IMR Associate Director Glenn Daehn was named among the 20 most influential professors in smart manufacturing.
Daehn’s influence was recognized by SME, a nonprofit association of professionals, educators and students within the manufacturing industry.
He serves as the Fontana Professor of Metallurgical Engineering in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at The Ohio State University. He leads the Impulse Manufacturing Lab, which focuses on the creation and implementation of impulse metalworking within industry.
Daehn’s excerpt is below — originally published May 13 by SME. Check out the organization’s website to read more of its highlights of influencers advancing smart manufacturing.
“Daehn said he’s been able to work with some really smart people to develop two visions: one is impulse manufacturing, using explosive-like force in factory or lab environments. The other is in metamorphic manufacturing, aka robotic blacksmithing, or using numerically controlled deformation to make parts. ‘We are hoping to see impulse and metamorphic manufacturing developed as well-used commercial processes,’ he said. ‘Both hold great promise for solving real problems in forming and joining advanced materials and structures.’ Daehn thinks advanced control and artificial intelligence hold great promise for making many niche manufacturing technologies mainstream, reproducible and agile. ‘Imagine a robot system that can do what a skilled craftsman can do, but more reproducibly and with the steps clearly recorded,’ he mused. In terms of academia working with industry, he said there is too much divergence between the two sectors. ‘We in academia have to focus more on integration, engineering and real problem solving and developing talent who have more of a bias for doing, rather than analysis,’ he said. ‘This may lead to more labs that are shared between industry and academics.'”