Economic Development News

Auburn University has yet another National Academy of Inventors (NAI) Fellow.

Mehmet Arik, associate professor of mechanical engineering, was recently tapped for the professional honor (widely recognized as the most prestigious awarded to academic inventors) on the strength of more than 120 issued patents with a broad range of applications in medical systems, energy systems, aviation systems and photonics technologies.

Already an American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Fellow, Arik says his latest distinction means even more.

"Being an NAI Fellow is even more of a joy for me because it shows that collaborative work always pays off," Arik said. "I developed my patents with many colleagues from academia and industry and I truly enjoy collaborating with researchers and engineers across many fields."

Arik came to Auburn in 2022 after 11 years as a faculty researcher at Özyeğin University in Istanbul, Turkey. He began his professional career at General Electric (GE) Global Research Center in 2000 as a senior engineer working on research and technology development programs related to energy, aviation, medical, industrial systems and lighting industries. The electronics thermal management group he organized conducted award-winning research for both GE and government organizations such as the Department of Energy, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. While at GE, Arik created a suite of respected intellectual property built on innovations benefitting multiple industries while building an exceptionally robust portfolio of scholarly contributions to more than 75.

It was his patent portfolio, however, that earned him nominations from multiple NAI Fellows.

"Many of my patents went into practice in industry in many different product segments, which I'm very proud of," Arik said. "Those inventions already have social and economic impact as well as environmental benefits. While publishing extensively can be very satisfying, patents have a different value in science and technology."

A patent in which Arik takes particular pride is a novel cooling approach that has been instrumental in many modern LED lighting applications. But the most meaningful may be his system for measuring junction temperature of photonics devices.

"That was very special for me because I developed it with my undergraduate and graduate students while I was in Turkey," Arik said. "It was so hard to get a USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) patent from Turkey but young minds helped make it happen."

The same can be said for his latest patent disclosure, which was developed last year with one of his current graduate students.

"Being named an NAI Fellow is  yet another testament to the impact of Dr. Arik's work," said Mario Eden, dean of engineering. "But the collaborative spirit that drives his research is, I think, as impressive as the innovations that have earned him this distinction."

Arik believes the prestige stemming from the NAI's recognition will enable even more opportunities for invention and development, both individually and collaboratively.

"I want to be an ambassador for innovation and entrepreneurship within the communities I belong to," he said. "Auburn is, of course, top of that list. I want to help young students, fellow faculty and researchers to develop intellectual property that truly makes an impact."

Arik is Auburn’s eighth NAI fellow. Previous honorees include J. David Irwin, Joseph W. Kloepper, John Weete, S.D. “Dave” Worley, Bruce Tatarchuk, Vitaly Vodyanoy and Fa Foster Dai. Dai, Irwin and Tatarchuck are all engineering faculty.

Media Contact: Jeremy Henderson, jdh0123@auburn.edu, 334-844-3591

Mehmet Arik

Steve Pelham, associate vice president for economic development in the Auburn University Office of the Senior Vice President for Research and Economic Development, was recently appointed to the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Corridor (TVC).

The TVC was organized in 1995 to create an “Oak Ridge Corridor,” linking the Department of Energy facilities in Oak Ridge, the Tennessee Valley Authority and the University of Tennessee-Knoxville to showcase the wealth of brainpower in the mid-East Tennessee region. Separately, that same year, an annual Science & Technology Summit was convened with representatives from government, academia and business to collaborate on ways to bring greater attention to the economic impact of the U.S. Department of Energy missions in Oak Ridge. These two complementary ideas of a “Corridor and Summit” were eventually merged and resulted in the creation of a new organization, the Tennessee Valley Corridor. The TVC expanded in 2017 to incorporate Alabama’s 3rd congressional district, which includes Auburn University and the City of Auburn. 

The mission of today’s TVC is to promote the valley’s national leadership in science and technology through regional cooperation and to sustain the corridor’s existing federal missions, compete for new federal investments and leverage those investments to increase private sector job opportunities. Members come from within a footprint of 12 congressional districts in Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina and include regional research universities and laboratories along with government and military facilities.

Through the leadership of its 35-member board of directors, the TVC convenes an annual national summit, promotes initiatives to advance the TVC’s mission and encourages on-going collaboration in energy, science, environment, space, national security and STEM education.

“The TVC Board provides an opportunity for several key stake holders to be engaged,” said Pelham of his appointment, which includes a three-year term. “Some of these areas are the congressional districts included in the corridor.  I was nominated by Alabama Congressman Mike Rogers to represent his district on the board, which includes Auburn University.”

According to Pelham, the long-standing relationship between Auburn and the TVC is a win-win for both. “Auburn University has a close relationship with the TVC because of our partnerships with NASA Marshall, Redstone Arsenal, Cummings Research Park, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the TVA, the US Army and other organizations along with several other institutions of higher education,” he noted. “In addition, the Auburn leadership has made a strong commitment to reinforce the university’s presence in the Tennessee Valley with the creation of the Auburn University Research and Innovation Center in Huntsville.”

Steve Pelham