The School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering Seminar Series, “The Untapped and Rapidly Approaching Opportunities for AI enabled Manufacturing in a new Digital and Cyberphysical World” Presented by Dr. Thomas R. Kurfess
About the event
The Untapped and Rapidly Approaching Opportunities for AI enabled Manufacturing in a new Digital and Cyberphysical World.
Presented by Dr. Thomas R. Kurfess
Chief Manufacturing Officer Georgia Institute of Technology
Executive Director Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute
HUSCO/Ramirez Distinguished Chair in Fluid Power and Motion Control and
Regents’ Professor
George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, Georgia USA
Chief Technology Officer
National Center for Manufacturing Sciences
Ann Arbor, Michigan USA
Abstract:
AI is prevalent throughout modern society. It is present in our homes, in appliances such as ovens, washers and refrigerators. Data are critical to accurately train AI, and manufacturing operations can have substantial amounts of data. Thus, the time is right to begin integrating AI into manufacturing operations. The opportunity to use AI is evolving in the manufacturing sector, where sensors are used throughout manufacturing operations and on virtually all manufacturing systems and equipment. This talk will discuss the application and integration of AI into cyberphysical manufacturing systems. Some insight will be provided into the direction that AI utilization is heading in the manufacturing workspace, and the types of opportunities that AI will enable in the very near future revolutionizing manufacturing operations from the production floor to the global supply chain.
Biography:
Thomas R. Kurfess is the Chief Manufacturing Officer of the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the Executive Director of the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute. At Georgia Tech he is the HUSCO/Ramirez Distinguished Chair in Fluid Power and Motion Control and Regents’ Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. He also serves as the Chief Technology Officer at the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences. During 2019-2021 he served as the Chief Manufacturing Officer, and the Founding Director for the Manufacturing Science Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. During 2012-2013 served as the Assistant Director for Advanced Manufacturing at the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President of the United States of America, where he was responsible for coordinating Federal advanced manufacturing R&D. He served as the President of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 2023-2024 and was President of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers in 2018. He served on the Department of the Navy Science and Technology Board, and currently serves on the Department of Energy / National Nuclear Security Administration Advisory Committee on Nuclear Security. His research focuses on the design and development of advanced manufacturing systems targeting secure digital manufacturing, additive and subtractive processes, and large-scale production enterprises. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering, is a past president of both ASME and SME, and is a Fellow of ASME, AAAS, and SME.