National Academy of Inventors Selects Gartia as Fellow

Associate Professor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Manas Ranjan Gartia has been elected a fellow to the National Academy of Inventors, or NAI. He is one of 170 newly elected fellows.

“Our researchers’ work advances scientific knowledge and leads to inventions with real-world applications. Supporting these pioneers can open the door to life-changing discoveries and innovations that help shape the future,” said Andrew Maas, associate vice president for research, Office of Innovation & Ecosystem Development.

Gartia is a prolific inventor whose research focus includes creating imaging tools to study scarring in heart and lung tissues, how different diseases cause lipid and metabolomic changes in cells and tissues, and synthesizing new materials for biomedical, energy and X-ray/Gamma-ray detection. He developed a smartphone-based device for detecting SARS-CoV2 and a portable, low-cost device to detect perfluoroalkyls and polyfluoroalkyls (PFAS), some of which have been linked to harmful health effects in people and animals.

Gartia holds seven U.S. patents and three foreign patents that have been licensed to two companies. He is also the founder of a startup.

“I am deeply honored to be inducted as a Fellow of NAI. This recognition is a reflection of the incredible support I've received from my mentors, colleagues, and loved ones, and it inspires me to continue contributing to the innovation ecosystem,” Gartia said. “I am also thankful for the unwavering support from LSU.

LSU’s Office of Innovation & Technology Commercialization (ITC), part of the Office of Innovation & Ecosystem Development, works with faculty and students to protect and commercialize their intellectual property. ITC’s efforts include helping LSU innovators patent their inventions, a complicated process that can take years to complete.

Election as an NAI Fellow is the highest professional distinction accorded solely to academic inventors. To date, fellows hold over 68,000 U.S. patents, which have generated over 20,000 licensed technologies and companies, and created 1.2 million jobs. Fellows’ innovations have generated more than $3.2 trillion in revenue.

This year’s NAI Fellows will be inducted at the 2024 Fellows Induction Ceremony at the NAI 14th Annual Meeting on June 26 in Atlanta.

Gartia joins 13 LSU faculty who have been elected NAI fellows. They include Kevin Kelly and Robin McCarley (2023), Tammy Dugas and Michael Khonsari (2022), Madan Bhasin, Konstantin Kousoulas, and Ralph Portier (2021), Robert Hammer (2019), Roger Laine (2018), Mandi Lopez and Isiah Warner (2016), Kalliat T. Valsaraj (2015) and Wen Jin Meng (2014).

Five LSU faculty members hold the rank of NAI senior member. They are Mark Batzer (2020), Shafiqul Chowdhury (2018), Kermit Murray (2024), Dandina Rao (2018), and George Voyiadjis (2021).

About LSU’s Office of Innovation & Technology Commercialization

LSU’s Office of Innovation & Technology Commercialization (ITC) protects and commercializes LSU’s intellectual property. The office focuses on transferring early-stage inventions and works into the marketplace for the greater benefit of society. ITC also handles federal invention reporting, which allows LSU to receive hundreds of millions of dollars each year in federally funded research, and processes confidentiality agreements, material transfer agreements and other agreements related to intellectual property.

About LSU’s Office of Innovation & Ecosystem Development

LSU Innovation unites the university’s innovation and commercialization resources under one office, maximizing LSU's impact on the intellectual, economic, and social development of Louisiana and beyond. LSU Innovation is focused on establishing, developing, and growing technology-based startup companies. LSU Innovation oversees LSU Innovation Park, a 200-acre business incubator that fosters early-stage tech companies, and the Office of Innovation & Technology Commercialization, which streamlines the process of evaluating, protecting, and licensing intellectual property created by LSU researchers. LSU Innovation serves as the host organization for the Louisiana Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network which oversees all SBDC services across the state as well as the LSU SBDC, which provides free consulting services to small businesses across the state. LSU Innovation helps Louisiana technology companies apply for seed funding through the federal Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer grant programs. LSU Innovation educates faculty, students, and the community on entrepreneurial principles through the National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program which trains innovators to consider the market opportunities for pressing scientific questions, leading to increased funding state and federal grant programs as well as potential industry partners and licensees.