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Thomas Kurfess

Thomas Kurfess

Executive Director, Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute and Professor and HUSCO/Ramirez Distinguished Chair in Fluid Power and Motion Control and Chief Manufacturing Officer
Mechanical Engineering

Contact Information

Love Building Room 101
404.385.0959

Education

Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering (1989), Massachusetts Institute of Technology
S.M. Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (1988), Massachusetts Institute of Technology
S.M. Mechanical Engineering (1987), Massachusetts Institute of Technology
S.B. Mechanical Engineering (1986), Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Thomas Kurfess

Quicktab - Person

Professor Kurfess began his academic career at Carnegie Mellon University where he rose to the rank of Associate Professor. In 1994, he moved to the Georgia Institute of Technology where he rose to the rank of Professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. In 2005, he was named Professor and BMW Chair of Manufacturing in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Clemson University’s International Center for Automotive Research. In 2012, he returned to Georgia Tech as a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and the HUSCO/Ramirez Distinguished Chair in Fluid Power and Motion Control.

During 2012-2013, Dr. Kurfess 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. In this position he had responsibility for engaging the Federal sector and the greater scientific community to identify possible areas for policy actions related to manufacturing. He was responsible for coordinating Federal advanced manufacturing R&D, addressing issues related to technology commercialization, identifying gaps in current Federal R&D in advanced manufacturing, and developing strategies to address these gaps.

Professor Kurfess has served as a special consultant of the United Nations to the Government of Malaysia in the area of applied mechatronics and manufacturing, and as a participating guest at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in their Precision Engineering Program. He has testified in a number of patent cases, including testifying at the International Trade Commission (ITC). He currently serves on the Board of Governors for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the Board of Directors the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS), and the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM), and on the Board of Trustees of the MT Connect  Institute. He served on the Board of Directors for the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME). He is the President of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. His research focuses on the design and development of advanced systems targeting the automotive sector (OEM and supplier) including vehicle and production systems. He has significant experience in high precision manufacturing and metrology systems. He has received numerous awards including a National Science Foundation (NSF) Young Investigator Award, an NSF Presidential Faculty Fellowship Award, the ASME Pi Tau Sigma Award, SME Young Manufacturing Engineer of the Year Award, the ASME Blackall Machine Tool and Gage Award, the ASME Gustus L. Larson Award, an ASME Swanson Federal Award, and the SME Education Award. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering, and a Fellow of the AAAS, the SME and the ASME.

Expertise:
  • Manufacturing and Automation and Mechatronics
  • Advanced Automation
  • Precision Manufacturing
  • Metrology
  • Technology Policy
The Society of Manufacturing Engineers, Albert M. Sargent Progress Award - 2021
International Association of Advanced Materials (IAAM) Scientist Medal - 2021
Elected to the National Academy of Engineering - 2020
Board of Governors, American Society of Mechanical Engines - 2019-2022
President, Society of Manufacturing Engineers - 2018
Computer Aided Engineering and Applications, Honorary Editor - 2017-present
Member at Large – ASME Council on Standards & Certification - 2016 - 2019
Vice-President, Society of Manufacturing Engineers - 2016
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Manufacturing Industries Division Board, Thatcher Brothers Prize - 2016
The Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology – Zeigler Outstanding Educator Award - 2015
Treasurer, Society of Manufacturing Engineers - 2015
Board of Directors – National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM) - 2013 - present
Board of Trustees, MTConnect Institute - 2013 - present
The American Society of Mechanical Engineering, Swanson Federal Fellow - 2012
Board of Directors, Society of Manufacturing Engineers - 2010 - 2019
SME Education Award - 2010
Board of Directors – National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) - 2009-2012, 2013 - present
Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science - 2008
President North American Manufacturing Research Institute of SME - 2007-2008
Clemson University – Frank A. Burtner Award for Excellence in Advising - 2007
Fellow of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers - 2006
Association for Manufacturing Technology Charles F. Carter, Jr. Advancing Manufacturing Award - 2005
American Society of Mechanical Engineers - Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering Associate Editor - 2005
American Society of Mechanical Engineers - Fellow - 2004
American Society of Mechanical Engineers - Japan-U.S.A. Symposium on Flexible Automation Program Committee Chair - 2004
Research in Engineering Design, Associate Editor - 2003-2017
Computer Aided Engineering and Applications, Associate Editor - 2003-2017
Society of Manufacturing Engineers- North American Research Institute Board of Directors - 2002-2010
International Journal of Engineering Education, Editorial Advisory Board - 2002 - present
American Society of Mechanical Engineers - Gustus L. Larson Memorial Award - 2002
Georgia Institute of Technology - Outstanding Faculty Leadership for the Development of Graduate Research Assistants Award - 2002
American Society of Mechanical Engineers - Blackall Machine Tool and Gage Award - 2001
Georgia Institute of Technology - Class of 1940 W. Howard Ector’s Outstanding Teacher Award - 2000
NSF Committee of Visitors for the Engineering Education and Centers Division - 2000
Co-Chair, NSF Workshop on the Future of Eng. Education, Eng. Education and Centers Division - 2000
SME Journal of Manufacturing Processes, Associate Editor - 1999-2008
Society of Manufacturing Engineers - Journal of Manufacturing Processes Associate Editor - 1999-2005
American Society of Mechanical Engineers - Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control and the Journal of Manufacturing Systems Associate Editor - 1996 -2000
North American Manufacturing Research Conference Co-Chair (with Steven Liang) - 1996 -1998
Society of Manufacturing Engineers - Philip R. Marsilius Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award - 1996
American Society of Mechanical Engineers - ASME/Pi Tau Sigma Gold Medal Award - 1995
International Symposium for Automotive Technology and Automation Conference Best Paper Award,Stuttgart, Germany - 1995
SME Journal of Manufacturing Systems, Associate Editor - 1993-2008
National Science Foundation - Presidential Faculty Fellowship - 1993 -1998
National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award - 1992-1997
George Tallman Ladd Award for Excellence in Research, (College of Engineering), Carnegie Mellon University - 1992
ISyE location map

Georgia Tech Supply Chain and
Logistics Institute
H. Milton Stewart School of
Industrial & Systems Engineering
765 Ferst Drive, NW, Suite 228
Atlanta, GA 30332
Phone: 404.894.2343