The National Academy of Inventors, Washington, D.C., announces that Prof. Zhigang Zak Fang has been elected to the rank of NAI Fellow. Dr. Fang is a Professor of Metallurgical Engineering at the University of Utah, and a Fellow of ASM International. He is also the editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Refractory Metals and Hard Materials.
The NAI Fellows Selection Committee chose Prof. Fang because he “has demonstrated a highly prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of society.”
Prof. Zak Fang joined the faculty of metallurgical engineering at the University of Utah in 2002. Since that time, he has led multiple large federally funded research programs and developed novel materials and processes in the areas of titanium primary metal production, titanium powder metallurgy, functionally graded hard metals, nano powder synthesis, nano-sintering, and metal hydrides for hydrogen, as well as thermal energy storage.
Prof. Fang graduated from the University of Science and Technology Beijing with BS and MS degrees in 1984, and received his Ph. D. degree in materials science and engineering in 1991 from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Prior to joining the University of Utah, he worked and held various R&D management positions in large U.S. corporations for ten years. Prof. Fang has authored/co-authored over 160 peer-reviewed publications, and he holds over 50 U.S. patents.
