Scientists, engineers, and academics from the manufacturing world convened in New Brunswick, New Jersey, recently to discuss industry advances and acknowledge excellence in research and commercial implementation at the 51^st North American Manufacturing Research Conference (NAMRC). The event, organized this year June 12 – 16 by Rutgers University, is sponsored annually by the North American Manufacturing Research Institution of SME (NAMRI | SME).

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230615393376/en/

The North American Manufacturing Research Institute announced award winners in a ceremony Thursday at its 51st North American Manufacturing Research Conference. Winners included, from left, Jaydeep Karandikar, PhD, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, who received the S.M. Wu Research Implementation Award; Serope Kalpakjian, FSME, Professor Emeritus, Illinois Institute of Technology, who received the Outstanding Lifetime Service Award; and Scott Smith, PhD, Fellow SME, section head for Precision Manufacturing and Machining at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, who was selected to present the Founders Lecture. (Photo: Business Wire)

NAMRC is the premier international forum for applied research and industrial applications in manufacturing and design. NAMRI | SME brings together researchers from leading companies, government laboratories, academic institutions and industrial think tanks located around the world for advancing the scientific foundation of discrete-parts manufacturing.

“The manufacturing advances that we see put forward year upon year from this conference are amazing,” said Katherine C. “KC” Morris, 2023-24 NAMRI | SME president. “The technology, process and material advancements that we see this year could be positively impacting production in U.S. manufacturing facilities in as little as three to five years.”

Awards Recognize Advancements from Teams, Individuals

NAMRI | SME S.M. Wu Research Implementation Award

Named after the late University of Michigan Professor Shien-Ming Wu, PhD, FSME, this award recognizes outstanding original research presented at NAMRC which subsequently, upon implementation, had a significant commercial and/or societal impact. The 2023 recipient was:

• Jaydeep Karandikar, PhD, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, for his in-process tool life cost optimization method that saved an employer $20 million annually. 

NAMRI | SME Outstanding Lifetime Service Award

The SME Outstanding Lifetime Service Award honors distinguished members for their long-term dedication and contributions to NAMRI | SME. This year’s recipient was:

• Serope Kalpakjian, FSME, Professor Emeritus, Illinois Institute of Technology, a founding member and past president of NAMRI, who has served a lifetime educating young manufacturers.

Delcie Durham Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineers Spotlighted

The future of manufacturing was on display at NAMRC51 as six Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineers were presented – all under 35 and all have made exceptional contributions and accomplishments in manufacturing throughout the early stages of their careers. The 2023 award namesake is Delcie Durham, PhD, professor emerita from the University of South Florida's Department of Mechanical Engineering.

They included:

• Yong Lin Kong, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City
• Cindy Li, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy at Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
• Jon-Erik Mogonye, PhD, materials research engineer, DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, Maryland
• Hantang Qin, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Hongyue Sun, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York
• Hangbo Zhao, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles

2022 Outstanding Paper Awards

Three papers were chosen as outstanding from among more than 165 that were submitted during calendar year 2022:

• “Life Cycle Assessment of aluminum alloys chips recycling through Single and Multi-Step Friction Stir Consolidation processes,” authored by Giuseppe Ingarao, Massimiliano Amato, Abdul Latif, Angela Daniela La Rosa, Rosa Di Lorenzo, and Livan Fratini.
• “Physical Modeling for Digital Twin of Continuous Damping Control Damper,” authored by Tao Li, Zhongyuan Liao and Yi Cai.
• "Generation of Periodic Nanobumps Through a Double-Scan Method with Femtosecond Lasers," authored by Kewei Li, Shreyas Limaye and Xin Zhao.

NAMRC Student Research Presentation Award Recognizes Young Talent

The NAMRC Student Research Presentation Award encourages young talents to pursue a career in manufacturing research to accomplish the long-term goals of the manufacturing community. Students who co-author a paper present them to a panel comprising NAMRI SME Honors Committee members or delegates. The winner in this competition is:

• Clayton Cooper, for his presentation, “Surface Roughness Prediction Through GAN-Synthesized Power Signal as a Process Signature.”

NSF Blue Sky Award Competitors / David Dornfeld Manufacturing Vision Award Winner

The NSF Blue Sky Awards competition, which culminates in selection of the David Dornfeld Manufacturing Vision Award winner, encourages participants to think big – sometimes even outrageously – in posing grand challenges to be addressed and in thinking transformatively in a manner that may interest government entities in supporting and funding their projects. The competition winner, chosen from among six finalists, was:

• Radu Pavel, PhD, Steven R. Schmid, PhD, Gregory A. Harris, PhD, for their presentation, “The Intelligent Machine Tool.”

Founders Lecture

Given following the NAMRI | SME Awards Ceremony, the Founders Lecture, which examined the positive impact of manufacturing innovation on quality of life, was delivered by Scott Smith, PhD, Fellow SME, section head for Precision Manufacturing and Machining at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Smith questioned if the U.S.’s manufacturing powerhouse reputation was still true, and if not, what the industry is doing about it.

NAMRC52 will convene next year at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville June 17-21, 2024.

NAMRC – North American Manufacturing Research Conference of NAMRI | SME

NAMRC is recognized as North America’s preeminent and longest-running international forum for applied research and industrial applications in manufacturing and design with its presentations and publication of original, basic and applied research in advanced manufacturing.

An annual event since 1973, NAMRC advances the scientific foundation of discrete-parts manufacturing leading to next-generation applications of emerging and innovative technology in material removal, forming and additive manufacturing processes and machines, and cyber-physical systems. The conference attracts global academicians, government and industry researchers, engineers, students and leaders in manufacturing to interact with each other and advance the field. NAMRC features peer-reviewed papers, keynotes, special opportunities for networking and collaboration, and recognition of research implementation, service and achievements. Details are available at NAMRC.SME.org.

NAMRC52 will convene next year at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville June 17-21, 2024.

About SME

SME believes in the power of technology and the innovation of people to advance our nation and solve the world’s greatest problems. For 90 years, SME has led the manufacturing ecosystem to elevate manufacturers, academia, professionals, and the communities in which they operate. We help build the bridge from today to the future by developing the next generation of manufacturing talent and informing industry on technology advances that can propel their operations into excellence. Learn more at sme.org, follow @SME_MFG on Twitter or facebook.com/SMEmfg.

NOTE TO EDITORS: High-resolution images of the award winners, presenters and other honorees are available from SME. More detail on each individual can be found on the SME.org website.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230615393376/en/