Distinguished Adjunct Professor Asad M. Madni awarded the 2024 John Fritz Medal

Distinguished Professor Asad M. Madni has been awarded the John Fritz Medal, widely considered the highest award in the engineering profession. His citation reads “for seminal and pioneering contributions to the development and commercialization of innovative sensing and systems technologies, distinguished research leadership, and service to the nation“.

According to Wikipedia, The John Fritz Medal is often described as the “Nobel Prize for engineering.” John Fritz was world renowned as an engineer and inventor, who lived between 1822 and 1913. In esteem, five engineering societies, including the American Society of Civil Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical & Petroleum Engineers, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers created in 1902, on his 80th birthday, the John Fritz Medal to be awarded annually in his honor.

Since its initiation, it has been awarded by the American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) for “outstanding scientific or industrial achievements“. There were six years when it was not awarded. When AAES was dissolved in 2020, the administration of the Fritz medal was transferred to the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME), and is currently coordinated by AIME member society, the Society of Mining, Metallurgy, & Exploration (SME).

Among the most notable winners are Thomas Edison, Lord Kelvin, Alexander Graham Bell, George Westinghouse, Orville Wright, Charles F. “Boss” Kettering, Claude Shannon, Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore. The last recipient was Elon Musk who was awarded the medal in 2021.

The medal will be awarded to Professor Madni at the MINEXCHANGE 2024 SME Annual Conference & Expo in Phoenix, Arizona during the Conference Dinner on Wednesday, February 28.