New Faces program includes member; ASME's '05 nomination list sets record

Emily Smith
ASME NEWS

Among the New Faces of Engineering unveiled last month during EWeek is Mehmet Ali Ersudas, an ASME member who is a project engineer at EGE Holding in Adapazari, Turkey.

The New Faces of Engineering program is a global effort that was created in 2003 to highlight the innovative work of young engineers and how the world benefits from their work.

Mehmet Ali Ersudas

Ersudas was one of 14 engineers selected by an Engineers Week committee from a list of 65 nominees. The 2005 nominees were submitted by the professional societies affiliated with EWeek. All were featured in an ad in USA Today that was published during EWeek.

Working at the grassroots level during 2004, ASME gathered a list of names to be submit-
ted for consideration by the EWeek committee. That list increased to 24, the highest number of submissions for ASME since the program began.

"The number of outstanding candidates was a welcome burden for us," said Victoria A. Rockwell, senior vice president of ASME's Council on Public Affairs who, representing ASME as this year's lead Society, is serving as chair of Engineers Week. "It was wonderful to have so many well-qualified choices," she explained, "but hard to be able to choose only five. Everyone needs to understand that to be chosen by ASME as a finalist for this program is an extremely impressive accomplishment, particularly given the level of competition."

The four other ASME finalists who were sent to EWeek are Sameer Kamrudin Bachani, Jessica Berens, Cassandra Dugal and David Youmans. Their bios can be found at www.asme.org/eng_week.

In whittling down its list to no more than five finalists, as required by EWeek, ASME was guided by the criteria that the EWeek committee would consider in making its final selection: All nominees have been out of school from two to five years and are 30 years old or younger. The experiences weighed included innovative work, activity within their professional society, involvement in their local community and leadership skills. Gender and ethnicity were also considered by the EWeek committee to ensure the program's overall diversity.

As a project engineer at EGE, Ersudas leads a 30-person operation and maintenance team that is responsible for the design, construction and management of preventive maintenance throughout the facility.

Ersudas has planned and implemented preventive maintenance systems that regulate vibration control, lubrication and special valve implementations for pressure vessels, as well as being involved in several research and development projects for corrosive environments. He maintained a CAD-based drawing system for the facility, and focused on calibration of mechanical and electrical measurement devices. His work will save the company an
estimated $600,000.

Ersudas also recently established an Istanbul chapter of ASME-partner Engineers Without Borders, an organization that mobilizes volunteer engineers and engineering students to design and implement sustainable projects that bring long-term benefits to communities around the globe.

Previously, Ersudas served as an engineer lieutenant in the Turkish Army, worked with the Yildiz Technical University Graduates Association, and served as a member of the Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion, for Reforestation and the Protection of Natural Habitats. In Turkey, he is a member of the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects.

 

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