photo by: University of Kansas

Ron Barrett-Gonzalez, University of Kansas professor of aerospace engineering, shows off KU’s “hexcopter” prototype at a news conference in 2018.

A KU engineering professor who has been a leader in new designs for everything from aircraft to ammunition has been named one of the top inventors in the country.

Ron Barrett-Gonzalez, professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Kansas, was named to the National Academy of Inventors on Tuesday. A fellowship in the academy is considered the highest distinction for academic inventors in the U.S.

Barrett-Gonzalez becomes just the seventh KU faculty member to be inducted into the academy, but is the second in two years. Brian McClendon — one of the founders of a start-up that later became Google Earth, and now a research professor in KU’s engineering school — was inducted in 2023.

Barrett-Gonzalez’s specialty is in flight, and particularly has been involved in projects that can go fast and be controlled remotely. One of his latest inventions is guided hypersonic ammunition that can be used in air-to-air combat. He also invented a variety of remote-controlled devices ranging from a flying Jayhawk to a flying feather ball.

A KU graduate himself, Barrett-Gonzalez for the past 20 years has led a student laboratory that has been one of the most award winning in the country in the area of aerospace design. The lab is credited as being the pioneer in developing a class of fast micro quad-copters — drone-like type devices. One of the lab’s quad-copter creations, dubbed QuadRockets, have been listed as the world’s fasted micro quad-copters, with speeds up to 130 mph.

The lab also has created designs for an unmanned hypersonic spy plane, a type of unmanned helicopter device to deliver disaster-relief supplies, a flying motorcycle, and a family of fast, eco-friendly jets dubbed Skyblazers.

Barrett-Gonzalez, who is the head of KU’s aerospace design program, is the primary inventor on 23 projects that have been issued utility and design patents, with many of them including student co-inventors. In all, he has more than 38 inventions that are part of the KU Center for Technology Commercialization program.

“It has been a pleasure to work with the KUCTC,” Barrett-Gonzalez said via a press release. “They make the patenting and licensing process easy for inventors like me.”

Of KU’s seven inductees into the National Academy of Inventors, six of them are part of KU’s School of Engineering. Barrett-Gonzalez is the first from KU to be recognized in the field aerospace engineering.

“Ron’s contribution to the field and to the School of Engineering are a source of inspiration,” said Mary Rezac, dean of the School of Engineering. “His innovation and mentorship of students are essential in helping KU Engineering maintain its place as a global leader in aircraft design.”

The fellows program of the National Academy of Inventors began in 2012. It now has about 2,000 inductees who hold more than 68,000 U.S. patents and 20,000 licensed technologies that have generated more than $3.2 trillion in revenue.