Zhang Elected 2026 ASME Honorary Member
Boston University Distinguished Professor of Engineering Xin Zhang (ME, ECE, BME, MSE) has been elected a 2026 Honorary Member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), one of the Society’s highest honors.
First awarded in 1880, the year ASME was founded, Honorary Membership recognizes a lifetime of distinguished contributions to engineering and society. No more than five individuals are elected to Honorary Membership each year by the ASME Board of Governors. Past Honorary Members include Thomas Edison, Orville Wright, Vannevar Bush, and other distinguished innovators, inventors, and engineering leaders who helped shape modern engineering and technology.
The ASME Board of Governors unanimously elected Zhang to Honorary Membership, citing her:
“For pioneering metamaterials and microsystems that establish structural design as a governing mechanism for functional performance; and for translating these principles into transformative technologies in photonics, acoustics, and medical imaging, fundamentally redefining the scope and impact of mechanical engineering.”
Over the past two decades, Zhang’s research has advanced metamaterials and microsystems across photonics, acoustics, and medical imaging, helping establish structural design as a powerful mechanism for achieving functionality.
“To be recognized by ASME through one of its highest distinctions is both humbling and deeply meaningful,” said Zhang. “Looking at the list of past Honorary Members, I am reminded that many of the most important advances in engineering began with people willing to question accepted assumptions and pursue ideas that others thought impossible. Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to work with exceptional students whose creativity, curiosity, and perseverance have continually challenged me to think bigger and do better. This recognition is as much a tribute to them as it is to me.”
Zhang’s contributions to engineering, science, and innovation have been recognized through numerous honors and awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, the ASME Per Bruel Gold Medal, the Sigma Xi Walston Chubb Award for Innovation, the ASME Thomas A. Edison Patent Award, and the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Technical Achievement Award. Her work has also been recognized by TIME’s Best Inventions and Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas and Innovation by Design Awards.
ASME will formally recognize its 2026 Honorary Members at the International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE 2026) in Vancouver, British Columbia.