Khan and Menon Selected for Prestigious EU-US Frontiers of Engineering Symposium

The National Academy of Engineering–affiliated symposium brings together top early-career researchers from both sides of the Atlantic to address critical challenges in science and technology.

Dan Watson

Wed, 10/08/2025 - 12:00

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Asif Khan and Akanksha Menon have been selected to participate in the 2025 EU-US Frontiers of Engineering (FOE) Symposium, taking place October 20-23 in Bordeaux, France.

Hosted by the National Academy of Engineering in partnership with the European Council of Academies of Applied Sciences, Technologies and Engineering (Euro-CASE), and supported by The Grainger Foundation, the symposium is an invitation-only gathering of approximately 60 early- to mid-career engineers from the United States and Europe. The program is designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and explore emerging engineering challenges.

Participation in the EU-U.S. FOE Symposium is considered one of the most prestigious honors for mid-career engineers and is often regarded as a catalyst for future leadership roles in the field, with many past participants going on to achieve high professional distinction.

Each year, the symposium features four technical themes. This year’s topics include Crypto Systems and the New Age of Distributed Consensus, Future Wireless Communications and Connecting the Unconnected, Internet of Medical/Bio Things, and Circular Economy of Polymers.

The EU-US FOE Symposium is part of the broader Grainger Foundation Frontiers of Engineering program, which hosts five annual meetings, including bilateral symposia with Germany, Japan, China, and the European Union.

Asif Khan

Asif Khan is an associate professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, with a courtesy appointment in the School of Materials Science and Engineering. He has been on the ECE faculty since 2017.

Khan’s group focuses on advanced semiconductor technologies, with a particular emphasis on emerging memories for next-generation AI systems. He has made foundational contributions to ferroelectric devices and their reliability, which is helping shape the roadmap for advanced memories and AI. As a semiconductor technologist, he works in close partnership with leading semiconductor companies across the entire value chain as well as academic institutions worldwide, fostering global collaborations that bridge fundamental research with technological innovation.

Khan’s contributions have earned him several prestigious awards, including the DARPA Young Faculty Award, the NSF CAREER Award, the Intel Rising Star Award, and the University Gold Medal from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.

Asif Islam Khan

Associate Professor

Akanksha Menon

Akanksha Menon is an assistant professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. She directs the Water-Energy Research Lab (WERL) that develops technologies for clean water and clean energy by leveraging thermal science and functional materials. Research in her group ranges from thermodynamics and coupled transport processes, to system design and technoeconomic analyses for sustainable buildings (including data centers) and industrial processes.

Menon’s work has been recognized with the NSF CAREER Award, the ASME Pi Tau Sigma Gold Medal, the ASTFE Early Career Researcher Award, the ACS Doctoral New Investigator grant, and three Department of Energy grants related to thermal energy storage. She was also featured in the DOE’s Women @ Energy initiative, the Mechanical Engineering Watch List, and named to the Georgia Tech Alumni Association’s 2025 class of 40 Under 40.