Ishwar D. Aggarwal elected as National Academy of Inventors Fellow

Ishwar D. Aggarwal, Ph.D., research professor in the Klein College of Science, was elected to the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) 2024 Class of Fellows. He will be inducted during the 14th annual NAI meeting in June 2025 among an elite group of researchers across a variety of government and non-profit research institutions.

Aggarwal has been issued 104 U.S. patents with more applications in process. He previously lead the Optical Materials and Devices branch at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), where he pioneered the development, applications and commercialization of infrared transmitting optical materials, chem-bio sensors and high strength transparent materials, and moved patents from emerging technologies to the industrial sector in medical, defense, and aerospace applications.

Aggarwal joined UNC Charlotte in 2011 and his research lab in the Department of Physics and Optical Science works in fiber optics, optical wave guides, fiber devices, and transparent and laser gain ceramics.

His contributions to the optical sciences field have been recognized by many awards and distinctions, including a fellow of The Optical Society of America (OSA), now known as Optica, the Navy’s Alan Berman Publication Award, the Thomas A. Edison Patent Award, and the Optical Society of America’s David Richardson Medal. He was recently inducted into UNC Charlotte’s inaugural Million Dollar Research Circle for his significant research funding achievements.

The NAI Fellowship is the highest professional distinction awarded solely to inventors, and Aggarwal is the first UNC Charlotte professor to receive this esteemed recognition. He joins NAI fellow Robert Keynton, Ph.D., dean of the William States Lee College of Engineering, who was elected in 2017, prior to his time at UNC Charlotte.

Read more about Aggarwal’s fellowship from the UNC Charlotte Division of Research.