The University System of Georgia (USG) Board of Regents honored 12 Georgia Tech faculty members across campus with Regents’ appointments at its April meeting.

Among those recognized is Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute (GTMI) Executive Director Thomas Kurfess, who was named Regents' Professor. The highest distinction awarded by the USG, Regents' distinctions recognize faculty members for academic, innovation, and entrepreneurial excellence.

About Kurfess

Thomas Kurfess

Regents’ Professor, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
HUSCO/Ramirez Distinguished Chair in Fluid Power and Motion Control

Kurfess researches advanced manufacturing systems, designing, developing, and optimizing new approaches for complex production systems. He helps lead a $65 million effort to use artificial intelligence in manufacturing and transform Georgia’s industrial economy. The Georgia AI Manufacturing (GA-AIM) Technology Corridor is creating and deploying new AI innovations across all manufacturing sectors while training the necessary talent and workforce.

In addition to his role as executive director of GTMI, Kurfess is the 2023-24 president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). 

He served as chief manufacturing officer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory from 2019 to 2021, overseeing strategic planning in advanced manufacturing. Kurfess also previously led the advanced manufacturing team at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy during the Obama administration from 2012 to 2013.

Kurfess is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, ASME, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

When U.S. Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter from Georgia’s 1st District visited Atlanta recently, one of his top priorities was meeting with the experts at Georgia Tech’s 20,000-square-foot Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility (AMPF).

Carter was recently named the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s chair of the Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials Subcommittee, a group that concerns itself primarily with contamination of soil, air, noise, and water, as well as emergency environmental response, whether physical or cybersecurity.

Because AMPF’s focus dovetails with subcommittee interests, the facility was a fitting stop for Carter, who was welcomed for an afternoon tour and series of live demonstrations. Programs within Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute — specifically the Georgia Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing (Georgia AIM) and Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) — were well represented.

“Innovation is extremely important,” Carter said during his April 1 visit. “In order to handle some of our problems, we’ve got to have adaptation, mitigation, and innovation. I’ve always said that the greatest innovators, the greatest scientists in the world, are right here in the United States. I’m so proud of Georgia Tech and what they do for our state and for our nation.”

Carter’s AMPF visit began with an introduction by Thomas Kurfess, Regents' Professor and HUSCO/Ramirez Distinguished Chair in Fluid Power and Motion Control in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and executive director of the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute; Steven Ferguson, principal research scientist and managing director at Georgia AIM; research engineer Kyle Saleeby; and Donna Ennis, the Enterprise Innovation Institute’s director of community engagement and program development, and co-director of Georgia AIM.

Ennis provided an overview of Georgia AIM, while Ferguson spoke on the Manufacturing 4.0 Consortium and Kurfess detailed the AMPF origin story, before introducing four live demonstrations.

The first of these featured Chuck Easley, Professor of the Practice in the Scheller College of Business, who elaborated on supply chain issues. Afterward, Alan Burl of EPICS: Enhanced Preparation for Intelligent Cybermanufacturing Systems and mechanical engineer Melissa Foley led a brief information session on hybrid turbine blade repair.

Finally, GaMEP project manager Michael Barker expounded on GaMEP’s cybersecurity services, and Deryk Stoops of Central Georgia Technical College detailed the Georgia AIM-sponsored AI robotics training program at the Georgia Veterans Education Career Transition Resource (VECTR) Center, which offers training and assistance to those making the transition from military to civilian life.

The topic of artificial intelligence, in all its subtlety and nuance, was of particular interest to Carter.

“AI is the buzz in Washington, D.C.,” he said. “Whether it be healthcare, energy, [or] science, we on the Energy and Commerce Committee look at it from a sense [that there’s] a very delicate balance, and we understand the responsibility. But we want to try to benefit from this as much as we can.”

“I heard something today I haven’t heard before," Carter continued, "and that is instead of calling it artificial intelligence, we refer to it as ‘augmented intelligence.’ I think that’s a great term, and certainly something I’m going to take back to Washington with me.”

