2026 EPFL CC-BY-SA 4.0
Anastasia Ailamaki and Giovanni De Micheli have been named a member and international member respectively of the US NAE Class of 2026.
The United States National Academy of Engineering (NAE) has announced the election of 130 members and 28 international members to its Class of 2026. Election to the NAE is among the highest of professional distinctions accorded to an engineer.
Academy membership honors individuals who have made outstanding contributions to engineering research, practice, or education and members are also recognized for pioneering new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing and implementing innovative approaches to engineering education. Members are elected by their peers.
Professor Anastasia Ailamaki, head of IC’s Data-Intensive Applications and Systems Laboratory (DIAS) was elected a Member for contributions to database systems and their performance evaluation.
Ailamaki’s research interests include data-intensive systems and applications, particularly in strengthening the interaction between the database software and emerging hardware and I/O devices, and in automating data management to support computationally demanding, data-intensive scientific applications.
She is currently working on developing real time analytics infrastructures – or real time intelligent systems – that incorporate change as a core premise.
“I am humbled by this utmost distinction. By bridging hardware, software, and data, computer engineering transforms scientific ideas into intelligent technologies that improve everyday life. This recognition empowers me to pursue my ambition: break traditional boundaries between data, algorithms, and machines, enabling adaptive systems with lasting societal impact,” Ailamaki explained.
Professor Emeritus Giovanni De Micheli, currently the ScientificDirector of EPFL’s Ecocloud Center was elected an International Member for contributions to network on chips and advances in electronic design automation.
De Micheli pioneered methods that map algorithmic descriptions of computation and communication into digital circuits and networks. His work has enabled designers to conceive electronic integrated circuits (ICs) and systems on chips (SoCs) by means of high-level language models, and then to compile such models into chip layouts.
His most tangible breakthrough is the invention of Network on Chips (NoCs), that are structured realizations of on-chip interconnect among integrated hardware resources. NoCs are today ubiquitous in smart phones, intelligent vehicles and other consumer products.
“As a European, I am very proud to join such a renowned group at a time when engineering stands as a strong bridge over the troubled waters of the Atlantic Ocean,” said De Micheli. “Collaboration with American scientists will be key to progress above and beyond political currents.”
NAE members are among the world’s most accomplished engineers from business, academia, and government. Individuals elected to the Class of 2026 will be formally inducted during the NAE Annual Meeting in the autumn.