Executive Director Selected at Georgia Tech’s Manufacturing Institute
Tom Kurfess, Govt Director, Georgia Tech Production Institute
The Georgia Institute of Technologies has chosen Thomas R. Kurfess as the new government director of the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute (GTMI). Kurfess is the HUSCO/Ramirez Distinguished Chair in Fluid Electrical power and Movement Command and professor of mechanical engineering at Ga Tech. He been given his S.B., S.M., and Ph.D. levels in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technological know-how (MIT) and acquired an S.M. diploma from MIT in electrical engineering and computer science.
“Chaouki Abdallah, government vice president for research, and I are pretty energized about Tom having on this function. Superior manufacturing is a leading federal priority as an ‘industry of the upcoming.’ Tom’s practical experience and global reputation from his background in academia, industry, and the govt will be a fantastic complement to our existing vibrant local community of students, workers, and school committed to manufacturing exploration and education—positioning Ga Tech to meet up with regional, countrywide, and world wide requirements,” said Julia Kubanek, vice president for interdisciplinary exploration at Georgia Tech.
“We’re grateful for the initiatives of the search committee led by Professor Meisha Shofner and to the management of Professor Ben Wang as govt director of GTMI for 11 many years until finally he stepped down at the conclusion of May possibly. We also respect Professor Shreyes Melkote for serving as interim director this thirty day period when we finalized Tom’s appointment.”
Kurfess initial joined the school at Ga Tech in 1994, and has taken on a variety of special assignments in addition to his training and analysis.
His exploration focuses on the structure and enhancement of state-of-the-art manufacturing methods focusing on protected digital production, additive and subtractive processes, and big-scale generation enterprises. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and is a fellow of the American Affiliation for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Culture of Manufacturing Engineers (ASME) and the Society of Producing Engineers (SME). He was president of SME in 2018, and at the moment serves on the Board of Governors of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).
All through 2019-2021, Kurfess was on leave serving as the main producing officer at Oak Ridge Nationwide Laboratory (ORNL) the place he was dependable for strategic planning for ORNL in advanced production. He was also the founding director for the Manufacturing Science Division at ORNL.
He served as the assistant director for state-of-the-art producing at the Business office of Science and Technological know-how Coverage in the government office environment of the President of the United States of The united states from 2012-2013, the place he was responsible for coordinating federal advanced production investigation and progress.
“For a long time, Georgia Tech has led the Nation’s educational establishments in the sophisticated manufacturing sector. It is an honor for me to be tapped to continue our attempts in this area. I am excited to consider the helm at the Ga Tech Manufacturing Institute (GTMI) in continuing its function as a technological know-how leader in highly developed manufacturing for the Point out of Ga, the United States, and the entire world. We will be a conduit enabling the Ga Tech local community in their initiatives to speed up and create producing technologies and workforce abilities, offering a discussion board in which they can overtly collaborate, and services that are world-class for their attempts. I look ahead to partaking a wide range of regular and nontraditional groups integrating complex places with enterprise, financial, and policy places to give a manufacturing foundation for the U.S. and the environment that will assure a robust, just, secure and equitable future for society,” mentioned Kurfess.
“Given that GTMI is one particular of Ga Tech’s Interdisciplinary Investigate Institutes, I glance ahead to engaging a wide array of regular and nontraditional teams integrating technological parts with business enterprise, economic, and plan places to offer a manufacturing basis for the U.S. and the globe that will guarantee a strong, just, protected and equitable foreseeable future for culture.”
The Georgia Tech Production Institute (GTMI) is one of Ga Tech’s 10 interdisciplinary research institutes, and an integral aspect of the broader Georgia Tech investigation enterprise. In 2021, GTMI celebrated its 30th anniversary. GTMI’s mission is to convene market leaders, federal government associates, and prime researchers to collaborate on the grand difficulties dealing with the U.S. producing market today: accelerating technological know-how improvement and deployment, making top quality positions, making sure world competitiveness, and advancing economic and environmental stability.