Awards

Yoram Koren/Awards

 

Koren Awards

Notable Awards and Honors that Yoram Koren Received

  1. SME Honorary Membership, 2015 “For your continued leadership that has been demonstrated through your significant contributions to manufacturing at local, national, and international levels. Your contributions enhanced progress and prosperity through manufacturing.”   Honorary Membership is the most prestigious honor presented by SME. It may be conferred upon an individual of internationally recognized ability and stature.   Only four received this honor during the past 10 years worldwide.   The last recipient of SME Honorary Membership was Professor Hiroyuki Yoshikawa, past president of the University of Tokyo, in 2012. 
  2. “Yoram and Alina Koren Conference Room” was inaugurated in 2012 at the University of Michigan, recognizing Yoram’s original contributions to manufacturing science, inventing Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems and implementing it in U.S. factories, and recognizing Alina for being a legendary strategic advisor.   
  3. Distinguished University Professor of Manufacturing, 2010  For “Widely considered the Father of Reconfigurable Manufacturing.”  (The UM has 50 DUPs, while the total number of professors, at all ranks, is about 2,500).
  4. Stephen Attwood Award, 2008  The Stephen Attwood award is the highest honor of the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan. The award recognizes “extraordinary achievement in teaching, research, service, and activities that have brought distinction to the College and University.”
  5. SME Gold Medal, 2007   Awarded annually by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers; the highest SME award.
  6. Eugene Merchant Manufacturing Medal of ASME/SME, 2006   This is a highly prestigious joint award of two societies: the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME). This annual medal is awarded “to honor exceptional individual who has had made significant influence and responsibility for improving the productivity and efficiency of the manufacturing operation.”  Koren’s award citation is: “For outstanding contributions to the science, education and practice of manufacturing through innovations in reconfigurable manufacturing systems, robotics and manufacturing system control; and for establishing reconfigurable manufacturing as a worldwide scientific discipline.”      Past recipients of the Merchant Medal includes:  S. Inaba (CEO, Fanuc, Japan), Edson Gaylord (CEO Ingersoll), Erich Block (VP IBM, NSF Director, NAE member), Norman Augustine (CEO Lockheed Martine, recipient of the National Medal of Technology, NAE member), Dale Compton (VP Ford, NAE member), James Padilla (CEO Ford, NAE Member), and Gary Cowger (Executive VP Manufacturing, GM, NAE member).
  7. Member, USA National Academy of Engineering, 2004.    Election Citation: “For contributions to the science, education, and practice of manufacturing through innovations in reconfigurable manufacturing systems, robotics, and manufacturing system control.”
  8. Hideo Hanasufa Outstanding Investigator Award and Cup, 2004.    Awarded every other year by the Japan-US Symposium for Flexible Automation to one scientist (either in Japan or in the US) who is recognized for notable accomplishments and outstanding contributions to flexible automation. It is the highest award recognizing innovations in flexible automation.
  9. William T. Ennor Manufacturing Technology Award, 1999.    A prestigious award bestowed annually by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) “to recognize individual for developing to an innovative manufacturing technology, the implementation of which has resulted in substantial economic or societal benefits.”
  10. Edmond J. Safra Distinguished Visiting Professor Chair, Technion, 2007. (Koren was the first holder of this prestigious visiting Chair.)
  11. J. Dori Innovation Award, 1993.    Awarded for the Inflatable Robot invention (with G. Grossman and M. Shoham).
  12. Merchant’s Textbook Award, 1984.    Awarded by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers for Koren’s original book Computer Control of Manufacturing Systems (published in 1983 by McGraw-Hill, New York).
  13. Paul G. Goebel Professor of Engineering, 1993.  (In 1993 there were only 10 endowed professorships in the College of Engineering at UM.)
  14. College Excellence in Research Award, 1992.    Awarded by the College of Engineering, the University of Michigan.
  15. Collegiate Professor of Engineering, 1992.
  16. Robert M. Caddel Memorial Award, 1997.    Awarded by the College of Engineering, UM, for exceptional accomplishments in manufacturing science and their implementations in industry.
  17. Excellence in Research Award, 1994.    Awarded by the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the University of Michigan.
  18. Lady Davis Chair Visiting Professor, Technion, Israel, 1992-93
  19. Best paper award ASME Design Automation Conference, 2005.    For the paper “Manufacturing Investment and Allocation In Product Line Design Decision-Making.”
  20. Dori Book Award, 1985.    Awarded for Koren’s book Robotics for Engineers, awarded by the City of Haifa.
  21. Klein Research Award, 1982.    A single annual prize awarded by the Technion for outstanding research accomplishments.   Citation: “For outstanding research on computerized manufacturing systems.”
  22. Paul G. Goebel Visiting Professor of Engineering, 1980–1982, the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
  23. Gutwirth Research Award, 1980.    Awarded by the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, for innovative research. Koren’s citation says: “For Innovative Research in Adaptive Control of Machining Processes”.
  24. Fellow of four societies: SME (Fellow since 1987), ASME (Fellow since 1990), IEEE (Fellow since 2012),  and CIRP (Fellow since 1985) {CIRP is the International Academy of Production Engineering; headquarters in Paris, France.}
  • In 1992 the autonomous mobile robot CARMEL, which was developed by Koren and Borenstein, won the USA 1st Autonomous Mobile Robot Competition sponsored by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, beating nine other mobile robots from lead institutions such as Stanford, MIT, and Carnegie Mellon University. The AAAI competition had two basic elements: Navigation in large unstructured environment, and then object recognition by machine vision (done by CS researchers at UM). In the autonomous motion part, CARMEL was by far superior to all other competitors!
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  • 80 Keynote speeches and invited lectures delivered at conferences and universities on four continents (1974–2014). Several recent talks are listed below.
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  • “Future Automotive Manufacturing Technologies,”  National Academy of Engineering Regional Meeting, April 17, 2006.
  • “Personalized Products – Personalized Auto Interior”  National Academy of Engineering, Mid-Western Regional Meeting, May 13, 2010.
  • “Manufacturing Systems – the Past and the Way Ahead,”  NAMRC Founders Lecture, Kingston, Canada, May 27, 2010 {Koren was a speaker at the 1st NAMRC, May 14, 1973, Hamilton, Canada, on “Dynamic and Static Optimization of the Cutting Process.”}

  • “From Machine Control to Manufacturing Systems – Dreams and Timing,”  The Sixth S. M. Wu Distinguished Lecture in Manufacturing Science, Nov. 17, 2011.

  • “On Dreams and Timing,” Distinguished University Professorship Series, March 27, 2012