“It was a pleasure to host Rep. Carter for a firsthand look at AMPF," shared Ennis, "which is uniquely positioned to offer businesses the opportunity to collaborate with Georgia Tech researchers and students and to hear about Georgia AIM.

“At Georgia AIM, we’re committed to making the state a leader in artificial intelligence-assisted manufacturing, and we’re grateful for Congressman Carter’s interest and support of our efforts."

 

Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore hosted the Meta-Factory Conference Jan. 23 – 24. It brought together academic leaders, industry experts, and manufacturing companies to discuss technology and the next generation of integrated manufacturing facilities.

Seth Hutchinson, executive director of the Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines at Georgia Tech, delivered a keynote lecture on “The Impacts of Today’s Robotics Innovation on the Relationship Between Robots and Their Human Co-Workers in Manufacturing Applications” — an overview of current state-of-the-art robotic technologies and future research trends for developing robotics aimed at interactions with human workers in manufacturing.

In addition to the keynote, Hutchinson also participated in the Hyundai Motor Group's Smart Factory Executive Technology Advisory Committee (E-TAC) panel on comprehensive future manufacturing directions and toured the new Hyundai Meta-Factory to observe how digital-twin technology is being applied in their human-robot collaborative manufacturing environment.

Hutchinson is a professor in the School of Interactive Computing. He received his Ph.D. from Purdue University in 1988, and in 1990 joined the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he was professor of electrical and computer engineering until 2017 and is currently professor emeritus. He has served on the Hyundai Motor Group's Smart Factory E-TAC since 2022.

Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore is Hyundai Motor Group’s open innovation hub to support research and development of human-centered smart manufacturing processes using advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and robotics.

- Christa M. Ernst

Related Links

• Hyundai Newsroom Article: Link
• Event Link: https://mfc2024.com/
• Keynote Speakers: https://mfc2024.com/keynotes/

As we tap into the new year, alumnus Chris Gaffney (BSIE ’85, MSIE ’86) steps into his role as the Managing Director of the Supply Chain and Logistics Institute (SCL) and the Academic Program Director for Georgia Tech Professional Education (GTPE). With expertise in the field, his return to Georgia Tech welcomes fresh methods and inspiration to enhance the program's supply chain operations. Having earned both his degrees from the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE), Gaffney's journey intertwines deeply with the institution’s growth and impact.

Gaffney’s Return

"For the most part, I've only lived in two places in my life…growing up in DC and then living in Atlanta, I was very fortunate to choose Georgia Tech for both my bachelor's and master’s in industrial engineering." Throughout the years, Gaffney was involved in the community serving on the ISyE Advisory Board, Supply Chain and Logistics Industry Advisory Board, and the Mentees Program at Georgia Tech. Influenced by the ISyE community, Gaffney aims to reciprocate the school’s impact by leveraging his experiences from the Coca-Cola Company to enhance the program. In his new role, Chris wants to continue driving cross-collaboration with SCL partnerships. “Georgia Tech is on the leading edge of the advancements in supply chain and logistics, so I'm hopeful that part of what we could do more of in SCL is help companies access more of that, faster.” Additionally, Gaffney believes there’s an increasing urgency to advancing and “bringing people the type of learning in a way that they can grow their own professional capabilities [and become more multidisciplinary].”

Leadership in Logistics

Gaffney's professional journey began at Frito-Lay, where he navigated operational intricacies as a logistics analyst, later advancing to operations manager. Subsequently, he honed his expertise in international logistics and strategic supply chain management at AJC International and the Coca-Cola Company. Gaffney's tenure at Coca-Cola, spanning over two decades as the Director of National Distribution, and then VP of Transportation for US Coke, epitomizes his commitment to collaboration and innovation. "Coca-Cola taught me the importance of understanding how collaboration works within large enterprises and across companies." Internally, he also served in positions as President of Coca-Cola Supply, and as the President of the National Product Supplied Group, for the US Bottlers. For Gaffney, the journey wasn't just about personal success but about paving pathways for others, bridging the gap in the field between inspiration and accessibility. 

