ASME president-elect honored for distinguished service at Penn State University

Sam Y. Zamrik, Ph.D., president-elect of ASME and professor emeritus at Pennsylvania State University (University Park), has received the Penn State Engineering Society’s (PSES) Distinguished Service Award. He will become the 126th president of ASME next month.

Zamrik, a resident of State College, Pa., was recognized for service to the Penn State Engineering Science and Mechanics (ESM) Department, for his service on the ESM Industrial and Professional Advisory Council, and for teaching and mentoring countless students and then providing them with guidance through their professional careers.

Sam Y. Zamrik (center) received the Penn State Engineering Society's (PSES) Distinguished Service Award. Ceremony was held March 30, 2007 at the Kunkle Activities Center at PSU. (Photo left Robert N. Pangborn, PSU vice president and dean of Undergraduate Studies and ASME senior vice president and chair of Strategic Management. Photo right: David Wormley, dean of Engineering College at PSU).

Prof. Emeritus Zamrik and his wife founded the Sam Y. and Myrna R. Zamrik Scholarship for qualifying undergraduate students in the ESM Department. He is a regular participant in the College of Engineering’s annual PSES golf tournament, which benefits the PSES Endowed Scholarships for promising Penn State engineering students. Now retired, Zamrik remains active in teaching courses as a volunteer and continues to serve on the ESM Industrial and Professional Advisory Council.

At a ceremony honoring Zamrik and other awards recipients held last week, he was introduced as “an excellent ambassador for engineering science and mechanics.”

During his 35 years of association with ASME, Zamrik has served in a number of leadership positions, including as a member of the ASME Board of Governors (2002- 2005) and as vice-president of Materials and Structures (1999-2002). He served on the ASME Board of Professional Development (1995-2001) and the Board on Pressure Technology Codes and Standards (1994 to 2004). Zamrik has published more than 180 technical papers and reports on fatigue analysis, life prediction, biaxial loading, and thermal analysis. His area of professional expertise is in pressure vessels technology. He became a fellow of the Society in 1983.

Throughout his service in ASME, Zamrik has been active in student outreach, codes and standards, and volunteer training. He also has been involved in global initiatives, both within the Society and as a visiting professor at American University in Cairo, Egypt.

As ASME president, Zamrik plans to reinforce the Society’s work with engineering students, early-career engineers, and women and minorities so that ASME will continue to have programs that actively promote and expand participation by all these important member groups.

Zamrik attended the University of Texas, receiving a B.A. in mathematics in 1956, and a bachelor’s of science degree in mechanical engineering in 1957. He continued his education and training at Penn State University, earning M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in engineering mechanics in 1962 and 1965, respectively.

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