Awards for productivity, vision, leadership presented; nine SME Fellows recognized

Long Beach, Calif. Nov. 9, 2023 – SME, the nonprofit committed to accelerating new manufacturing technology adoption and building North America's talent, awarded two manufacturing professionals for their productivity, vision, and leadership, named nine SME Fellows, and presented two Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineers (OYMEs) at its SME Fall Gala in Long Beach on Nov. 5, 2023.

2023 ASME/SME M. Eugene Merchant Manufacturing Medal

Dawn White, PhD, Oak Ridge National Laboratory was awarded the M. Eugene Merchant Manufacturing Medal, which recognizes influencers who improve productivity and efficiency in the industry. White is the first woman to win this award since its inception 36 years ago in 1987.

David Dornfeld Manufacturing Vision Award

The other award presented at the Gala included the David Dornfeld Manufacturing Vision Award, which was announced at the North American Manufacturing Research Conference in June of this year. The award is named after the late University of California at Berkley professor, fellow and past director of SME, who was considered a global leader in sustainable and smart manufacturing. It recognizes outstanding vision and leadership within the manufacturing community. The winners were:

• Greg Harris, PhD, PE, Auburn University
• Radu Pavel, PhD, TechSolve Inc.
• Steven Schmid, PhD, FSME, PE, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Nine SME Fellows Named

Since 1986, the SME College of Fellows has honored those members who have made outstanding contributions to the social, technological, and educational aspects of the manufacturing profession. These nine industry professionals have earned this highly prestigious honor through 20 years or more of dedication and service to manufacturing. The ongoing work by the 2023 College of Fellows recipients has influenced all the manufacturing industries, including aerospace, defense, automotive, machine tool and design and more. They include:

• Gary Cheng, PhD, FSME, Professor, School of Industrial Engineering and School of Materials Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
• Jennifer Fielding, PhD, FSME, Ceramics Branch Chief, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio
• Youping Gao, PhD, FSME, Founder, Chief Scientist & Executive Vice President, Castheon Inc., Thousand Oaks, California
• Randall (Randy) Gilmore, FSME, Vice President and Chief Development Officer, The National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining, Johnstown, Pennsylvania
• Burak Ozdoganlar, PhD, FSME, Ver Planck Endowed Chair and Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, and the Neuroscience Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Adele Ratcliff, FSME, Director of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Industrial Base Policy, Innovation Capability and Modernization Office, Washington, DC
• Hui-Ping Wang, PhD, FSME, Technical Fellow, General Motors, Warren, Michigan
• Cedric Xia, PhD, FSME, Distinguished Engineer & Director, Hardware Engineering, Apple Inc., San Jose, California
• Wen-Jun (Chris) Zhang, PhD, FSME, Professor, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Awards

The Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award recognizes manufacturing engineers, age 35 or younger, who have made exceptional contributions and accomplishments in the manufacturing industry. One of the 18 outstanding young manufacturing engineers for 2023 received his award at the fall Gala:

• Murali Mohan Cheepu, PhD, Research Manager, Super TIG Welding C. Ltd., Busan, Republic of Korea

“The recipients of these distinguished awards represent the highest level of professional achievement in advancing manufacturing to tackle some of the world’s most pressing issues,” said Bob Willig, executive director, and CEO of SME. “Their significant contributions to SME and the manufacturing ecosystem have helped us to accelerate widespread adoption of manufacturing technologies and build North America’s talent and capabilities for the betterment of manufacturers, academia, professionals, and the communities in which they are located.”