Professor Sridhar Kota has been selected to receive the Herrick Professorship of Manufacturing in Engineering, pending final approval of the Board of Regents. This professorship was established in 1995 by the Herrick Foundation of Detroit to recognize distinguished work in interdisciplinary, mission-oriented manufacturing.
During the past 20 some years of his career, Professor Kota has distinguished himself as an outstanding academic leader who bridges the gap between theory and practice in engineering research and education. Through his scholarly work, entrepreneurship, and leadership, Professor Kota has made tremendous impact in various aspects of manufacturing, from research to practice to national agenda development. He has pioneered and established a new research field of compliant systems design for manufacturing without assembly. He has demonstrated the transition from novel design concepts to innovative manufacturing of hard goods in the marketplace through numerous inventions and a start up company. He played an instrumental role in defining our nation’s manufacturing agenda, created the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership which gave birth to the Manufacturing Innovation Institutes, and brought excellent visibility and opportunities to the University of Michigan.
