Joseph Beaman, professor in the Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, has been named an Honorary Member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Honorary Membership is awarded for a lifetime of service to engineering or related fields--e.g. science, research, public service. This achievement is described as "distinguished service that contributes significantly to the attainment of the goals of the engineering profession." This honor was first awarded in 1880, the founding year of the Society.
Beaman joined The University of Texas at Austin faculty in 1979 and served as Department Chair for Mechanical Engineering between the years of 2000 and 2011. His career work has been in both manufacturing and control, and he is licensed as a Professional Engineer in the State of Texas. His specific manufacturing research interest is in Solid Freeform Fabrication, a manufacturing technology that produces freeform solid objects directly from a computer model of the object without part-specific tooling or knowledge. Beaman initiated research in the area in 1985 and was the first academic researcher in the field. One of the most successful Solid Freeform Fabrication approaches, Selective Laser Sintering, was a process that was developed in his laboratory.
He has been both an inventor and a mentor to inventors during the development of this technology. In particular, he has worked with graduate students, faculty, and industrial concerns on the fundamental technology that span materials, laser scanning techniques, thermal control, mold making techniques, direct metal fabrication, and biomedical applications. He was one of the founders of DTM Corporation (now merged with 3D Systems), which markets Selective Laser Sintering.
Beaman currently holds the Earnest F. Gloyna Regents Chair in Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin.
