Professor Yusuf Altintas awarded Killam Teaching Prize at the University of British Columbia

Professor Yusuf Altintas has been awarded a Killam Teaching Prize in recognition of his outstanding teaching. Not only does Professor Altintas consistently earn accolades from students for his classroom performance, he has also been very active in curriculum development. Shortly after he joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UBC, Dr. Altintas developed the CAA (Computer-aided Automation) Option which evolved into the prize-winning EMEC (Electro-Mechanical Engineering Co-op) program, a combined B.A.Sc./M.Eng. program. More recently, at the time that “Doubling the Opportunity” was implemented, the EMEC program was expanded and broadened with the assistance of Drs. Croft, Rohling and Lu at UBC, and has become the Mechatronics Option.

For more information: http://blogs.apsc.ubc.ca/engineeringnews/2011/05/31/three-applied-science-educators-receive-ubc%E2%80%99s-highest-teaching-honour/

Professor Yusuf Altintas receives Engineers Canada’s highest award

Professor Yusuf Altintas has received the Gold Medal Award from Engineers Canada—the highest recognition of its kind in engineering in Canada—bestowed for his exceptional individual achievement and distinction in the field of machining and machine tools.

For more information: http://blogs.apsc.ubc.ca/engineeringnews/2011/05/30/ubc-mechanical-engineer-receives-engineers-canada%E2%80%99s-highest-award/

UBC Mechanical Engineering professor Yusuf Altintas was inducted Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada

November 27, 2010
Election to the RSC is the highest honour a scholar can achieve in the arts, humanities and sciences in Canada.

Altintas holds an NSERC-Pratt & Whitney Canada Industrial Research Chair in Virtual High-performance Machining and is the leading scientific authority in machining and machine tool control engineering worldwide. In addition to having highest citation record in his field, his algorithms are used by over 130 companies worldwide in improving the quality and productivity of machining operations.

About the Royal Society of Canada
Founded in 1882, the RSC is Canada’s senior and most prestigious scholarly organization. The society has three primary functions: to recognize outstanding contributions to Canadian intellectual culture; to promote Canadian culture abroad; and to advise governments and organizations.

For more information: www.rsc-src.ca

School of Engineering, University of Tokyo

February 24, 2010
Prof. Yusuf Altintas has been elected as a Fellow of the University of Tokyo for his academic contributions in metal cutting mechanics, machine tool vibrations, and control. The graduate students and postdoctoral fellows under Dr. Altintas' supervision will be able to spend research periods at the University of Tokyo's School of Engineering.

NSERC Canadian Network for Research and Innovation in Machining Technology (CANRIMT)

Led by Yusuf Altintas, mechanical engineering professor and NSERC-P&WC Industrial Research Chair Professor in Virtual Machining, CANRIMT aims to develop the world’s most advanced Virtual Machining Technology and a five-axis mezzo milling machine. The technology will enable the design and manufacturing of products without first resorting to costly physical trials and will benefit the Canadian aerospace, automotive, power generation, mould-making and automation systems industries.

The CANRIMT team will receive $5 million from NSERC and $400,000 from industry over five years. The network includes 20 researchers from seven universities in B.C., Alberta, New Brunswick, Ontario, and Quebec. Approximately 100 engineers are expected to be trained through the network.

Professor Altintas Elected as Fellow of Canadian Academy of Engineering (June 2007)

UBC professors Yusuf Altintas (Mechanical Engineering), David Dreisinger (Materials Engineering), Alan Russell (Civil Engineering), and David Wilkinson (Chemical and Biological Engineering) have been inducted as Fellows of the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE) in recognition of their distinguished achievements and career-long service to the engineering profession. The ceremony took place in Toronto, in conjunction with the Academy's 2007 Annual General Meeting on June 1st.

Yusuf Altintas is internationally recognized as a leading engineering researcher in the field of machining. He has contributed significantly to the literature, particularly his theory of kinematics and chatter vibration stability in milling. He has also published the book "Manufacturing Automation: Principles of Metal Cutting, Machine Tool Vibrations and CNC Design", Cambridge University Press 2000. He holds the prestigious NSERC/Pratt & Whitney Industrial Research Chair in Virtual High-Performance Machining. He is a Fellow of ASME, SME and CIRP, and he is the Founder and President of MAL Manufacturing Automation Laboratories Inc., the UBC spin-off company that markets and distributes practical applications of his state-of-the-art research to more than 90 companies world-wide.

For more information: http://www.acad-eng-gen.ca/

SME Medal (2005)

Profesor Altintas received the Fellow Medal from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) on November 6, 2005 in Dearborn from the President of SME.

CIRP Taylor Medal of 2003

Dr. Erhan Budak, who received his Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia's Manufacturing Automation Laboratory, received the CIRP Taylor Medal of 2003 for his research on chatter vibrations. Dr. Budak studied static and dynamics of milling thin webs under the supervision of Professor Altintas (1989-1994). Dr. Budak contributed a novel chatter vibration stability theory in milling during his Ph.D. Dr. Budak applied the chatter vibration stability theory to a five-axis milling of jet engine compressors when he worked at our main industrial collaborator, Pratt & Whitney Canada, between 1994 and 2000. He is currently an assistant professor at Sabanci University in Istanbul, Turkey. Taylor medal is given to one academic per year after extensive peer review and election by active members of CIRP.

The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia's 2002 Meritorious Achievement Award (2002)

The NSERC - Pratt & Whitney Industrial Research Chair In Virtual High-Performance Machining at The University of British Columbia

Funding (over 5 years)

NSERC: $675 000
Pratt & Whitney: $550,000

The work of the Industrial Research Chair

Through this Chair, Dr. Altintas hopes to position UBC as one of the leading machine research centres in the world, allowing the University to train engineers in the design of machine tools and high-performance machining, and enabling industry partners such as Pratt & Whitney Canada to simulate manufacturing operations for optimum process planning.

Virtual high-performance machining uses a highly-detailed computer graphics program to model and predict the machine tool and process behaviour in a virtual environment. It incorporates all the scientific principles of metal cutting, vibrations, solid mechanics and control theory. Dr. Altintas advances in this area is of great interest to automobile and aerospace manufacturing companies, for whom precision equates to cost savings and dramatically increased productivity.

Through additional support from industry partners such as Mori Seiki in Japan, Boeing USA and Sandvik Coromant in Sweden, Dr. Altintas also has secured a Computer Numeric Control (CNC) High Speed Machining Centre to help carry out work planned under the Chair. The new centre will be housed in UBC's Institute for Robotics and Industrial Systems (IRIS) Building.

The Chairholder Dr. Yusuf Altintas, of the Faculty of Applied Science at UBC, is one of the world's leading experts in machining and is particularly well-known for his contributions in the area of milling. He has established productive collaborations around the world within both the academic and industrial communities. His work is highly regarded by industry and has been implemented, with very successful results, by a number of companies.

Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC, Innovation Magazine (January/February 2003) issue

Manufacturing Research Partnership Award by Pratt & Whitney Canada Inc.

The Manufacturing Automation Laboratory was key in developing new control techniques for the machining process. Our laboratory received the Manufacturing Research Partnership Award from Pratt & Whitney Canada for our contributions to the productivity increased in 5-axis milling of jet engine compressors and blisks.

Peter Larkin (1998) and Alfred Scow (2001) Awards Presented to Electro-Mechanical Design Program

The Electro-Mechanical Design Program has been recognized with the Peter Larkin (1998) and Alfred Scow (2001) awards for its outstanding success.