June 7, 2021

Three professors from the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering as well as one Ph.D. alumnus were recognized with SME awards this year for their contributions to manufacturing.

Two professors received prestigious SME International Honor Awards, which recognize “significant contributions to manufacturing in the areas of manufacturing technologies, processes, technical writing, education, research and management, and service to SME.” Professor Steven Liang, the Morris M. Bryan, Jr. Professor in Mechanical Engineering for Advanced Manufacturing Systems, is the recipient of the SME Gold Medal. Professor Thomas Kurfess, the HUSCO/Ramirez Distinguished Chair in Fluid Power and Motion Control who is currently serving as the Chief Manufacturing Officer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, was honored with the Albert M. Sargent Progress Award.

Additionally, Assistant Professor Sourabh Saha and Woodruff School graduate Arkadeep Kumar (who was advised by Professor Shreyes Melkote and is currently working at Applied Materials Inc. in Santa Clara, California) were named Geoffrey Boothroyd Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineers. The distinction was granted to 14 awardees, age 35 or younger, who were recognized for their exceptional contributions and accomplishments in manufacturing throughout the early stages of their careers.

Steven Y. Liang, PhD, FSME
Morris M. Bryan Jr. Professor for Advanced Manufacturing
George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology

Steven Y. Liang, PhD, FSME, is the recipient of the SME Gold Medal for his significant contributions to the manufacturing engineering profession in scientific and technical communications through extensive publications and other means that have substantially expanded scientific fundamentals as well as engineering principles for the understanding and improvement of metal removal and additive manufacturing processes, equipment and quality.

Liang is the Morris M. Bryan Jr. professor for Advanced Manufacturing in Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He has made phenomenal contributions to manufacturing research and engineering in leadership and communications. Liang’s studies on physics-based analysis of precision machining and metal additive manufacturing have offered significantly broader fundamental understanding of manufacturing science and led to essential improvements in processes, equipment, quality and competitiveness. His seminal research outcomes have been disseminated in a very large number of books and archival publications, in addition to numerous keynotes and seminars worldwide. Liang served as president of NAMRI | SME, chair of MED/ASME, organizer of flagship international conferences and is technical editor of the “International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing,” editor-in-chief of the “Journal of Manufacturing and Materials Processing” and in many other professional leadership capacities, contributing greatly to the excellence of manufacturing science and engineering. SME Member Since 1988.

Thomas R. Kurfess, PhD, FSME, NAE, PE
Chief Manufacturing Officer | Oak Ridge National Laboratory
HUSCO/Ramirez Distinguished Chair in Fluid Power and Motion Control
George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology

Thomas R. Kurfess, PhD, FSME, is being awarded the SME Albert M. Sargent Progress Award for the fundamental development of large-scale computing capabilities leveraging low-cost, high-performance computing systems to analyze large-scale manufacturing metrology data sets.

Kurfess, the HUSCO/Ramirez Distinguished Chair in Fluid Power and Motion Control in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, currently serves as the chief manufacturing officer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. During 2012-13, he was on leave serving as the assistant director for advanced manufacturing at the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President of the United States of America, where he was responsible for coordinating federal advanced manufacturing R&D. Kurfess was president of SME in 2018, and currently serves on the Board of Governors of ASME. His research focuses on the design and development of advanced manufacturing systems targeting digital manufacturing, additive and subtractive processes, and large-scale production enterprises. Kurfess is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and is a fellow of ASME, AAAS and SME. SME Member Since 1983.

Sourabh K. Saha, PhD, PE
Assistant Professor
George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta

Saha is an assistant professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. He received his doctorate in mechanical engineering from MIT in 2014 and his master’s and bachelor’s degrees in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur in 2008. Prior to joining Georgia Tech, Saha was a research engineer at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. His current research interest lies in overcoming the scientific and technological barriers that prevent scaling up advanced manufacturing processes, especially for the generation of complex micro and nanoscale 3D structures. He has worked on eco-friendly machining, tip-based nanofabrication, mechanical self-organization and laser-based nanoscale additive manufacturing. Saha’s work has been published in prestigious journals including “Science” and has generated eight issued patents. His awards include the Best Poster Award at the ASME IMECE Micro and Nano Technology Forum, a Federal Laboratory Consortium Far West Regional Outstanding Technology Development Award and NSF CAREER award. SME Member Since 2017.

Arkadeep Kumar, PhD
Technologist R&D Engineer
Applied Materials Inc.
Santa Clara, California

Kumar is currently a technologist R&D engineer at Applied Materials. He makes possible next-generation semiconductor nanomanufacturing, pushing the limits of materials engineering, enabling technologies for AI and the big-data economy. Kumar enables sustainability by making manufacturing energy-efficient, cost-effective and reducing the impact on the environment. Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, he initiated and led collaboration to manufacture face shields to protect frontline healthcare workers. Previously, Kumar was an ITRI-Rosenfeld postdoctoral fellow at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and the University of California Berkeley, supported by the Industrial Technology Research Institute where he developed additive manufacturing of electrodes for electrochemical water treatment, addressing clean water security. Kumar’s doctorate research in diamond-wire sawing of silicon wafers for solar cells increased the reliability of renewable energy. He holds a doctorate (2018) and master’s degree (2014) from Georgia Tech, and a bachelor’s degree (2012) from Jadavpur University (India), all in mechanical engineering. Kumar was awarded a DAAD-WISE Fellowship by the German Academic Exchange Service and a JNCASR Fellowship at the Indian Institute of Science. SME Member Since 2020.