Two University of Wisconsin engineers have received national honors from the National Academy of Engineering for their work in the areas of environmental engineering and nuclear reactor design.
Engineers Max Carbon and Craig Benson comprise two of 66 new members named to the NAE, which brings the total national membership of the organization to 2,254, according to a NAE statement.
Carbon, the founding chair of the UW Department of Nuclear Engineering – now called the Department of Engineering Physics – began his work in the field at General Electric after graduating from Purdue University in 1949.
The NAE attributed its nomination of Carbon to his work in establishing engineering educational programs for nuclear reactor design and safety.
Carbon said before he came to UW, he began his career with making plutonium reactors for national defense during the Cold War. He said he later continued his work in the area of ballistics and designing nose cones and reactors.
When he came to UW in 1958, Carbon – a retired World War II veteran – said his main job was jumpstarting the department from scratch.
“This involved essentially starting from ground zero to build a program and department with aims and expectations to be an outstanding department,” Carbon said. “It’s been a fascinating experience and if I may say so very successful – today the department is top-notch.”
Carbon said at age 90 he did not at all expect the NAE nomination, but that he is honored by the recognition.
Benson, a Wisconsin Distinguished Professor of geological engineering and civil and environmental engineering, said he too was surprised by the nomination.
“I nearly fell off my chair,” he said. “I was awestruck – these kinds of things are rare.”
Benson was chosen as a member this year because of his “improvements in design, construction, and monitoring of earthen liners and covers for municipal hazardous and radioactive waste landfills,” according to the NAE statement.
He said his work is focused on sustainability and environmental engineering. According to a UW statement, he looks at areas of recycling byproducts and assesses containment systems for different types of waste.
Benson is also active in the American Society of Civil Engineers as a fellow of the group, and he works as the ASCE Geo-Institute’s board of governors’ vice president, according to the UW statement.
The recognition from the NAE, he said, will allow for UW to continue to contribute to the future of the engineering industry in a meaningful way.
“What it really opens up are opportunities for us to define the future of engineering and the direction of engineering education,” he said. “As NAE members we’ll really be able to have a substantial impact and bring it back home to UW.”
The academy recognizes those who have contributed to the field of engineering, including in areas of education, literature and pioneering new fields in the science, according to the NAE statement.