Accessibility Through Collaboration

“-- A big part for me is this idea of, how do you bring the promise of the digital age of supply chain and make it accessible to more and more companies and people?” With the benefit of staying local, Gaffney supported driving academic, and corporate impact through collaboration – specifically towards initiatives aimed at increasing student co-ops, and full-time employment opportunities between Georgia Tech and the Coca-Cola Company. With mentorship serving as a cornerstone in Gaffney’s professional landscape, he believes in advocating for the transformative power of supportive relationships. “[My mentor] would make sure I was on track…it was a much smaller situation then, but it made a huge difference for me, and I never forgot about that -- I've had some really critical mentors early in my career, so I'm a big believer in mentoring and coaching.”

Yellow Jacket Trajectory

Gaffney’s ties to Georgia Tech, spanning decades of investment, characterize a lifelong commitment to growth and service. The motivation and influence instilled during his time at Tech transferred to his life in more ways than one. Chris met his wife at Georgia Tech and has been married for over 30 years; with four adult children, including one being a GT graduate in the field of Supply Chain. Even in hardship, Gaffney’s family is passionate about doing all they can, including relentlessly supporting one of their own as a childhood cancer survivor. They’re also heavily involved philanthropically, specifically in raising money for research on childhood cancer, “we believe that we have a responsibility to do what we can.” As Gaffney shared his final thoughts, he leaves us with a hopeful view, channeled in the moments where he started the beginnings of his career – back on Georgia Tech campus.

Ignacio Erazo recently defended his thesis titled "Efficient Two-Sample Bernoulli Confidence Intervals and Submodular Dispatching", earning his PhD in Operations Research with a minor in Machine Learning under the supervision of Professors David Goldsman and Alejandro Toriello. Erazo's research interests involve the development of efficient optimization algorithms and heuristics for intelligent decision-making as well as large-scale simulation-optimization procedures. Collaborating with Professor Goldsman, he worked on the efficient computation of Confidence Intervals (CIs) for the difference of probabilities between two populations, with applications in health care, last-mile distribution, and production scheduling. This work is useful for many practical problems such as testing new drugs, evaluating inventory policies, estimating contamination rates, or evaluating the difference in rate of adverse events between generic and brand-name drugs. What is notable about his approach is that it uses fewer observations and generates lower costs. With Professor Toriello, Ignacio focused on problems where orders or items arrive at different times and must be processed or delivered in batches (e.g., e-commerce, machine scheduling). By using mathematical models and proposing new algorithms, the team studied the fundamental trade-offs between waiting for orders and batching them, such as obtaining economies of scale, versus the idleness of resources generated by that strategy. This problem has multiple applications in same-day delivery, machine scheduling, and production environments. This work has been presented at scholarly seminars, at multiple INFORMS Annual Meetings, and at the Transportation Science and Logistics (TSL) Conference. Notably, Ignacio's work was recognized with the Best Applied Student Paper Award at Winter Simulation Conference in 2022.

Prior to his doctoral studies at Georgia Tech, Ignacio obtained his degree in industrial civil engineering from the University of Concepcion in 2019. From a very young age, he loved doing math to solve problems and enjoyed participating in math competitions. "Without even recognizing it, I would obsess over taking the 'best' or optimal approach for everything I could. When I took my first optimization class it was obvious to me that this subset of extremely applied math (optimization, but in a broader sense Operations Research) was what I wanted to do in the future, and possibly forever. Essentially, at that point I already knew I wanted to deepen my knowledge, which meant the best course of action was to do a PhD in a university with the best professors." Reflecting on his journey, Ignacio shares his admiration for Georgia Tech's leading position in Operations Research, highlighting the wealth of expertise available within the department. "While Georgia Tech is not as known as other schools in the rest of the world (i.e., Stanford, Harvard, MIT), Georgia Tech leads almost every ranking related to OR. The department is extremely large and there is a professor working in almost every topic. Specific to optimization, logistics, and supply chain, we have a very large number of researchers and professors. That is the reason why GT was one of the only four places I applied to. Knowing what I know today, GT would be second to none."

