Engineering Leaders Honored by ASME at the 2014 Congress

Engineering Leaders Honored by ASME at the 2014 Congress Engineering Leaders Honored by ASME at the 2014 Congress Engineering Leaders Honored by ASME at the 2014 CongressUrsula Burns, chair and chief executive officer of Xerox Corp., accepts ASMEs Kate Gleason Award at the Honors Assembly at the 2014 Congress. Burns was acknowledged for zu sich distinguished career and her outstanding engineering and business leadership. Eight leaders of the engineering profession including Ursula Burns of Xerox, Van C. Mow from Columbia University and U.K. radio and television personality Adam Hart-Davis were recognized by ASME for their achievements at this years Honors Assembly. The opulent, multimedia gala was held Monday, Nov. 17, during the ASME Congress in Montreal.Burns, the chair and chief executive officer of Xerox Corp., received the Kate Gleason Award at the ceremony. Established in 2011, the award honors the legacy of Kate Gleason, the first woman to be welcomed into ASME as a f ull member and recognizes a female engineer who is a highly successful entrepreneur in a field of engineering or who has had a lifetime of achievement in the profession. Burns was being acknowledged for her outstanding engineering and business leadership and her distinguished career culminating in achieving the distinction of being the first black woman to lead a Fortune 100 company. ASME Medal recipient Van C. Mow (left) addressed the audience at the Honors Assembly after ASME President J. Robert Sims presented him with the award. Mow, the Stanley Dicker Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Orthopaedic Bioengineering at Columbia University, received the Societys highest award, the ASME Medal, which is conferred annually for eminently distinguished engineering achievement. Mow, an ASME Fellow, was recognized for his significant contributions to biomechanical and biomedical engineering, particularly seminal breakthroughs in understanding the biomechanics of huma n joints for educating and mentoring engineering students for broad and critical leadership of the nascent bioengineering profession and for his service to ASME. Hart-Davis, who is also a celebrated scientist, author, photographer, historian and philanthropist, was presented with the Societys Ralph Coats Roe Medal during the ceremony. Hart-Davis, was being recognized for his efforts to educate the public about science, technology, engineering and mathematics by making STEM both inspirational and accessible in multiple media formats and for celebrating engineers and the lasting impact of their contributions to the world. Established in 1972, the Ralph Coats Roe Medal recognizes an outstanding contribution toward a better public understanding and appreciation of the engineers worth to contemporary society. ASME President Bob Sims at the 2014 Honors Assembly. ASME Fellow James W. Coaker, principal of Coaker Co., received the Melvin R. Green Codes and Standards Me dal for his outstanding contributions in promoting the acceptance of ASME standards worldwide through personal engagement with key stakeholders, publications in industry journals, and professional development programs and for leadership in the development of performance standards that facilitate the incorporation of new technology and encourage innovative engineering solutions. The medal honors the memory and extraordinary contributions of Melvin R. Green, an ardent supporter of industrial standards and longtime employee of the Society. The Nancy DeLoye Fitzroy and Roland V. Fitzroy Medal, which recognizes pioneering contributions to the frontiers of engineering leading to a breakthrough in existing technology or leading to new engineering applications or areas, was awarded to ASME Fellow Xiang Zhang at the ceremony. Zhang, the Ernest S. Kuh endowed chair prof at the University of California Berkeley, was honored for his pioneering contributions in metamaterials and the creation o f the first optical superlens to overcome the fundamental diffraction limit in imaging, and for the invention of plasmonic lithography technology to advance nanoscale manufacturing. Three ASME Fellows Robert E. Nickell, Warren R. DeVries and Pol D. Spanos were awarded Honorary Membership in ASME during the assembly. First awarded in 1880, the founding year of the Society, Honorary Membership is the highest level of ASME membership and recognizes a lifetime of service to engineering or related fields. ASME Fellow James W. Coaker received the Melvin R. Green Codes and Standards Medal at this years ceremony. Nickell, a past president of ASME, is a consultant at Applied Science Technology. He was recognized for his contributions to the development of finite element methods for assessing material fatigue in nuclear reactor pressure vessels and piping and the development of detonation chambers for the disposal of chemical weapons. Nickell served as the Societys 118th president in 1999-2000, as well as member of the Board of Governors and as ASMEs secretary/treasurer. DeVries, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and former member of the ASME Board of Governors, is a leader in engineering education and pioneer in manufacturing processes and systems research. ASMEs current secretary/treasurer, DeVries was recognized for his contributions to engineering education and research as a professor for advancing the frontiers of discovery and innovation through public service and for his efforts as a professional society leader in promoting the recognition of engineerings contributions to humankind. Spanos, the L.B. Ryon endowed chair in engineering at Rice University, was recognized with Honorary Membership for his contributions to the dynamic analysis and design of diverse mechanical systems for effective pedagogies that have advanced engineering education and for his commitment to the improvement of s ociety through engineering innovation. A leading expert on the dynamics and vibrations of structural and mechanical systems, Spanos joined the Rice University faculty in 1984, after serving on the University of Texas at Austin faculty from 1977 to 1984.