Engineering chair recipient of distinguished fellowship

February 22, 2013 | News, Research, UToday, Engineering
By Brian Purdue



Afjeh

Afjeh

Election to the highest honor in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is a clear recognition of the sustained, high-impact contributions made to The University of Toledo by Dr. Abdollah Afjeh.

Professor and chair of the Department of Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Afjeh was awarded the membership grade of Fellow by ASME for significant contributions in the field of fluid dynamics of mechanical systems.

His most notable contributions are in propulsion systems and turbo-machinery, where he has helped the advancement of high-speed rotating equipment by application of novel-bearing designs to reduce vibration, noise and weight of these systems. He is the founding director of the Small Turbine Engine Institute, which was established in 2005.

Due to the prominence of his research contributions to wind energy, Afjeh was invited to speak on advancing offshore freshwater wind energy development at the 2011 Humanoid, Nanotechnology, Information Technology, Communication and Control, Environment, and Management International Conference in Manila, Philippines.

Afjeh has authored or co-authored nearly 90 research papers, including one that was awarded the best paper of the year by ASME.

“We are truly fortunate to have Dr. Afjeh as a member of our college family,” said Dr. Nagi Naganathan, dean of the College of Engineering. “He works tirelessly each and every day and truly leads by example. He has served our Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Department, our college and our university for nearly three decades in an outstanding manner as a teacher, researcher and administrator. This is a well-deserved honor.”

Afjeh was nominated for the honor by Dr. Ali Fatemi, professor of mechanical, industrial and manufacturing engineering and director of the Fatigue and Fracture research Laboratory. Fatemi also is an ASME Fellow.

“[Dr. Afjeh’s] remarkable success in funded research has been a significant contributor to the Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Department and College of Engineering-sponsored research funding,” Fatemi said. “He has had phenomenal success in securing research grants that has allowed him to establish computational and state-of-the-art experimental research facilities that provide significant capabilities for conducting leading-edge research at UT.”

During his tenure at UT, Afjeh has received more than $15 million from both government and industry to support his research. Sponsors of his work include NASA, the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Army Research Office, the Department of Energy, the National Institutes of Health, Teledyne Technologies Inc., Lockheed Martin and Bell Helicopter.

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