Kamlakar Rajurkar, 2018 M. Eugene Merchant Manufacturing Medal of ASME/SME

The M. Eugene Merchant Manufacturing Medal was established in 1986 by ASME and SME to honor an individual who has played a significant role in improving the productivity and efficiency of the manufacturing operation.

Kamlakar Rajurkar, Ph.D., distinguished professor of engineering, and mechanical and materials engineering at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, is honored for pioneering contributions to enhance the productivity of nontraditional machining processes used in automobile, aerospace and medical device manufacturing, including electrical discharge machining and electrochemical machining at macro, micro and nanoscales, through extensive research in process modeling and in sensing and control techniques.

With Nebraska since 1983, Dr. Rajurkar is founding director of the Center for Nontraditional Manufacturing Research. In addition to serving in various leadership positions in the College of Engineering, he served as program director of Manufacturing Machines and Equipment at the National Science Foundation (1999-2002).

Dr. Rajurkar has more than 135 refereed publications, and he has had nearly 125 technically edited papers published in conference proceedings. He has given keynote presentations at many international manufacturing conferences and is co-inventor on a U.S. patent on cryogenically cooled tool machining.

An ASME Fellow, Dr. Rajurkar served as vice president (now technical group leader) of Manufacturing (2005-08) and associate editor of the Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering (1991-96, 2004-06). He also has organized sessions at symposia and has been a reviewer of ASME journals. In 1995 he received the Blackall Machine Tool and Gage Award.

Dr. Rajurkar is also a Fellow of SME and CIRP–The International Academy for Production Engineering. Among his other honors are awards for research, teaching and service.

Dr. Rajurkar earned three degrees in mechanical engineering: his bachelor’s degree with honors from Jabalpur University in India in 1966; and his master’s degree and Ph.D. from Michigan Technological University in Houghton in 1979 and 1982, respectively.

Video profile produced and written by Roger Torda and edited by Juan Yepes.

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