Innovation is a "journey": Zamrik becomes 126th ASME president

TORONTO — In his inaugural speech at the Summer Annual Meeting here last month, new ASME President Sam Y. Zamrik observed that before the Society can hope to achieve one of its fundamental goals - promoting innovative ideas in engineering education — the concept of "innovation" needs to be defined properly.

"I'd like to point out that innovation is not a product, but a way of thinking," Zamrik said during his address at a special president's dinner. "It is more than new technology. It is more than an agent of change. Being innovative is not just about how to use technology or having access to it. It's the journey we take through the use of new technology to achieve our objectives."

Terry Shoup (right) presents Sam Zamrik with the ASME Presidential Medallion as the 126th president.

After teasingly thanking the Nominating Committee for their "good choice" in selecting him, Zamrik showed his earnest side as he discussed his affiliation with ASME. Zamrik, a consultant and professor emeritus of engineering mechanics at Pennsylvania State University, as well as a 33-year member of ASME, said that apart from being elected as ASME president, the two most important moments of his professional career both involved ASME — being asked to become a member of the Society's Pressure Vessel Technology Committee and, later, becoming a member of the Board of Governors.

"As I became involved with all of our sectors, I found that we are, in reality, a multidimensional society with a complex and diverse structure and competing needs," Zamrik said. "What is so rewarding to me is that even with this complexity and wide diversity of views, we are all operating under one umbrella called 'ASME'…. This is what distinguishes us from other professional societies," he continued.

"I submit to you that we must have the foresight to recognize changes that favor new alternatives. We have the ability to become the innovator in multidisciplinary technologies."

(From left) ASME President-Nominee Thomas Barlow, new ASME President Sam Zamrik and immediate Past President Terry Shoup.

Characterizing engineers as "enterprise enablers," Zamrik elaborated, "This is what we do — we bring science into practical use, into reality. Today that challenges us because we all live in a global market that is highly competitive and aggressively changing."

In order to meet these challenges, Zamrik said that "ASME has put a high priority on creating robust industry partnerships (that) identify and respond to current and future needs. And foremost in our initiatives, we have ASME Solutions. It is focused on customized and packaged approaches to industry needs in pressure technology, energy and power, water management, and homeland security."

In addition, Zamrik said that Society leaders "asked (themselves) what ASME can do to keep an eye on future markets. We are looking for companies, organizations, coalitions, and others who work in ways that help accelerate the time it takes to move from design to market and to those who are risk takers and possess the agility to respond to the changing market."

Gene Feigel (left), a past president of ASME, with immediate Past President Terry Shoup at the President's Dinner at the Summer Annual Meeting.

ASME, Zamrik continued, is "about knowledge and the integration of ideas. We are the integrator. But to do that, we need to embrace those who create knowledge and (understand) how it is distributed and stored. We can increase this knowledge base by including additional members, reaching out to untapped talent, and by committing ourselves to diversity."

To that end, the Society is in the process of launching an international version of its Diversity Action Grant program, called "Students Promoting Inclusion in ME Globally." ASME has also organized a Diversity Subgroup of its K-12 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Coalition. ASME departments will work with the new subgroup to enhance the Society's impact on U.S. government policy programs.

As a member of the Board of Governors, Zamrik was active in the Continuity and Change reorganization. He was chair of two critical Continuity and Change teams: the Reorganization Review Team and the Project Management Review Team.

Zamrik also served as vice president of the Society's Council on Engineering, and served on several ASME Boards, including Codes and Standards, Professional Development, and Publications.

As chair of the Pressure Vessels and Piping Division, he developed innovative financial methods that increased the division's custodial fund by 500 percent in 10 years' time. In honor of his contributions, the ASME Journal of Pressure Vessel Technology Literature Award was renamed "The Sam Zamrik Literature Award" in 2005.

back to news & features