Erazo’s professional experience includes internships as an applied and research scientist at tech giants Amazon and Apple where he contributed to cutting-edge projects in supply chain management and inventory optimization. At Apple, he was part of the team that develops science-based solutions for its supply chain. In particular, he worked on inventory management for Apple Stores and on "real-time" carrier selection for Apple's supply chain. His projects involved building new methodologies to solve those problems and coding prototypes that could serve as a starting point for deployment and production.

Recently, Erazo joined Amazon Fulfillment Technologies & Robotics as a Research Scientist II. Amazon operates an extensive and intricate supply chain that constantly advances by integrating robotic tools to boost warehouse efficiency. Within this dynamic framework, the algorithmic tools that enable its warehouses to work at their best need to be continuously modified, improved, and enhanced with new capabilities and use cases. Ignacio will meet the challenge by helping create, pilot, and seamlessly deploy new performance and safety-driven algorithms for Amazon's robotic-assisted picking warehouses across its entire network.

Ignacio's dedication to problem-solving and his passion for optimization exemplify the spirit of inquiry and innovation that defines our academic community. We congratulate him on this achievement and look forward to witnessing his continued contributions to the field.

Mechanical engineering, in the broadest sense of the discipline, touches a vast array of processes and systems, encompassing familiar industries and niche startups. Rapid technology advances mean engineering skills and methods change frequently to adapt to newer materials, tools, or customer needs. At its core, however, the intersection of design and innovation drives engineering, shaping the future of products and manufacturing processes. At the forefront of this intersection is the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech, well known for its commitment to design education and unique approach to understanding the crucial role design plays in educating future engineers.
 

The University of Waterloo and the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, representing Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), have officially entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen academic and research ties between the two institutions. The MOU signifies a commitment to fostering collaborative initiatives in research, education, and other areas of mutual interest. Both universities, recognized for their global impact and innovation, are eager to embark on this journey of cooperation.

Charmaine Dean, Vice-President of Research & International, shared, “The University of Waterloo is pleased to embark on a new collaboration with Georgia Tech, featuring faculty and student exchanges, joint research projects, dual degrees, and conferences. Strengthening ties between our institutions through this collaboration creates a dynamic environment for our faculty and students to foster innovation in many areas of mutual excellence.”

“Georgia Tech is excited to see its NSF AI Institute for Advances in Optimization (AI4OPT), under the leadership of Prof. Pascal Van Hentenryck, partner with experts from the Waterloo Artificial Intelligence Institute of the University of Waterloo. I am really looking forward to the impact that this partnership will have in advancing the fundamental knowledge of AI, in further expanding its applications, and in enabling its wider adoption,” noted Prof. Bernard Kippelen, Vice Provost for International Initiatives at Georgia Tech.

This collaboration is poised to elevate the academic and research landscape of both institutions, promoting global engagement and creating opportunities for students and faculty to thrive in an interconnected world.

The CAMX expo is the largest, most comprehensive composites and advanced materials event in North America. This year, the event was held in Atlanta at the Georgia World Congress Center. A record number (500+) of exhibitors displayed their material, processing equipment and latest innovations at the annual industry event.

Several thousand engineers, technical professionals, sales, marketing and business development experts from all corners of the world took advantage of the CAMX expo and conference programming to increase their manufacturing and process knowledge, meet their supply chain, build new networks and collaborate on sustainable industry solutions in the aerospace, automotive, wind power and other markets.

As part of the event, the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute (GTMI) hosted an onsite tour of its Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility (AMPF) to a select group of industry expo attendees.

AMPF is a 20,000 square foot research and development high bay manufacturing facility located on the Georgia Tech campus supporting industrial, academic, and government stakeholders related to manufacturing research and also serves as a teaching laboratory to train the next generation of engineers, scientists and manufacturing experts. Made possible by a $3 million gift from the Delta Air Lines Foundation, this facility enables manufacturing innovation projects of almost all shapes from additive/hybrid manufacturing to composites, digital manufacturing, Industry 4.0, industrial robotics, and artificial intelligence.

