K. Ravindra, P.E., chair of the aerospace and mechanical engineering department at Parks College of Saint Louis University, has contributed significantly to the engineering educational infrastructure. He started the mechanical engineering program and now it is one of the finest programs in the country. The program has several innovative features, such as courses on state-of-the-art topics (mechatronics and consumer product design), industry-sponsored projects and hands-on techniques. He is an associate fellow of AIAA. Ph.D. (1987), Pennsylvania State University.

John E. Renaud, P.E., is a faculty member in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Notre Dame. He spent five years as a manufacturing systems design engineer with the Eastman Kodak Co. He is a National Science Foundation National Young Investigator Award winner and currently is chair of the ASME Design Automation Technical Committee. Renaud's research interests include large-scale numerical optimization, simulation-based design under uncertainty, shape optimization in orthopedics and biomechanics, parallel computing in large-scale optimization and multifunctional materials. Funding in support of his research efforts comes from the NSF, NASA, General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., among others. Ph.D. (1992), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

H. Ronald Riggs has been active in academic and industrial research. His research has produced several well-known design/analysis software programs used in U.S. industry. They include MANOA, Hydran, OCI/HydroMOB and VHC/PBridge. He conceived and was the primary programmer of MANOA (MAtrix and Numerical-Oriented Analysis), an educational/research tool that is in the public domain and can be downloaded from the Web. It also forms the kernel of the analysis engines of the other three programs. OCI/HydroMOB was developed for the Navy, while VHC/PBridge was developed for the Army. He has more than 50 technical publications. In his 15-year teaching career, Riggs has helped produce engineers in such prominent organizations as Parametric Technology Corp. and the American Bureau of Shipping. M.S. (1976), University of California, Berkeley.

Joseph L. Rose, the Paul Morrow Professor in Design and Manufacturing at Pennsylvania State University's Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, is the author of more than 380 articles in the ultrasonic field. He has developed eight patents, and published four textbooks on wave mechanics, guided waves and dispersion principles. Rose is an ASNT Fellow and has received numerous teaching and research awards. Among them are the Mehl Honor Lecture Award in 2001 and the Pennsylvania State University Premier Research Award in 2002. Ph.D. (1970), Drexel University.

Robert J. Sanford is an internationally renowned scholar and researcher in experimental solid mechanics and fracture mechanics. He has also established himself as a leader in engineering education at the University of Maryland. His efforts have been recognized by his peers through various awards from the Naval Research Labs and the Society for Experimental Mechanics; by his students and colleagues through departmental and national-level Awards for Outstanding Teaching; and by government and industry through the support he has attracted for his research and development work at the University of Maryland and the Naval Research Labs. Ph.D. (1972), The Catholic University of America, Washington.

Ramanujam R. Sekar's career in the United States alone covers more than three decades. His field of choice has been thermoscience and diesel engines. At Cummins Engine Co., he was involved in crucial heat exchanger development at a time when intercoolers were rapidly becoming standard in diesel engines. Later, he participated in the early development of a daring new engine concept, the adiabatic diesel. At Argonne National Laboratory, Sekar started engine research activity from ground zero, and in about a dozen years, he converted the initial one-man effort into a busy group with nine professionals and three technicians. His engine research has resulted in many awards and significant new developments, including ground-breaking technologies, such as use of membrane gas separation in diesels and X-ray diagnostics for spray research. M.S. (1969), University of Wisconsin.

Alok Sinha has significantly advanced the state of the art in developing methods for predicting the vibratory response of gas turbine engines and robust control techniques for flexible structures. He has served as an active member of ASME: an associate technical editor of the ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control, meeting organizer, and program committee member. He has made significant contributions to mechanical engineering education at Pennsylvania State University. Ph.D. (1983), Carnegie Mellon University.

Winston O. Soboyejo, a world-renowned researcher, scientist and educator, earned his bachelor's degree from the University of London. He has contributed immensely to the current state of knowledge in fatigue and fracture, mechanical behavior of materials and structures for applications in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering and bioengineering for biomedical applications. The author and co-author of several publications in these fields, he is a full professor in mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton University. He has made outstanding contributions to ASME and other engineering organizations. Ph.D. (1988), Cambridge University.

Vijay K. Varadan developed a unified T-matrix approach for scattering and diffraction by arbitrary shaped inclusions and defects for acoustic, electromagnetic and elastic wave fields. He also came up with a unique non-contact measurement system capable of measuring dielectric and magnetic properties of composites. The system is being marketed through HVS Technologies, which he founded in 1986. He has created wireless passive MEMS and SAW sensors for remote measurement of temperature, humidity, pressure, torque, etc., and health monitoring of structures. Varadan also developed a Micro Stereo Lithography System for production of truly 3-D MEMS, BioMEMS and nanostructures with carbon nanotubes, and invented a novel microwave CVD system for large-scale production of carbon nanotubes. Ph.D. (1974), Northwestern University.

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