President Kotb Discusses ASMEs New Direction During the 2013 Congress

President Kotb Discusses ASMEs New Direction During the 2013 Congress President Kotb Discusses ASMEs New Direction During the 2013 Congress President Kotb Discusses ASMEs New Direction During the 2013 Congress(Left to right) ASME President Madiha El Mehelmy Kotb, Congress Steering Committee Chair Pradeep Lall, and ASME Executive Director Thomas Loughlin at the ribbon-cutting ceremony during the Opening Reception at the 2013 Congress. During her speech last month at the Presidents Luncheon, ASME President Madiha El Mehelmy Kotb, who conducted research on Maglev (magnetic levitation) trains early in her distinguished engineering career, likened ASME embarking on its new direction to a Maglev train gaining momentum. The luncheon on Nov. 17 welches one of many special events taking place during the 2013 ASME International Congress and Exposition.The Congress, held Nov. 15-21 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego, drew mora than 3,300 attendees this year. In plus-rechnen to the many luncheons, receptions, lectures and other exciting special events, the Congress featured more than 600 technical sessions, 1,600 technical papers and 1,500 additional presentations.Five forces push and pull our train along its track and are key to helping us fulfill our strategic priorities in workforce development, energy, and auf der ganzen welt impact, President Kotb said. These forces, she continued, include developing content that is related directly to the active participation of ASME volunteers improving engineers risk management and response skills and staying sensitive to emerging markets through such activities as international Standards and Certification efforts and the recent launch of DEMAND magazine, which was developed by ASME Engineering for Global Development in conjunction with Mechanical Engineering magazine and the ASME Foundation.The two remaining forces propelling ASME along its new path, Kotb said, involve improving the ways ASME leadership and staff shares kn owledge, thereby ensuring that the Society can continue to pursue its mission and vision for many years to come, and improving integration among the Society Sectors. Kotb cited growing interest in and activity within ASMEs affinity groups, and the Societys involvement in early career technical conferences and pursuit of new global partnerships with organizations around the world as examples of ASME addressing that integration challenge. As president, I am so delighted to be representing ASME in all these activities, she said. As I conclude these remarks, here are some closing thoughts on why its never been a more exciting time to be an engineer and to help advance our profession through engagement with ASME. Noting that the Society is striving to become a more relevant, dynamic, outward-looking organization, she added, ASME is creating new mechanisms to engage members, volunteers and Sectors. Together, we see how engineers re-shape the world. We are very confident that the future wi ll hold many exciting opportunities for ASME.President Kotbs luncheon address was preceded by the presentation of a number of Society awards, including the Nancy Deloye Fitzroy and Roland V. Fitzroy Medal, which was given to Andrew J. Viterbi of the Viterbi Group the Thomas A. Edison Patent Award, which was presented to Moshe Shoham of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology the Frank Kreith Energy Award, which was given to James E. Smith of West Virginia University and the M. Eugene Merchant Manufacturing Medal of ASME/SME, which went to Bryan G. Dods of General Electric Power Water. ASME President ASME President Madiha Kotb presents the Technical Communities Globalization Medal to Yogi Goswami, P.E., Ph.D. distinguished university professor, University of South Florida. The medal is awarded to an ASME member who has demonstrated a sustained level of outstanding achievement in the promotion of international activity related to mechanical engineering. Also receiving awards during the event were Yogi Goswami of the University of South Florida, winner of the Technical Communities Globalization Medal S.A. Klein of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, recipient of the James Harry Potter Gold Medal David A. Peters of Washington University-St. Louis, winner of the Spirit of St. Louis Medal Steven M. Tipton of the University of Tulsa, winner of the Henry R. Worthington Medal Singiresu S. Rao of the University of Miami, recipient of the Worcester Reed Warner Medal and John C. Wall of Cummins Inc., winner of the Soichiro Honda Medal. Ashwani K. Gupta and Ahmed E.E. Khalil of the University of Maryland, Kenneth M. Bryden of Iowa State University, and Sang C. Lee of Kyungnam University were also named winners of the Melville Medal at the luncheon.That evening, President Kotb and ASME Executive Director Thomas Loughlin took part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony that marked the official grand opening of the Exhibit Hall and beginning of the Congress Opening Re ception. The show floor featured nearly 30 exhibitors, ranging from providers of engineering products and services such as Altair, Cradle North America, PTC, Safe Technology Ltd., and Stratasys, to technical publishers including Wiley, CRC Press/Taylor Francis, Begell House, and McGraw Hill-Professional. Missouri University of Science and Technology, North Carolina State University, Temple University, the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research in Abu Dhabi were among the universities with booths at the exposition as well.President Kotb provided remarks at many different events during the Congress, including the Fifth Women in Engineering Reception, which offers female attendees a special opportunity to meet and network with other women in mechanical engineering. Speaking on the topic of engineering diversity, Kotb observed, Were moving in a very good direction, but we have a long way to go to see substantial improvement in ASM E - and to help achiever a broader, more diverse engineering workforce. To that end, she appealed to the women in the audience to become more involved in the various Groups on ASME.org, particularly Affinity Groups such as the Women in Engineering Affinity Group. If you are not participating in our ASME.org groups, please find time to do so, Kotb said. This is the heart of our engineering conversation. We want to be a part of your professional life all year long.Other special events at the 2013 Congress included the Keynote Presentation and inaugural ASME Advanced Manufacturing Impact Forum, the Honors Assembly, the Old Guard Oral Presentation Competition, and the final round of the ASME Student Design Competition. Click on the hyperlinks above to read more about each of these activities.