SME elects 9 members to College of Fellows.
Press Release Summary:
The 2007 class of the College of Fellows includes John S. Agapiou, PhD, FSME, Technical Fellow; Lothar F. Bieg, PhD, FSME, Technical Staff; Wayne J. Book, PhD, FSME; and Ekkard Brinksmeier, Dr Ing, FSME, Chair. Subir Chowdhury, PhD, FSME; Shoichi Kuroda, FSME; Masahiko Mori, PhD, FSME; Mamidala Ramulu, PhD, FSME; and Moshe Shpitalni, DSc, FSME were also elected. Recipients are recognized as key contributors to the social, technical, and educational progress of manufacturing.
Original Press Release:
SME Names 2007 Class of Fellows
Recipients to be Honored for their Lifelong Contributions to Manufacturing
DEARBORN, Mich., October 9, 2007 - The Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), the world's leading professional society serving manufacturing, has elected nine industry leaders to its prestigious College of Fellows. The 2007 class, selected by the SME International Awards & Recognition Committee, joins nearly 250 other SME members who have been elected as Fellows since the program's inception in 1986.
SME President-Elect, Neil A. Duffie, PhD, a Certified Manufacturing Engineer and himself an SME Fellow, said, "I am continually awed by the contributions that Fellows of SME such as M. Eugene Merchant, Milton Shaw, Jiri Tlusty and Shien-Ming Wu made to manufacturing engineering. To appear in the list of Fellows with such giants is an honor - greatly humbling and inspiring. Engineers often do not seek or receive recognition, so being identified by your peers as having made notable contributions to the field can really have an impact. Manufacturing engineering is a diverse field, and it is gratifying to see many of its sectors represented in this year's list of highly deserving Fellows recipients."
This year's recipients represent various segments of the manufacturing community and are recognized as key contributors to the social, technical and educational progress of manufacturing. They are:
John S. Agapiou, PhD, FSME, Technical Fellow, Research and Development, General Motors Corporation, Rochester Hills, MI - Agapiou's outstanding contributions to the field of machining process and cutting tool systems cover theoretical work with development and practical applications. He has generated multi-million dollar savings at General Motors through innovation applications and is a recipient of the most prestigious General Motors "Boss Kettering" Award. He has published over 60 technical journal and conference papers. He is co-author of the widely used and referenced text book "Metal Cutting Theory & Practice". Agapiou continues to be involved in the education of future manufacturing engineers by teaching part-time at Wayne State University.
Lothar F. Bieg, PhD, FSME, Technical Staff, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM - As an engineer and researcher Bieg has distinguished himself as a leader in the areas of advanced manufacturing and metrology technologies at national and international levels. His 36-year involvement in solving complex problems has resulted in earning him close to 20 patents and numerous additional technical advances. He has made major contributions to developments supporting other centers within Sandia National Laboratories, other U.S. national labs, Allied Signal FM&T, NIST, and the AWE of Great Britain. Throughout his career, Bieg has been actively involved in mentorship and collaboration with engineering students and professors.
Wayne J. Book, PhD, FSME, HUSCO/Ramirez Chair in Fluid and Motion Control, The George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA - Book has been on the faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology since 1974 and was promoted to Professor in 1986. In 2001 he was named HUSCO/Ramirez Distinguished Professor in Fluid Power and Motion Control. He teaches courses in system dynamics, controls (including motion control), robotics and manufacturing systems. His research includes the design, dynamics and control of high speed, lightweight motion systems, robotics, fluid power and motion control and haptics. He holds five patents on robotics related inventions and has published over 150 papers.
Ekkard Brinksmeier, Dr Ing, FSME, Chair , Professor of Production Engineering, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany - Brinksmeier has been dedicated in Engineering for over 30 years. He began his engineering education with a focus on Material Sciences at the University of Hannover. After receiving his degree, he soon became the head of the Manufacturing Processes Department at the Institute of Production Engineering and Machine Tools. He is also credited with over 400 publications. Currently, he serves in several capacities at the University of Bremen in Germany. Among them, Chair of Production Engineering Department, Director of the Institute of Materials Science IWT, and Head of the Laboratory of Precision Engineering LFM.
