The North American Manufacturing Research Institution of SME (NAMRI | SME) has awarded their 2022 Outstanding Lifetime Service Award to Thomas R. Kurfess, professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. Kurfess is the executive director of Georgia Tech’s Manufacturing Institute and holds the HUSCO/Ramirez Distinguished Chair in Fluid Power and Motion Control. SME was formerly known as the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. SME, headquartered in Southfield, Michigan, is a professional association dedicated to educating and promoting the manufacturing industry.

Kurfess, and two other Georgia Tech alumni were recognized at the 50th annual North American Manufacturing Research Conference (NAMRC) for their accomplishments in the manufacturing industry.

Georgia Tech alumni Thomas Feldhausen and Kyle Saleeby both received the Sandra L. Bouckley Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award. The award recognizes exceptional contributions in manufacturing made by engineers 35 or younger.

Kurfess first joined the faculty at Georgia Tech in 1994 and has taken on a variety of special assignments in addition to his teaching and research. From 2019-2021, Kurfess served as the chief manufacturing officer at ORNL, where he was responsible for strategic planning for ORNL in advanced manufacturing. He was also the founding director for ORNL's Manufacturing Science Division. He served 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 from 2012-2013, where he was responsible for coordinating federal advanced manufacturing research and development. He is the current executive director of the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute, having been appointed in June of 2022.

Previously, Kurfess was awarded the SME Albert M. Sargent Progress Award for the development of large-scale computing capabilities leveraging low-cost, high-performance computing systems to analyze large-scale manufacturing metrology data sets.

Kurfess is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME). He was president of SME in 2018 and currently serves on the ASME Board of Governors.

For more information about these award winners, view the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering’s October 19, 2022 news release.