NAMRC is North America's top forum for applied research in manufacturing, uniting experts to share insights and advance innovation.
SME awarded outstanding manufacturing researchers and professionals for their significant contributions to the industry at the 53rd annual North American Manufacturing Research Conference (NAMRC 53), hosted by Clemson University. Organized annually by the North American Manufacturing Research Institution of SME (NAMRI | SME), NAMRC is North America’s leading international forum for applied research and innovation in manufacturing and design, bringing together global researchers, industry leaders, engineers and students to share insights and present cutting-edge research to drive innovation, efficiency, and quality in modern manufacturing.
Named in honor of the late Dr. Shien-Ming (S.M.) Wu of the University of Michigan, this award recognizes outstanding research presented at NAMRC that has achieved significant commercial and/or societal impact following implementation. The 2025 award was presented to:
The Lead Contributors:
- Jeffery A. Abell, Ph.D., FSME, CMfgE, PE – Director and Chief Scientist, Materials and Manufacturing System Research, General Motors R&D
- S. Jack Hu, Ph.D. – UGA Foundation Distinguished Professor and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, University of Georgia
- Chenhui Shao, Ph.D. – Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan
- J. Patrick Spicer, D.Eng. – Chief Technologist, Materials and Manufacturing Research, General Motors
The nominated team has made groundbreaking contributions to both fundamental research and commercial applications. Industry’s first online monitoring system for ultrasonic welding of EV batteries using physics-informed dimensionality reduction, machine learning, and a progressive deployment strategy. Savings to Chevy Volt were $22M, with significant additional savings expected in vehicle applications using the established framework.
- M. Wu Research Implementation Authors – Award Teams
- Paper #1: Shao, C., Paynabar, K., Kim, T.H., Jin, J.J., Hu, S.J., Spicer, J.P., Wang, H. and Abell, J.A., “Feature selection for manufacturing process monitoring using cross-validation,” SME NAMRC 41, June 10-14, 2013, Madison, Wisconsin.
- Paper #2: Liu, T., Wu, X. and Cai, W., “Microstructure, welding mechanism, and failure of Al/Cu ultrasonic welds.
- Paper #3: J. Patrick Spicer , Debejyo Chakraborty , Michael Wincek , Jeffrey Abell, “Implementation strategy for launch and performance improvement of high throughput manufacturing inspection systems”
NAMRI | SME Outstanding Lifetime Service Award
This award honors members for their long-standing service and contributions to NAMRI | SME. The 2025 recipient was:
- Steven R. Hayashi – Senior Principal Engineer, GE Research (Retired)
Hayashi served on the NAMRI board for eight years, including a term as president (2010–2011). He holds 38 patents and continues to serve as a consultant for GE Aerospace.
Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award
Two recipients of the 2025 Shiv Kapoor Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award, whose namesake this year is Shiv Kapoor, Ph.D., the Grayce Wicall Gauthier Chair Emeritus and Professor Emeritus in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, were recognized at NAMRC 53. This distinction is awarded to engineers under 35 who have made exceptional contributions early in their careers:
- Fred M. Carter III – Head of Research and Development, DMG Mori
- Shane Whitaker – Staff Applications Engineer, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics
2025 Outstanding Paper Awards
Three research papers were recognized as Outstanding Papers from among nearly 270 submissions received during calendar year 2024:
- “Real-Time Decision Making for Digital Twin Additive Manufacturing with Model Predictive Control Using Time-Series Deep Neural Networks”
Authors: Yi-Ping Chen, Vispi Karkaria, Ying-Kuan Tsai, Faith Rolark, Daniel Quispe, Robert Gao, Jian Cao, Wei Chen - “Directed Energy Deposition on Sheet Metal Forming for Reinforcement Structures”
Authors: Fan Chen, Rujing Zha, Jihoon Jeong, Shuheng Liao, Jian Cao - “Efficient Screening of Rare Large Pit Anomalies on Polished Surfaces Using a Minimalist Sampling Scheme”
Authors: Sampson Canacoo, Shashank Galla, Yuhao Zhong, Shikiran Chary Nalband, Sean Michael Hayes, Monika Biener, Suhas Bhandarkar, Satish Bukkapatnam
NAMRC Student Research Presentation Award
This award supports the development of future leaders in manufacturing research. Finalists co-author and present their papers to a panel from the NAMRI | SME Honors Committee. The two winners of the 2025 competition was:
- “Milling Force Measurement Using a Constrained Motion Dynamometer with Compensation” by Jose Nazario, Dylan Pollard and Tony Schmitz
- “A Bi-Level Supply Chain Resilience Model Using Cloud Manufacturing” by Wei Ye, Shanshan Yang and Xingyu Li
SME Blue Sky Award / David Dornfeld Manufacturing Vision Award
This competition encourages bold, transformative ideas that address grand challenges in manufacturing and can attract government support. Finalists present to the Blue Sky Competition Selection Committee. The winner of the 2025 competition was:
- Winner: “Manufacturing Empathy: Sensorial AI for Rewriting Human-AI Collaboration” by Cristian Garcia-Ponce, Niloofar Rezaei, Marcus DiBattista, John Bradley Frericks, Dr. Jaime Andres Camelio from the University of Georgia
NAMRI Founders Lecture
Following the NAMRI | SME Awards Ceremony, the 2025 Founders Lecture was delivered by Ramulu Mamidala, Ph.D., Boeing-Pennell Professor of Engineering at the University of Washington. In his presentation, “An Overview of Advances in Machining Science of Aerospace Materials,” Mamidala highlighted innovations in machining composite and hybrid materials that are helping industries reduce weight, emissions, and costs. He also addressed the technical challenges of working with advanced materials and shared strategies to improve tool performance, precision, and surface quality—underscoring the broader impact of machining science on modern engineering and sustainability.
For more information, visit https://namrc.sme.org/.
