By News and Internal Communications

By Karen Villarreal

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS – When not one, but two major organizations have recognized your achievements in the same year, your role as an expert in your field is cemented.

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) has honored UTRGV’s Dr. Anil Srivastava with a prestigious fellowship that, while awarded annually, goes to fewer than four percent of the organization’s 89,909 members.

“It’s an honor to be a fellow of ASME,” said Srivastava, UTRGV professor of manufacturing and industrial engineering; the department’s Graduate Program coordinator; chair of the Department Promotion and Tenure Committee; chair of College Promotion and Tenure Committee; and a member of College Council.

Earlier this year, Srivastava also was recognized as an SME Fellow – one of seven members honored nationwide for contributing to the manufacturing profession.

While SME is focused on manufacturing engineering, ASME is one of the nation's largest organizations for mechanical engineering.

“Both of these organizations are premier resources for the engineering community globally,” Srivastava said. “I’m very happy with these recognitions.”

He joins 3,476 ASME fellows worldwide – and one other faculty member at UTRGV, Dr. Dumitru Caruntu, who also was recognized recently as an ASME fellow.

“It’s a good recognition for UTRGV,” Srivastava said. “It brings value to our college, our departments, and to UTRGV.” 

MODELING THE ROLE OF ENGINEER FOR STUDENTS

Srivastava, who said the fellowships are awarded based on involvement with the organizations, has been organizing sessions and symposiums and actively participating with other ASME activities for more than 12 years.

“It’s a lot of work, and it’s not easy to get this level of recognition,” he said.

However, he is rewarded with the knowledge that these actions lay an important foundation for the region’s students.

“I encourage the students to be part of these activities themselves and to learn more in manufacturing and mechanical engineering,” he said.

Srivastava’s work serves as an example for his students. Recent research activities include a $1million smart manufacturing collaborative project with Penn State University and Texas A&M. UTRGV’s team was awarded $200,000 for its contribution.

Additionally, Srivastava is one of the co-principal investigators for the I-DREAM4D consortium, which was awarded almost $4 million by the U.S. Department of Defense. Srivastava and his team are focused on processes to develop materials for defense systems. By contributing to this research, he said, the mechanical engineering program prepares students for the next generation’s engineering needs, which include additive and subtractive manufacturing, machining and smart manufacturing. 

“Students are learning how to use these machines and doing real research work,” Srivastava said.  

“That’s the ultimate goal – to have a new generation of students in these fields go forward and contribute to our community.”