Subir Chowdhury, PhD, FSME, CEO, ASI Consulting Group, Livonia, MI - Chowdhury is Chairman and CEO of ASI Consulting Group, LLC-the world leader on Six Sigma and Quality Leadership implementation consulting and training. Chowdhury is the author of twelve books, including the international bestseller, "The Power of Six Sigma", which has been translated in more than 20 languages and has sold more than a million copies worldwide. Most engineering schools and business schools throughout the world include his engineering and management books in undergraduate and graduate programs. His latest book titled The Ice Cream Maker has been distributed to every honorable Member of the U.S. Congress
Shoichi Kuroda, FSME, Chairman Emeritus, Kuroda Precision Industries Ltd., Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan - Kuroda has been actively involved in the precision machinery business for more than 60 years. He joined Kuroda Precision Industries Ltd. as president in 1943. He succeeded his father who founded the company. He has held various leadership positions at Japan Tool & Die Co. Ltd., Kuroda Watts Ltd. and Mold Institute Ltd. He is credited with growing Kuroda to a publicly-owned total precision machinery company. Kuroda has held executive positions in the Japan Die and Mold Industry Associations and served as chair twice. He has also conducted die and mold industry training programs and has contributed and co authored several books.
Masahiko Mori, PhD, FSME, President, Mori Seiki Co. Ltd., Nagoya City, Aichi, Japan - Mori is the president of Mori Seiki Co. Ltd., an international machine tool manufacturer. The company serves as the leader in collaborations with research institutions, having donated more machine tools to universities and other research entities than any other machine tool manufacturer in the world. Mori gives journal and technical presentations at CIRP and other conferences. He has received several awards and is a member of various international engineering societies. He currently serves as vice president of the Japan Machine Tool Builders' Association.
Mamidala Ramulu, PhD, FSME, Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Director of MSE Program-Manufacturing Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA - Ramulu's research interests have been in the area of mechanics, materials, and manufacturing processes. He has edited five ASME Symposium Proceedings and is one of the founding members of "Machining Science and Technology" Journal. He serves as associate editor of Machining Science and Technology, International Journal of Machining and Machinability of Materials and ASME Journal of Engineering Materials and Technology. Ramulu's research efforts in waterjet technology as applied to aerospace industry are well-recognized and he received two professional achievement awards from Boeing.
Moshe Shpitalni, DSc, FSME, Dean, Mechanical Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel - Shpitalni joined the department of mechanical engineering at Technion in 1983 and founded the laboratory for CAD and lifecycle engineering. He is the holder of the Georg Schlesinger Chair of Manufacturing Systems and head of the Schlesinger Minerva Laboratory for Life Cycle Engineering. Shpitalni currently holds the position of dean of the Irwin and Joan Jacobs Graduate School at Technion. His research interests are primarily in the fields of CAD/CAM and product development and the application of geometrical modeling to manufacturing and assembly. He has recently begun to focus on knowledge management related to the entire product lifecycle.
The 2007 Fellows will be installed on November 12, 2007 during the 2007 SME Fall Meeting, which is being held alongside the FABTECH International & AWS Welding Show, in Chicago, Illinois.
About the SME College of Fellows:
The SME College of Fellows was created to honor those members who have made outstanding contributions to the field of manufacturing. A Fellow is an SME member recognized by the manufacturing community as a contributor to the social, technological and educational aspects of the profession. This honor can only be earned through years of dedication and service to manufacturing engineering.
2008 Fellows Nominations Deadline:
SME members worldwide are encouraged to nominate members from industry, academia and government who have made a notable impact in the field of manufacturing. The deadline for 2008 Fellow nominations is December 1, 2007. Selection criteria includes leadership in industry, education, research and development, inventions, publications, and service to the profession. Visit www.sme.org/awards to obtain the nomination form and further information.
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About SME:
The Society of Manufacturing Engineers is the world's leading professional society supporting manufacturing education. Through its member programs, publications, expositions and professional development resources, SME promotes an increased awareness of manufacturing engineering and helps keep manufacturing professionals up to date on leading trends and technologies. Headquartered in Michigan, SME influences more than half a million manufacturing practitioners and executives annually. The Society, which celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2007, has members in more than 70 countries and is supported by a network of hundreds of technical communities and chapters worldwide.
