The founder and principal investigator for the Texas Tech Hurricane Research Team
(TTUHRT) becomes the 14th faculty member to be named a Fellow.
CREATORS
John Schroeder, a professor in the Department of Geosciences within the College of Arts & Sciences at Texas Tech University, has been named to the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) Class of 2025 Fellows, the NAI announced today (Dec. 11).
The 2025 class will be honored at the NAI’s 15th Annual Conference in June in Los
Angeles.
Schroeder, who founded the Texas Tech University Hurricane Research Team (TTUHRT) in 1998 and led the research and commercialization effort related to using
dual-Doppler radar approaches to measure wind farm flow fields, becomes the 14th faculty
member from Texas Tech to earn the prestigious honor. Texas Tech has had at least
one faculty member named an NAI Fellow in each of the past 10 years.
John Schroeder
“It’s been quite a journey throughout my career,” Schroeder said. “I’ve been open
to exploring new ideas as my career has evolved, and I’ve been fortunate to partner
with a talented research team in the National Wind Institute. Without their participation
in different projects and the institute’s support, I would never have been able to
achieve the same level of success. I’m thankful for the opportunity provided by Texas
Tech.”
As the senior director of the National Wind Institute (NWI) at Texas Tech and leader of several strategic initiatives, Schroeder has played
a key role in the university becoming one of the top institutions in the U.S. in terms
of studying the effects of wind storms, wind engineering and wind energy. He is considered
one of the world’s most well-regarded experts on hurricane winds at landfall.
Since his arrival at Texas Tech, he designed the Wind Engineering Mobile Instrumented
Tower Experiment (WEMITE) #1, a ruggedized instrument tower that researchers first
deployed in 1998 to measure hurricane winds. WEMITE #2 followed the next year. These
towers collected wind speed and direction data at multiple levels, as well as temperature,
barometric pressure and relative humidity.
Since then, Schroeder has been instrumental in the development of portable mesonet
towers (PMTs) that were used until the NWI developed the current StickNet method of data collection in 2006. StickNet platforms enable a more comprehensive
collection of wind datasets from the landfall region and are rapidly deployable. They
were first used in 2008.
Schroeder has also been heavily involved in the development of new radar systems to
measure the details of low-level wind fields. These detailed wind fields are important
not just to meteorologists, but also to engineers. Schroeder’s team has pioneered
the use of radar to solve engineering-relevant problems, resulting in numerous patents
and a commercialization effort that has impacted the wind energy industry worldwide.
“John is one of the rare innovators who can say his inventions have impacted millions
of lives,” said Joseph Heppert, vice president for Research & Innovation. “His research is critical to how we understand and prepare for atmospheric hazards,
and I am proud to see his exceptional leadership and work be recognized with this
prestigious honor.”
Composed of 169 researchers representing 127 research universities and governmental
and non-profit research institutions from around the world, the 2025 class of NAI
Fellows holds more than 5,300 U.S. patents on innovations making significant tangible
societal and economic impacts.
“NAI Fellows are a driving force within the innovation ecosystem, and their contributions
across scientific disciplines are shaping the future of our world,” said Paul R. Sanberg,
president of the NAI. “We are thrilled to welcome this year’s class of Fellows to
the Academy. They are truly an impressive cohort, and we look forward to honoring
them at our 15th Annual Conference in Los Angeles next year.”
About the NAI Fellows Program
Since its founding in 2012, the NAI Fellows program has grown to include 2,253 exceptional
researchers and innovators who hold more than 86,000 U.S. patents and 20,000 licensed
technologies. NAI Fellows are recognized for the significant societal and economic
impact of their inventions, which have contributed to major advancements in science
and consumer technologies. Their innovations have generated over $3.8 trillion in
revenue and created 1.4 million jobs.