Justin West, an advanced machining and machine tool researcher at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been selected as a recipient of the 2024 30 Under 30 award by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, or SME.
For over a decade, SME’s 30 Under 30 program has recognized young, talented professionals whose work has the potential to shape the future of the manufacturing industry. Past honorees include entrepreneurs, students, professors and engineers working with some of the world’s most successful and transformative firms in the manufacturing sectors.
“I’ve been an SME member for about five years and have always enjoyed reading the 30 Under 30 profiles,” West said. “They’re all people who are driving the future of manufacturing. It is an honor to be recognized among such talented individuals.”
West joined ORNL as an intern in May of 2019 while he was still pursuing his doctorate in mechanical engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Within six months, he was already a full-time staff member, having been recognized for his research into machine tool design, hybrid manufacturing process modeling and distortion reduction in additive manufacturing.
“We realized very quickly that we wanted Justin on our team,” said Scott Smith, ORNL section head for precision manufacturing and machining. “His enthusiasm to take on a variety of different projects in a range of disciplines makes him a valuable member of the Advanced Machine and Machine Tool Research group.”
One of West’s favorite projects is the Concrete Base Machine, which he began designing during his internship. The novel computer numerical control, or CNC, machine uses fiberglass-reinforced concrete as a tool base, rather than cast iron, which is expensive and must often be manufactured overseas. Additionally, the Concrete Base Machine employs a pass-through strategy, allowing material to be intermittently fed into it, which enables operators to produce parts larger than the work volume of the machine itself. The machine was featured at the 2020 International Manufacturing Technology Show in the Emerging Technologies Annex.
West is currently working at DOE’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, or MDF, at ORNL, where he is collaborating with industry partners to commercialize the Concrete Base Machine in the mining and wind energy sectors.
MDF, supported by DOE’s Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office, or AMMTO, is a nationwide consortium of collaborators working with ORNL to innovate, inspire and catalyze the transformation of U.S. manufacturing.
UT-Battelle manages ORNL for DOE’s Office of Science. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science. — Logan Korn
This Oak Ridge National Laboratory news article "West named SME 30 Under 30 honoree for 2024" was originally found on https://www.ornl.gov/news