ASME 2015 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition Begins Nov. 13

The ASME 2015 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE 2015), the largest interdisciplinary mechanical engineering conference in the world, kicks off on Friday, Nov. 13. Encompassing more than 450 technical sessions, more than 20 technical tracks, and a program packed with high-profile speakers from across the engineering profession, IMECE 2015 is certain to be a great learning experience for all those who attend.

IMECE 2015 will be held from Nov. 13 to 19 at the Hilton Americas and the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas.

Artificial heart innovator Dr. William E. (Billy) Cohn will be the featured speaker at the IMECE 2015 Keynote Event on Nov. 16.

One of the highlights of this year’s slate of special events scheduled to take place during the conference is the Keynote Event, titled “Engineering in Healthcare,” which will be presented by William E. (Billy) Cohn, M.D., on Monday, Nov. 16, from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Dr. Cohn, a celebrated artificial heart innovator, is the director of the Center for Technology and Innovation, the associate director of laboratory surgery research in the Center for Cardiac Support, and the director of the Cullen Cardiovascular Research Laboratory at the Texas Heart Institute in Houston. Cohn is also a professor of surgery at Baylor College of Medicine and an adjunct professor of bioengineering at both Rice University and the University of Houston. He holds more than 90 U.S. patents and 60 international patents for his innovative research and medical devices.

IMECE 2015 will also feature three Conference-Wide Plenary Sessions. Subhendu Ghosh, executive vice president for global engineering and design at Tata Technologies Ltd., will present “Digital Manufacturing: Helping Create Products Better and Faster” on Nov. 17 from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. The second Conference-Wide Plenary, “Combustion and Future Hybrid Propulsion Systems — Opportunities and Challenges,” will be presented by Hai Wang, professor of mechanical engineering at Stanford University, on Nov. 18 from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. John Elbon, vice president and general manager for Boeing Space Exploration, will present the third session, “Overview and Outlook for Human Space Exploration,” on Nov. 19 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Executives from Halliburton, Ford Motor Co., and GE Oil & Gas have been selected to speak during another special feature of this year’s IMECE — the Invited Industry Presentation program. Bruno Barthelemy, chief engineer of global automotive body structures at Ford Motor Co., will get the program underway with his presentation, “The 2015 F-150: The First Mass-Produced Aluminum Vehicle,” to be held on Nov. 16 from 1:15 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Andrey Filippov, principal technical advisor at Halliburton, will deliver the second Invited Industry Presentation, “From Rule of Thumb to Mathematical Physics Analysis: How Oil and Gas is Becoming High Tech Industry,” on Nov. 17 from 1:15 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. The third session, “A Systems Approach to Mechanical Design in Oil and Gas,” will be presented by Egidio (Ed) Marotta and Stephen Szpunar of GE Oil & Gas on Nov. 18 from 1:15 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Marotta is the systems analysis and modeling manager for the company’s Systems Engineering and Advanced Technology (SEAT) Team. Szpunar is an advanced mechanical and mechatronics system design manager at the company.

If you’re attending this year’s IMECE, one event you won’t want to miss will be the ASME Honors Assembly, the annual multi-media event that recognizes the achievements of a group of distinguished engineering leaders and their contributions to the profession and to society. This year’s Honors Assembly, to be held on Nov. 16 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., will pay tribute to the careers of nine engineering luminaries: Romesh C. Batra, David A. Dornfeld, Freeman A. Hrabowski III, F. Suzanne Jenniches, Webb Marner, James R. Rice, Terry Shoup, Karen A. Thole, and James A. Thomas.

These are just a few of the many special events scheduled to take place at IMECE 2015. Other highlights of the conference will include:

• The Old Guard Oral Competition Finals, Nov. 14, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Room 335C, Hilton of the Americas;
• The 2015 ASME Student Design Competition Finals, Award Ceremony and Reception, Nov. 15, 8:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Rooms 335 A,B and C, Hilton of the Americas;
• Special Session — Leonardo's Lost Robot, Nov. 15, 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., Room 338, Hilton of the Americas;
• The Exhibit Hall Grand Opening and Opening Reception, Nov. 15, 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Exhibit Hall, Grand Ballroom, Hilton of the Americas;
• The International Undergraduate Research and Design Exposition, Nov. 15, 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Exhibit Hall, Grand Ballroom, Hilton of the Americas;
• The FutureME Mini-Talks Program, Nov. 15, 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., Exhibit Hall, Grand Ballroom, Hilton of the Americas;
• The President's Luncheon, Nov. 16, noon to 1:30 p.m., Grand Ballroom A and B, Hilton of the Americas, $60 per ticket;
• The Micro- & Nanotechnology Society Wide Forum/NSF Student Competition, Nov. 17, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Exhibit Hall, Grand Ballroom, Hilton of the Americas; and
• The Women in Engineering Reception, Nov. 17, 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., Skyline Room, Hilton of the Americas.

For more information on the 2015 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition or to view the conference’s entire schedule of events, visit www.asmeconferences.org/IMECE2015.