Martin-Vega begins term as ASEE president

Dr. Louis Martin-Vega, dean of the College of Engineering at North Carolina State University, assumes the presidency of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) at the society’s annual conference in New Orleans on June 29.

Martin-Vega has served ASEE in various capacities, including as chair of the Engineering Deans Council from 2013-2015. “ASEE’s role in shaping the engineering education landscape has never been more important,” says Martin-Vega. “In order to solve the Grand Challenges of this century we are going to need a talented and diverse engineering workforce, and with its many resources ASEE helps its members do their jobs better. I’m honored to serve as president.”

He follows Joseph Rencis, dean of the School of Engineering at Tennessee Tech University, as president. The incoming president-elect is Bevlee Watford, associate dean for academic affairs at the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech. Martin-Vega will serve one year as president, and one year as immediate past president.

Martin-Vega came to NC State in 2006 after spending five years as dean of engineering at the University of South Florida. He has also held several prestigious positions at NSF, including acting head of its Engineering Directorate and director of NSF’s Division of Design, Manufacture and Industrial Innovation. Additionally, he has served as chairman of the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering at Lehigh University and Lockheed Professor in the College of Engineering at Florida Institute of Technology. He has also held tenured faculty positions at the University of Florida and the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez. He is the author or co-author of more than 100 journal articles, book chapters and other publications and has made more than 200 keynote and related presentations at national and international forums.

His research and teaching interests are in production and manufacturing systems, logistics and distribution, operations management and engineering education. His work has been supported by NSF, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the US Air Force, Harris Semiconductor and Hewlett-Packard, among other sources. A registered professional engineer in Florida and Puerto Rico, he is a Fellow of the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE) and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) and a member of INFORMS, ASEE, Tau Beta Pi, Alpha Pi Mu and Sigma Xi.

Martin-Vega’s many honors from IIE include receiving the Albert Holzman Distinguished Educator Award in 1999; serving as IIE president in 2007-08; receiving the professional society’s UPS Award for Minority Advancement in Industrial Engineering in 2010; and being given IIE’s highest honor, the Frank and Lillian Gilbreth Industrial Engineering Award, in 2012. For his commitment to college education and the promotion of diversity, Martin-Vega was recognized in 2000 with the Hispanic Engineering National Achievement Award — Higher Education Category — from HENAAC, and in 2011, he was inducted into the HENAAC Hall of Fame.

In addition, Martin-Vega was inducted into the Pan American Academy of Engineering in 2002. In 2007, he received the Tampa Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) National Hispanic Scientist Award. He was recognized in 2008 as the Outstanding Engineer in North Carolina by the North Carolina Society of Engineers, and in 2009, he received the Industrial and Systems Engineering Alumni Leadership Award from the University of Florida. In 2014, Hispanic Business magazine named him one of its 50 Most Influential Hispanics in the U.S.

Martin-Vega serves as a member on the National Research Council’s Standing Committee for Reengineering the Census 2020, Chair of the Advisory Committee for the Engineering Directorate at NSF and Vice-Chair of NSF’s Foundation-Wide Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering (CEOSE).

Martin-Vega received a B.S. in industrial engineering from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, an M.S. in operations research from New York University and M.E. and Ph.D. degrees in industrial and systems engineering from the University of Florida.

Founded in 1893, ASEE is a nonprofit organization committed to furthering education in engineering and engineering technology. It accomplishes this mission by promoting excellence in instruction, research, public service, and practice; exercising worldwide leadership; fostering the technological education of society; and providing quality products and services to members.