Professor Christian Hubicki talks with another person in the robotics lab at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering in Tallahassee, Florida. (Mark Wallheiser/FAMU-FSU College of Engineering)
Faculty inventions—including a neutron detector and a water-air drone hybrid—anchor FSU’s No. 60 national ranking
Faculty innovations from the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering are helping power Florida State University into the top tier of American research universities for intellectual property, as FSU landed at No. 60 nationally for U.S. utility patents, according to rankings released by the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).
Two joint college faculty members are among the inventors whose work contributed to FSU’s placement on the NAI’s 2025 Top 100 U.S. Universities list: Associate Professor of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Zhibin Yu, who developed a neutron detector, and Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Christian Hubicki, whose water-air drone hybrid earned a patent. The rankings reflect the 2025 calendar year.
“What makes Florida State’s patent portfolio truly remarkable is its incredible diversity,” said Associate Vice President for Strategic Partnerships and Innovation Valerie McDevitt. “Our ranking isn’t just a win for one department. It’s a reflection of a campus-wide culture of discovery. From groundbreaking advancements in the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory to innovative tools in education and the health sciences, we are proving that FSU’s expertise spans the entire spectrum of human inquiry.”
The NAI Top 100 ranking celebrates academic institutions advancing national competitiveness by securing intellectual property through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, enabling the transition of faculty-led inventions from the laboratory to the marketplace and driving economic growth and societal impact.
FSU’s broader patent portfolio also includes an antifibrotic drug developed by Professor of Medicine Branko Stefanovic and a photo-plastic capable of moving in different ways at different wavelengths, developed by Professor of Chemistry Ken Hanson.
“This ranking is more than just a number; it represents the relentless ingenuity of our faculty and their commitment to solving the most pressing challenges of our time,” said Vice President for Research Stacey S. Patterson. “A patent is often the bridge between an idea or breakthrough and a commercial product or service that improves lives, creates jobs, and drives our economy forward. This achievement is a credit to our world-class researchers and a signal to our partners that FSU is a premier destination for high-impact discovery and innovation.”
The NAI has published a worldwide ranking since 2013 and introduced the focused U.S. Universities list in 2023 to better highlight contributions of the American academic landscape. Collectively, universities on the 2025 Top 100 U.S. list secured more than 6,700 patents during the previous calendar year.
The patent ranking follows a strong year for FSU’s research enterprise, which recently surpassed $488 million in annual research expenditures. The university was also ranked No. 1 in Florida for innovation and economic impact in TIME’s inaugural World’s Top Universities 2026 rankings.
Editor’s Note: This article was reworked with the assistance of an AI language model (Claude, Anthropic) under the direction and editorial supervision of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering communications staff. All facts, figures, and direct quotations are unchanged from the original article published by Florida State University on March 19, 2026. The AI was used solely for structural reorganization and AP style formatting. Final editorial judgment remains with college communications personnel.
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