Rotating machinery pioneer Donald E. Bently has formed a new company, Bently Pressurized Bearing Co. The firm has developed a new bearing technology that gives machinery engineers greater ability to control machine condition and behavior. Bently pioneered the use of the eddy current proximity transducer. As founder and president of Bently Nevada Corp., he is widely recognized for his innovations in vibration monitoring instrumentation and using vibration data to better diagnose and manage rotating machinery problems over the past 40 years. Bently has received many awards for his accomplishments in rotor dynamics. He was co-recipient of ASME's Frederick P. Smarro Award last year for his contributions to plant maintenance and engineering. He also received ASME's Tom Sawyer Award in 1999 for advancements in gas turbine engine development. Bently, an ASME Fellow and member of ASME's Industry Advisory Board, has been a Society member since 1988.

Vijay K. Dhir, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, has been named interim dean of the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dhir, who joined the faculty in 1974, most recently served as an associate dean for academic and faculty issues. He officially took on his interim dean responsibilities on Feb. 21. Dhir is a former assistant editor of Applied Mechanics Reviews. He was also an associate editor of ASME's Journal of Heat Transfer and, since 2000, has been senior technical editor for that journal. Dhir, an ASME Fellow, has been a member of the Society since 1977.

Alma U. Martinez Fallon was selected president-elect for the Society of Women Engineers. She will become president of the society in 2003. Fallon is the manager of planning and manufacturing for the structural, fabrication and assembly division at Northrop Grumman Newport News in Virginia, where she leads a group of 60 engineers and planners. She is a senior life member of SWE and has been a member of that organization since 1985. She has been active for more than a decade in other societies, including ASME and the American Association of University Women. Fallon has held a number of offices within ASME, and is currently a representative on ASME's Admissions Committee. She has been an ASME member since 1987.

Ronald K. Hanson, the Clarence J. and Patricia R. Woodard Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University, was one of four Stanford professors elected to the National Academy of Engineering. Academy membership honors those who have made important contributions to engineering theory and practice and those who have demonstrated unusual accomplishments in the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology. Hanson, the chair of Stanford's mechanical engineering department, was cited for the development and application of innovative laser diagnostics and sensors in the fields of combustion, chemical kinetics and power conversion. He has been an ASME member since 1995.

Marshall G. Jones, P.E., a mechanical engineer at the GE Global Research Center in Schenectady, N.Y., was awarded the 2001 Coolidge Award, the highest honor given to a GE Research Center employee. Jones was honored for his many contributions, both professionally and in the community. He is one of the world's foremost authorities in the field of fiber-optic laser beam technology. His numerous contributions to the field include the invention, development and demonstration of a technique for injecting high-power laser energy into single-core fiber-optic cables. Jones, an ASME Fellow, has been a member of ASME since 1975. He is currently the Hoover Medal Representative on the ASME Joint Award Board. Jones received two ASME Dedicated Service Awards during his years with the Society, and has held a number of ASME posts.

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