The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) has elected Dr. Abhijit Bhattacharyya, an associate dean in the George W. Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, an ASME Fellow.

Bhattacharyya is one of only 3,335 fellows from more than 127,600 international members of ASME, an organization that promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe.

Dr. Bhattacharyya’s research has spanned the areas of smart materials, including shape memory alloys and piezoelectric materials, microfluidics, metallic thin films and hydrogen storage.

He has been instrumental in bringing a sharp focus on thermal issues in shape memory alloys and served as guest editor of leading academic journals including “Smart Materials and Structures” and “Acta Mechanica.” Bhattacharyya also sits on the Editorial Advisory Board of “Acta Mechanica.”

The ASME Committee of Past Presidents confers the fellow designation on worthy candidates who are nominated by other members and fellows to recognize outstanding engineering achievements.

An ASME member must have 10 or more years of active practice and at least 10 years of active corporate membership in ASME in order to be considered.

“I have been in academia for about 18 years now, 13 of which have been at UALR,” said Bhattacharyya. “I am grateful to UALR and Arkansas for providing an environment instrumental in helping me build a record of accomplishments worthy of such recognition.”

ASME recognizes newly elected fellows each year in its November issue of “Mechanical Engineering Magazine.”

ASME Executive Director Thomas G. Loughlin said in a letter that by elevating excellent members such as Bhattacharyya to the status of fellow, the organization ensures its commitment to be “the essential resource for mechanical engineers and other technical professionals throughout the world for solutions that benefit humankind.”