Recently, Georgia Tech and the AMPF facility are supporting a statewide initiative that combines artificial intelligence and manufacturing innovations with transformational workforce and outreach programs.

The AMPF tour was led by Kyle Saleeby, research engineer in GTMI, who tailored the tour to feature manufacturing technologies related to metal composites and advanced manufacturing capabilities for 3D printed metals. This included additive, subtractive, and hybrid manufacturing technologies along with metal powder/alloy making capabilities that AMPF utilizes.

“CAMX is grateful to Kyle for presenting an informative tour of the impressive AMPF facility, said Raj Manchanda, chief technology officer of the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE®). “Nearly 25 CAMX attendees who participated in the tour provided positive feedback not only on the state-of-the-art hybrid manufacturing equipment that AMPF houses from leading OEMs, but also the capability of the Georgia Tech AMPF faculty and brilliant graduate students who are developing adaptable manufacturing solutions integrating proven machining technologies with advances in robotics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, additive manufacturing, and more.”

At the expo, GTMI was invited to host and lead a panel discussion of current digital manufacturing trends on day two of the CAMX show. Three industry experts from GTMI’s partner network participated in a discussion moderated by Kyle Saleeby. The panelists were Elaine Winchester from Plyable, Andre Wegner from Authentise and Rodney Elmore from Microsoft.

“At the advanced manufacturing pilot facility, we are always proud host so many great organizations, institutions and industry colleagues to share our advanced manufacturing research,” said Saleeby.

Sean Castillo is in the win-win business. As an industrial hygienist in the Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2), his job is to ensure that employees are safe in their workspaces, and when he does that, he simultaneously improves a company’s performance.

That’s been a theme for Castillo and his colleagues in the Safety, Health, Environmental Services (SHES) program and their partners in the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP), part of EI2’s suite of programs aimed at helping Georgia businesses thrive.

“A healthier workforce is healthy for business,” said Castillo, part of the SHES team of consultants who often work closely with their GaMEP counterparts to improve safety while also maximizing productivity.

This team of experts from EI2 assist companies trying to reach that critical intersection of both, combining smart ergonomics and safety enhancements with lean manufacturing practices. This can solve human performance gaps due to fatigue, heat, or some other environmental stressor, while helping businesses continue to improve their production processes and, ultimately, their bottom line.

These stressors cost U.S. industry billions of dollars each year — fatigue, for example, is responsible for about $136 billion in lost productivity.

“Protecting your employee — investing in safety now — saves a lot of money later,” Castillo said. “It equates to less money spent on workers compensation and less employee turnover, which means less time training new employees, and that ideally leads to a more efficient process in the workplace.”

It takes careful and intentional collaboration to bring those moving pieces together, and inextricably linked programs like SHES and GaMEP can help orchestrate all of that.

Ensuring Safe Workspaces

SHES is staffed by safety consultants, like Castillo, who provide a free and essential service to Georgia businesses. They help companies ensure that they meet or exceed the standards set by the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), mainly through SHES’ flagship OSHA 21(d) Consultation Program.

“Our job is to ensure that workspaces and processes are designed so that anybody can perform the work safely,” said Trey Sawyers, a safety, health, and ergonomics consultant on the SHES team, aiding small and mid-sized businesses in Georgia. When a company reaches out to SHES to apply for the free, confidential OSHA consultation program, a consultant like Sawyers gets assigned to the task, “based on our area of expertise,” said Sawyers, an expert in ergonomics, which is the science of designing and adapting a workspace to efficiently suit the physical and mental needs and limitations of workers.

“If a company is having ergonomic issues — maybe they’re experiencing a lot of strains and sprains — then I might get the call because of my knowledge and understanding of anthropometry, and then I’ll go take a close look at the facility,” Sawyers said. Anthropometry is the scientific study of a human’s size, form, and functional capacity.

