"How many of us have the opportunity of transforming a whole field and see the results in our lifetime?" recently asked Steve Director, Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering, to the annual evaluators of the NSF Engineering Research Center for Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems (ERC/RMS). Since its establishment in 1996, Professor Yoram Koren, the founding ERC/RMS Director, and his colleagues in the Center have had a major impact on the design of a new generation of manufacturing systems that are responsive to market fluctuations. In recognition of this accomplishment Professor Yoram Koren has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). He was honored for his "contributions to the science, education, and practice of manufacturing through innovations in reconfigurable manufacturing systems, robotics, and manufacturing system control."
Other accomplishments of Professor Koren include designing and demonstrating the world-first adaptive control integrated with computerized controlled milling machine in 1973 (when mini-computers rarely controlled machines), inventing a mechanical snake robot and an inflatable robot in 1990, and leading the team that designed the world-first full-scale reconfigurable machine tool.
"What we proposed to NSF in 1994 as a next-generation, utopian technology of a living, evolving factory is being recognized today as an obvious requirement for industrial competitiveness," says Professor Koren. This recognition has been achieved by developing the RMS principles and technology, and demonstrating them in factory environment.
Election to the academy is made in recognition of important contributions to engineering theory and practice, including significant contributions to the literature of engineering theory and practice. It is also intended to honor those individuals with significant achievement in the pioneering of new fields of engineering, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education.
The contributions of Professor Koren to engineering education are remarkable. In his book "Computer Control of Manufacturing Systems" that was published by McGraw Hill in 1982 he explained the scientific fundamentals of CNC, many of which are based on his own research results. Over ten thousand students learned the scientific aspects of CNC by studying this book. His research accomplishments and this book developed the framework for a more fundamental and scientific approach to the development of CNC systems, thus paving the way for the creation of computer numerical control as both a research field and an education discipline.
Professor Koren is currently the only NAE member in our Mechanical Engineering Department. Reconfigurable manufacturing systems (RMS), which Professor Koren has been credited with pioneering, form a relatively new research field within manufacturing. At the heart of RMS is the capability to design responsive manufacturing systems for part families, so that they may be easily changed, according to shifting market requirements. These changes are based in system scalability, which includes adjustment of the output volume to the market demand and system/machine functionality: rapid adaptation of the system and its machines to the production of new products.
Professor Koren holds BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology. He has published more than 240 refereed papers. His three award-winning books in the automated manufacturing field are used as textbooks at universities around the world. In addition, he holds 11 U.S. patents in RMS disciplines, robotics, and machine control.
Among his other honors, Professor Koren is a Fellow of both ASME and SME, and has received several national awards, including the "Ennor Manufacturing Technology Award," the top manufacturing award of ASME. He is also a Senior Member of IEEE, and holds the rank of Active Member of CIRP (International Institute for Research in Production Engineering).