Dr. Ming Leu, the Keith and Pat Bailey Missouri Distinguished Professor of Integrated Product Manufacturing in the University of Missouri-Rolla’s department of mechanical and aerospace engineering and director of the UMR Intelligent Systems Center and the Center for Aerospace Manufacturing Technologies, recently received a Distinguished Service Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).

The award is based on Leu’s numerous service contributions to ASME. Leu has held several positions within ASME, including vice president of manufacturing, executive committee chair of the manufacturing engineering division and symposia organizer. In addition, he has been involved with the Japan-USA Symposium on Flexible Automation, serving as chair in 2004, U.S. co-chair in 1994 and program chair in 1992. Leu is currently the technical program chair of ASME’s 2005 International Mechanical Engineering Congress.

Leu’s research projects include developing a virtual-reality environment to help first responders train for terrorist attacks, virtual sculpting and virtual bone surgery, assembly operation and numerical control machining simulation, and using ice to build rapid prototyping models.

Leu received his bachelor of science degree in 1972 from the National Taiwan University, his master of science degree in 1977 from Pennsylvania State University, and his Ph.D. in 1981 from the University of California at Berkeley. All three degrees were in mechanical engineering.

A former faculty member of Cornell University’s School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Leu held the State Chair Professorship in manufacturing productivity at New Jersey Institute of Technology from 1987-1996. He then took a leave of absence to direct the National Science Foundation’s activities in manufacturing processes and equipment, a position he held until 1999.

Leu has received several professional awards, including the UMR Academy of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineers’ Research Excellence Award, the Harlan J. Perlis Research Award from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, the NSF’s Presidential Young Investigator Award, the Society of Automotive Engineers’ Ralph R. Teetor Education Award and the Forest Products Research Society’s Wood Paper Award. In addition, Leu was a member the New Jersey Institute of Technology team that received the University Lead Award from the Computer and Automated Systems Association of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. He was elected as a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1993 and is a member of Sigma Xi, Tau Beta Pi, Phi Kappa Phi and the International Institution for Production Engineering Research.

Leu has authored more than 200 publications in refereed scientific and engineering journals and conference proceedings, and holds three U.S. patents. His technical interests are in the areas of computer-aided design and manufacturing, robotics, mechatronics, rapid prototyping, virtual reality and intelligent manufacturing.