NEW DELHI: Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, head of biopharmaceutical company Biocon and well-known biotechnologist, has been elected as a member of the prestigious US National Academy of Engineering (NAE), Washington DC for her contribution to the field in India. She is the first woman from India to get this prestigious global honour. She has been honoured for development of affordable biopharmaceuticals and the biotechnology industry in India.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw thanked the institution for the distinction.

"This is a huge honour. I am humbled to be elected to an institution that provides the leadership and expertise for numerous projects focused on the relationships between engineering, technology, and the quality of life. Science and Technology are fundamental to solving some of the biggest challenges facing the world today and the NAE is playing a pivotal role in encouraging the kind of research and innovation that can make a global impact by pushing the boundaries of science and engineering," she said.

The best engineers of the world elect who can become a fellow of the NAE and this year only 18 foreign fellows have been elected by the more than 2000 peer group who make the selection. Ms Shaw joins the likes of Bill Gates of Microsoft in this unique hall of fame.

Election to the NAE is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to any engineer in the world. Academy membership honours those who have made outstanding contributions to engineering research, practice, or education, and to the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education.

The NAE, a private, independent, non-profit institution, is part of The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The NAE has more than 2,000 peer-elected members and foreign members, senior professionals in business, academia, and government who are among the world's most accomplished engineers.