The Stanford School of Engineering announced Monday the eight individuals it has chosen to induct into its Stanford Engineering Heroes program. These new members will join the likes of Vint Cerf, Bill Hewlett, Dave Packard and Fred Terman.

 

The program, which was first established last year, aims to “recognize the achievements of Stanford engineers who have profoundly advanced the course of human, social and economic progress through engineering,” according to the School of Engineering website.

 

This year’s inductees were Craig Barrett, retired CEO of Intel Corp.; Andreas Bechtolsheim, co-founder of Sun Microsystems; Morris Chang, founding chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.; George Dantzig, pioneer of linear programming; Theodore Maiman, owner of the U.S. patent for world’s first laser; Bradford Parkinson, chief architect of the Global Positioning System; Calvin Quate, co-inventor of the scanning acoustic microscope; and Stephen Timoshenko, a leader in applied mechanics in the United States.

 

“These heroes have profoundly changed how the world lives,” said James Plummer, dean of the School of Engineering, in a University press release. “The Stanford School of Engineering is proud to recognize their accomplishments and, especially, to note our connection to them and their work.”

 

Plummer said he hopes these individuals will inspire a new wave of engineers and pay homage to the legacy set forth by Stanford engineering.

 

— Ileana Najarro