Khonsari Honored by ASME, Enjoying Summer of Accolades
July 23, 2024
BATON ROUGE, LA – It has been quite a summer for LSU Mechanical Engineering Professor Michael Khonsari, as he has garnered one honor after another over the last few months, including his most recent, being named an Honorary Member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). The distinction recognizes individuals for “lifetime service to mechanical engineering research and education, particularly through technical books, and trendsetting research papers.”
“I am deepy humbled and honored to receive this award,” said Khonsari, who has also been previously named an ASME Fellow. “The statement about ‘trendsetting research papers’ highlights the significant impact of our work, which is immensely important to my research team and me.”
Reflective of the career he’s enjoyed to this point, Khonsari was also recently named a Highly Ranked Scholar by ScholarGPS, a “scholarly analytics site built by scholars for scholars.” In its inaugural Lifetime rankings, he is ranked third in the field of tribology (the science and engineering of interacting surfaces in relative motion), 10th in the field of lubrication (the control of friction and wear by the introduction of a friction-reducing film between moving surfaces in contact), and 175th in the field of mechanical engineering.
“The single most satisfying feature of these rankings is the impact of our research in the field and the utility of our findings in pushing the envelope of science and engineering to new heights,” Khonsari said. “I have been fortunate to collaborate with many scientists and engineers around the globe. I have personally mentored nearly 100 [postdoctoral students], Ph.D. and [master’s] graduates, and visiting scholars who have culminated in many impactful innovations and scholarly activities, including more than 460 archival publications, three technical books, 15 articles in encyclopedias, and 13 U.S. patents, with four additional pending applications.
“Our recent research on the truly interdisciplinary field of degradation science has led to the discovery of a new material property for assessing metal and composite fatigue life. I am happy that this methodology, which also uses irreversible thermodynamics principles, is being applied by many researchers globally. Our research has revealed that we can apply our methodologies to assess how materials degrade in nearly all scenarios, from mechanical fatigue, to wear, to electrical components, to battery life. The impact of this science is truly awe-inspiring.”
Last but not least, Khonsari also recently received the 2024 Ralph Beard Award from the National Lubricating Grease Institute (NGLI) for “significant and continuing work in research or development and acceptance of new tests within the grease industry.” The award is presented to an academic professional with five or more years of significant contributions to the grease industry through research, publication, educational work, etc.
These are the latest in a long list of honors Khonsari has been presented with over the course of his career. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, American Association for Advancement of Science, and American Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers; and he is a member of Sigma Xi. His work and that of his research group, according to Google Scholar, has been cited more than 20,000 times, with nearly half of that coming in the last five years alone.
In addition to his role as professor at LSU, Khonsari is the director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Center for Innovations in Structural Integrity Assurance, the first NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center established at LSU. He is also currently serving as associate commissioner for research for the Louisiana Board of Regents.
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Contact: Joshua Duplechain
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