SME honors young leaders in manufacturing engineering

From Northrop Grumman to General Motors to the University of Houston, excelling to the top of their field as manufacturing’s young elite, the recipients of the 2007 Society of Manufacturing Engineers Kuo K. Wang Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award represent a wide cross-section of the manufacturing engineering profession.

Established in 1979, the SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award is presented annually to honor manufacturing engineers, age 35 or younger, for their contributions and accomplishments in the manufacturing industry throughout the early stages of their careers. The selection criteria for the award are broad. Recipients may be chosen based on a single outstanding accomplishment – for example, technical publications, patents or leadership in a technical professional society – or for several significant accomplishments in one or more areas of activity.

The award, named in 2007 in honor of Dr. Kuo K. Wang for his lifelong contributions to manufacturing and long-time support of SME, sets an industry-wide standard and increases recognition for exceptional young manufacturing engineers currently practicing in the field. This year, 13 individuals will receive the SME Kuo K. Wang Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award. SME congratulates these recipients on their many outstanding achievements.

Leandro G. Barajas, PhD
Senior Research Engineer
General Motors Corporation
Warren, Mich.

Samuel Bigot, PhD
Researcher
Cardiff University
Cardifff, United Kingdom

Jaime A. Camelio, PhD
Assistant Professor
Michigan Technological University
Houghton, Mich.

Gary J. Cheng, PhD
Assistant Professor
University of Houston
Houston, Texas

Kaan Erkorkmaz, PhD
Assistant Professor
University of Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Boonserm Kulvatunyou, PhD
Researcher
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, Md.

Brigid Mullany, PhD
Assistant Professor
University of North Carolina-Charlotte
Charlotte, N.C.

Bala Muralikrishnan, PhD
Research Engineer
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, Md.

Jonathan H. Owen, PhD
Staff Research Engineer
General Motors Corporation
Warren, Mich.

O. Burak Ozdoganlar, PhD
Assistant Professor
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, Pa.

Frank E. Pfefferkorn, PhD
Assistant Professor
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, Wis.

Steven J. Skerlos, PhD
Associate Professor
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Mich.

Todd J. Szallay
Manufacturing Engineer 3
Northrop Grumman
El Segundo, Calif.

For more information on this and other SME awards, visit the SME Awards & Recognition Web page, or contact SME at nominations@sme.org or by phone at 313-425-3180. The nomination deadline for the SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award, SME International Honor Awards and the SME Award of Merit is June 1.

About SME
The Society of Manufacturing Engineers is the world’s leading professional society supporting manufacturing education. Through its member programs, publications, expositions and professional development resources, SME promotes an increased awareness of manufacturing engineering and helps keep manufacturing professionals up to date on leading trends and technologies. Headquartered in Dearborn, Mich., SME influences more than half a million manufacturing practitioners and executives annually. The society, which celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2007, has members in more than 70 countries and is supported by a network of hundreds of technical communities and chapters worldwide, including nine chapters in Canada.