National Science Foundation Director Honored by ASME for His Contributions to Applied Mechanics

NEW YORK, November 20, 2012 — Subra Suresh, Sc.D., director of the National Science Foundation (Arlington, Va.), was honored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). He was recognized for pioneering contributions and visionary leadership in the field of mechanics of biological materials; for the development of novel experimental techniques and multi-scale models for living systems and infectious diseases; and for global leadership in mechanics of medicine. He received the Society's Timoshenko Medal.

The medal, established in 1957, is conferred annually to commemorate the contributions of Stephen P. Timoshenko, author, teacher and world-renowned authority in the field of applied mechanics. The award was presented to Dr. Suresh at the Society's annual Honors Assembly held in conjunction with ASME's 2012 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, in Houston, Nov. 9 through 15.

Suresh, distinguished engineer and scientist, was nominated by President Barack Obama and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) in September 2010. As director of this $7 billion independent federal agency, he leads the only government science agency charged with advancing all fields of fundamental science and engineering research and related education. NSF's programs and initiatives keep the United States at the forefront of science and engineering, empower future generations of scientists and engineers, and foster economic growth and innovation.

Prior to joining NSF, Suresh served as dean of the School of Engineering and the Vannevar Bush professor of engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge. His experimental and modeling work on the mechanical properties of structural and functional materials, innovations in materials design and characterization, and discoveries of possible connections between cellular nanomechanical processes and human disease states have shaped new fields in the fertile intersections of traditional disciplines.

His career experience includes postdoctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (1981-83) before joining the engineering faculty (1983-93) at Brown University (Providence, R.I.). While at Brown University, he was selected by the White House for the NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award (1985-1990).

Suresh is a Fellow of ASME and has co-authored more than 240 journal articles, registered 21 patents and written three widely used books on materials science. More than 100 students, postdoctoral fellows and visiting scholars have been members of his research group, and many of them now occupy prominent positions in academia, industry and government worldwide. He has been elected to ten academies, and is an elected fellow or honorary member of all the major materials research societies in the United States and India.

Suresh received his bachelor of technology degree in mechanical engineering, first class with distinction, from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, in 1977; his master's degree in mechanical engineering from Iowa State University, Ames, in 1979; and his Sc.D degree in mechanical engineering from MIT in 1981. He holds seven honorary doctorate degrees from academic institutions in the United States, Sweden, Spain, India and Switzerland.

About ASME ASME helps the global engineering community develop solutions to real world challenges. Founded in 1880 as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ASME is a not-for-profit professional organization that enables collaboration, knowledge sharing and skill development across all engineering disciplines, while promoting the vital role of the engineer in society. ASME codes and standards, publications, conferences, continuing education and professional development programs provide a foundation for advancing technical knowledge and a safer world. For more information visit www.asme.org.