Engineering professor honored with lifetime service award

Scott Smith, chair of the Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science Department, received the Outstanding Lifetime Service Award from the North American Manufacturing Research Institution of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (NAMRI/SME) at the 46th annual North American Manufacturing Research Conference (NAMRC) held in College Station, Texas.

The award honors distinguished members for their long-term dedication and contributions to NAMRI/SME.

NAMRC is an international forum for applied research and industrial applications in manufacturing and design. NAMRI/SME brings together researchers from leading companies, government laboratories, academic institutions and industrial think tanks to advance the scientific foundation of discrete-parts manufacturing.

At the 2018 NAMRC event, UNC Charlotte Mechanical Engineering Professor John Ziegert presented the NAMRI/SME Founders Lecture. This talk was established to honor individuals who served on the NAMRC Scientific Committee from 1973 to 1981 and those members who founded NAMRI/SME.

SME connects manufacturing professionals, academia and communities, sharing knowledge and resources to build inspired, educated and prosperous manufacturers and enterprises.

Photo: Smith, second left, with Hitomi Yamaguchi, 2018-19 NAMRI/SME president; Thomas Kurfess, 2018 SME president; and Jeffrey Krause, SME executive director and CEO.