2026 SME International Honor Award Winners These four SME International Honor Award winners are recognized for their significant contributions to manufacturing in the areas of manufacturing technologies, processes, technical writing, education, research and management, and service to SME. Eli Whitney Productivity AwardAwarded for distinguished accomplishments in improving capability within the broad concept of orderly production. Sthitie BomVice President, Worldwide Manufacturing SystemsSeagate TechnologySt. Paul, Minn. Sthitie Bom is Vice President of Global Factory IT at Seagate Technology, where she leads AI and autonomy strategy across the company’s global semiconductor fabrication operations. Holding a PhD in Cognitive Science from the University of Minnesota and nearly two decades at Seagate, she brings together scientific rigor, engineering depth, and executive leadership to transform how intelligent systems operate in high-volume manufacturing. Joseph A. Siegel Service AwardAwarded to an SME member for significant and unique contributions that benefit SME. This award is the only International Honor Award that must only be conferred upon SME members. Albert J. Wavering III, FSMEDeputy Director for Planning and OperationsNational Institute of Standards and TechnologyGaithersburg, Md. Albert J. Wavering recently retired as the Deputy Director for Planning and Operations for the Engineering Laboratory (EL) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. In this role, he advised and supported the EL Director regarding Laboratory-wide operations, strategic planning, budgets and resources, and facilities development to advance the Laboratory’s mission and research programs focused on measurement science, standards, and technology for engineered systems. He was awarded the SME Philip R. Marsilius Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award in 1996 and was elected to the SME College of Fellows in 2009. Wavering served on the SME Education Foundation Proposal Review Committee from 1999-2007 and as a member of the SME Education Foundation Board of Directors from 2007-2010. He served as a member of the SME Board of Directors from 2019-2024 and he served on the SME Joint Nominating Committee in 2025. SME Member Since 1998 SME Frederick W. Taylor Research MedalHonors significant published research leading to a better understanding of materials, facilities, principles, operations and their application to improve manufacturing processes. Mingwang Fu, PhD, FSMEChair ProfessorThe Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityHong Kong, China Mingwang Fu, PhD, is the Chair Professor of Advanced Manufacturing, Director, Joint Research Centre for Design & Net-shape Forming of Surface Functional Structures, Associate Director, Research Institute for Advanced Manufacturing at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He is a fellow of SME and the HKIE, and a Royal Society Wolfson Visiting Fellow. He published over 350 journal papers, 7 monographs, and one volume of the Elsevier Encyclopedia of Materials. Fu has received the Khan International Award, and LEE SHUN Research Award. His research focuses on deformation-based manufacturing, the plasticity/damage/fracture/fatigue of materials, size effects in multi-scale manufacturing and mechanics, and modelling and simulation. SME Member Since 2019 SME Albert M. Sargent Progress AwardRecognizes significant accomplishments in the field of manufacturing processes, methods or systems. Seog-Chan Oh, PhDSenior ResearcherGeneral Motors Research and DevelopmentWarren, Mich. Seog-Chan Oh, PhD, PE, is a Staff Researcher at General Motors Research and Development and an Adjunct Professor at Sungkyunkwan University. He earned his PhD from The Pennsylvania State University and is a licensed Professional Engineer in Industrial and Systems Engineering. He specializes in optimization, simulation, AI/ML-driven system design, reinforcement learning, workforce optimization, sustainable manufacturing, and factory-scale throughput improvement. His work spans generative design for manufacturing systems, and matrix manufacturing concepts such as Vehicle-as-a-Conveyor (VaaC). He has published extensively in international journals and conferences, holds multiple patents, and is the author of three authored books in the fields of smart manufacturing and sustainable manufacturing. He is a member of SME, ASME, IISE, and AAAS, and has received multiple honors, including the General Motors Boss Kettering Award. SME Member since 2022
