Professor elected to Chinese Academy of Engineering

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Bruce Logan, Evan Pugh University Professor in Engineering and Kappe Professor of Environmental Engineering at Penn State, has been admitted to the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), one of 29 foreign members admitted in 2019.

Similar to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in the U.S., election to the CAE is reserved for those “with the highest honor in the community of engineering and technological sciences” in China, according to its website. The academy serves as an independent advisory board to the central and local Chinese governments regarding the direction of engineering research and development.

“I’m very honored,” Logan said. “It is really wonderful to receive such recognition, and I hope that it leads to additional opportunities to collaborate with researchers and decision-makers in China in areas of global importance to the environment.”

Logan is highly regarded for his research focusing on developing sustainable water infrastructures through renewable energy technologies, like the microbial fuel cell. With his admittance to the CAE, Logan will be able to collaborate with other engineers to help guide Chinese environmental research directions, specifically focusing on China’s waste treatment plants.

“Water and air and environment issues are global issues,” Logan said. “Being able to advise on the best new technologies for the future, and to help get those low-energy technologies developed and into operation, is really important.”

Logan said that it is rare for faculty and practicing engineers from the U.S. to be admitted to the CAE, and he believes he is the first from Penn State. Logan has collaborated many times with Chinese researchers over the years and has been appointed a visiting professor at the Harbin Institute of Technology and a distinguished visiting professor at Tsinghua University in China.

A faculty member at Penn State since 1997, Logan is currently the director of both the Engineering Energy and Environmental Institute and the Hydrogen Energy Center and serves as associate director of the Institutes of Energy and the Environment. He is the leader of Energy 2100, a multiyear strategic initiative in the area of renewable energy research funded by the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost.

Logan is a member of the NAE and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, International Water Association, the Water Environment Foundation, and the Association of Environmental Science and Engineering Professors. He has authored many publications and has received many awards and honors for his work. Most recently, he was named a Web of Science Group Highly Cited Researcher for 2019.