SHES consultants can identify potential workplace hazards, provide guidance on how to comply with OSHA standards, and establish or improve safety and health programs in the company.

“The caveat is the company has to correct any serious hazards that we find,” said Castillo, who visits a wide range of workspaces in his role. For instance, his job will take him to construction and manufacturing sites, gun ranges, even office settings. “We do noise and air monitoring at all different types of workplaces. I was at a primary care clinic the other day. And over the past few years, we’ve had a significant emphasis on stone fabricators, looking for overexposures to respirable crystalline silica.”

Silica, which is dust residue from the process of creating marble and quartz slabs, can lead to a lung disease called silicosis. OSHA established new limits that cut the permissible exposure limits in half, and that has kept the SHES consultants busy as Georgia manufacturers try to achieve and maintain compliance.

Keeping Companies Cool

Another area of growing emphasis for Georgia Tech’s consultants is heat-related stress in the workplace.

“Currently, there are no standards to address this,” Castillo said. “For example, there are no rules that say a construction site worker should drink this much water. There are suggested guidelines and emphasis programs for inspections for targeted industries where heat stress may be prevalent — but no standards, though that is coming.”

The SHES team is trying to stay ahead of what will likely be new federal rules for heat mitigation. To help develop safe standards and better understand the effects of heat on workers, consultants like Castillo are going to construction sites, plant nurseries, and warehouses, and enlisting volunteers in field studies. Using heat stress monitor armbands, they’re monitoring data on workers’ core body temperatures and heart rates.

“These tools are great because we’re not only gathering some good data, but we can use them proactively to prevent heat events such as heat exhaustion and heatstroke, which can be fatal if left untreated,” Castillo said.

To further help educate Georgia companies about the risks of heat-related problems, SHES applied for and recently won a Susan Harwood Training Grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. The $160,000 award will support SHES consultants’ efforts to further their work in heat stress education so that “companies and workers will understand the warning signs and the potential effects of heat stress, and how they can stay safe,” Castillo said. “We’re sure this will all become part of OSHA standards eventually, and we’d like to help our clients stay ahead of the curve to protect their employees.”

OSHA standards are the law, and while larger corporations routinely hire consulting firms to keep them on the straight and narrow, SHES is providing the same level of expertise for its smaller business clients for free. Most of those clients apply for help through SHES’ online request form. And others find the help they need through the guidance of process improvement specialist Katie Hines and her colleagues in GaMEP.

Lean and Safe

Hines came to her appreciation of ergonomics naturally. After graduating from Auburn University, she entered the workforce as a manufacturing engineer for a building materials company, where “it was just part of our day-to-day work life in that manufacturing environment, on the production floor,” she said.

It took grad school and a deeper focus on lean and continuous improvement processes to formalize that appreciation.

While working toward her master’s degree in chemical engineering at Auburn, Hines earned a certificate in occupational safety and ergonomics (like Sawyers, her SHES colleague). At the same time, Hines was helping to guide her company’s lean and continuous improvement program. And when she joined Proctor and Gamble after completing her degree, “The lean concept and safety best practices were fully ingrained, part of the daily discussion there,” she said.

All those hands-on manufacturing production floor experiences managing people and systems prepared Hines well for her current role as a project manager on GaMEP’s Operational Excellence team, where her focus is entirely on lean and continuous improvement work — that is, helping companies reduce waste and improve production while also enhancing safety and ergonomics.

Hines uses her expertise in knowing how manufacturing processes and people should look when everyone is safe and also productive. She can walk into a GaMEP client’s facility and drive the process improvements and solutions that will help them achieve a leaner, more efficient form of production. And then, when she sees the need, Hines will recommend the client contact SHES, “the people who have their fingers on the data and the expertise to improve safety.”

These were concepts that, for a long time, seemed to be working against each other — the very idea of maximizing production and improving profits while also emphasizing worker safety and comfort.

“But you can have both,” Castillo said. “You should have both.”