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Twelve ME Faculty Recognized for Prestigious Professional Society Awards in 2015

09/16/2015

The research and educational efforts conducted by ME faculty have a far reach, and the advances and contributions made by many of them are widely and frequently recognized by professional societies with prestigious awards. Over the past few years, ME faculty have been honored with highly coveted awards for the depth, breadth and forward thinking of their work. Several of these very recent honors in 2015 are highlighted below.

James Ashton-Miller

ASME H. R. Lissner Medal:  The H.R. Lissner Medal was established by the Bioengineering Division of ASME and recognizes outstanding achievements in the field of bioengineering. This award recognized Ashton-Miller for his vast contributions in bioengineering.

The Bioengineering Division of ASME established the H. R. Lissner Award as a divisional award in 1977. It was upgraded to a society award in 1987, made possible by a donation from Wayne State University and is named in honor of Professor H. R. Lissner of Wayne State University for his pioneering work in biomechanics that began in 1939.

Jim Barber

ASME Ted Belytschko Applied Mechanics Award: The Applied Mechanics Award was established in 1988 and renamed the Ted Belytschko Applied Mechanics Award in 2008. The award is given to an outstanding individual for significant contributions in the practice of engineering mechanics; contributions may result from innovation, research, design, leadership or education.  Barber’s research interests are in solid mechanics with particular reference to thermoelasticity, contact mechanics and tribology.

Neil Dasgupta

ASME Pi Tau Sigma Gold Medal Award: The Pi Tau Sigma Gold Medal is awarded to an engineering graduate who has demonstrated outstanding achievement in mechanical engineering within ten years following receipt of the baccalaureate degree.  This award recognized Dasgupta for his exceptional contributions in nanotechnology, energy science and manufacturing.

Elijah Kannatey-Asibu

ASME William T. Ennor Manufacturing Technology Award: The William T. Ennor Manufacturing Technology Award is presented to an individual or team of individuals for developing or contributing significantly to an innovative manufacturing technology, the implementation of which has resulted in substantial economic and/or societal benefits. Kannatey-Asibu’s research focuses on the multi-sensor monitoring of processes, specifically for machining, welding, laser processing, and multiple-beam laser processing. 

Noel Perkins

ASME Leonardo da Vinci Award: The ASME Leonardo da Vinci Award recognizes eminent achievement in the design or invention of a product that is universally recognized as an important advance in machine design.

Perkins is recognized for his eminent achievement in the invention, design and commercialization of the inertial measurement unit (IMU), which is now universally recognized as an important novel product for the precise monitoring of human body movements. This path-breaking technology has broad applications to many fields spanning the health, sport and defense industries.

Kazu Saitou

ASME Kos Ishii-Toshiba Award: The Kos Ishii-Toshiba Award is given by ASME Design for Manufacturing and the Life Cycle (DFMLC) Committee. The award honors Kosuke “Kos” Ishii, a professor of mechanical engineering at Stanford University and the director of the Manufacturing Modeling Laboratory there. Saitou’s research interests include algorithmic and computational synthesis of mechanical, industrial and biomedical systems, utilizing techniques such as finite element analysis, geometric and kinematic reasoning, image and pattern recognition and planning and optimization.

Volker Sick

ASME Internal Combustion Engine Award: The ASME Internal Combustion Engine Award recognizes eminent achievement or distinguished contribution over a substantial period of time, which may result from research, innovation or education in advancing the art of engineering in the field of internal combustion engines; or in directing the efforts and accomplishments of those engaged in engineering practice in the design, development, application and operation of internal combustion engines. Sick is also the Associate Vice President for Research of Natural Sciences and Engineering and serves as the Director of the W.E. Lay Automotive Laboratory.

Angela Violi

ASME George Westinghouse Silver Medal: The George Westinghouse Medals were established to recognize eminent achievement or distinguished service in the power field of mechanical engineering. The Silver Medal is bestowed upon one who is not yet 45 on June 30 of the year in which the medal is awarded. Considering power in the broad sense, the basis of the awards shall include contributions of utilization, application, design, development, research, and the organization of such activities in the power field.

Violi is also a Professor of Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Macromolecular Science and Engineering, Applied Physics, and Biophysics. Her lab, the Violi Group, focuses on multiscale processes occurring in reactive systems, with applications crosscutting combustion, nanoscience, and biology.

Michael Thouless

ASEE Mechanics Division Archie Higdon Distinguished Educator Award:  This award recognizes distinguished and outstanding contributions to engineering mechanics education. Thouless’ tecnical interests include micromechanics modeling of materials, interfacial fracture mechanics and adhesion, mechanical properties of thin films and coatings, toughening mechanisms in polymers, and mechanical properties of structural adhesives.

Kira Barton

SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award: Since 1980 the SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award has recognized manufacturing engineers, age 35 or younger, who have made exceptional contributions and accomplishments in the manufacturing industry. Barton is a 2014 NSF CAREER awardee and her research interests include control theory and applications, high precision motion control, iterative learning control, high performance nano-scale printing for electrical and biomedical applications, micro/nano-manufacturing, control for manufacturing, cooperative control and control for autonomous vehicles.

Yoram Koren

SME Honorary Membership: The SME Honorary Membership is conferred upon an individual of recognized ability and stature who has, by voluntary action, contributed substantial skills and talent to accomplish the goals of SME. This award is one of the most prestigious honors presented by SME and is reserved for those exhibiting professional eminence among manufacturing engineers.  Koren was chosen for his leadership, innovation and implementation of manufacturing technologies, particularly related to automation and reconfigurable manufacturing systems.

Vikram Gavini

USACM Gallagher Young Investigator: This award recognizes outstanding accomplishments, particularly outstanding published papers, by researchers of 40 years of age or younger. It is presented in honor of Richard H. Gallagher, co-founder of the International Journal for Numerical Methods of Engineering.

This award recognized Gavini for his pioneering work toward developing multiscale methods for density-functional theory calculations at continuum scales, electronic structure studies on defects in materials and quantum transport in materials.

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