Said Jahanmir, left, president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, congratulates Penn State's Jingjing Li following the presentation of the Chao and Trigger Young Manufacturing Engineer Award. IMAGE: JINGJING LI
Industrial engineering professor honored with early career award
6/28/2019
By Miranda Buckheit
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Jingjing Li, William and Wendy Korb Early Career Professor (associate professor) of industrial engineering at Penn State, has been awarded the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Chao and Trigger Young Manufacturing Engineer Award.
Li received the award based on her research contributions to the forming and joining of lightweight materials and structures through an understanding of the process-structure-property relationships in thermomechanical processing, the development of new joining technologies for different metals and the invention of several new materials characterization techniques.
Established in 2011, this annual award recognizes a manufacturing researcher under 40 who has the potential to make significant fundamental contributions to the science and technology of manufacturing processes.
“I am happy to see that Jingjing has been recognized for this award,” said Ling Rothrock, professor of industrial engineering and interim head of the Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at Penn State. “This award highlights Li’s hard work and dedication to innovation and engineering excellence.”
ASME is a not-for-profit membership organization that enables collaboration, networking and skill development across all engineering fields. Members range from students, project managers, corporate executives, researchers and more. Currently, the organization has more than 100,000 members in over 140 countries. Roughly 30 percent of the members are students.
The Manufacturing Engineering Division (MED) Honors Committee reviews nominations from all ASME members, making this award highly competitive due to the number of applicants each year.
According to ASME, recipients are selected by the MED Honors Committee and endorsed by the MED Executive Committee. The required nomination documents include the ASME Achievement Nomination Form, four reference letters and a one-page summary on ASME MED-related involvement and contributions.
“I am glad to receive this award because it means that they recognized I was doing well in my field,” Li said. “Working on traditional manufacturing areas can still make significant contributions and help industries understand the fundamentals behind the processes. This award could also help further solidify positive stereotypes of manufacturing, which are high-tech, practical, clean and safe in this day and age. Previously, people thought manufacturing was old-fashioned, dirty or dangerous.”
Li said she hopes this award gives confidence to others who work within traditional manufacturing areas. She believes this award can bring attention to advanced manufacturing and can be a valuable and impactful career for younger generations to consider.
Jack Hu, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost at the University of Georgia, spent time with Li during her doctoral program at the University of Michigan. Hu enjoyed his time working with Li and is very proud of her accomplishments.
“Jingjing Li is an outstanding researcher and a rising star in the manufacturing research community,” said Hu. “She brings her strong materials expertise into manufacturing process research and has generated various new insights and innovation on materials manufacturing. I congratulate her on receiving the Chao and Trigger Young Manufacturing Engineer Award.”
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