For the first time in its 78-year history, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) has elected a woman to lead the organization. Barbara M. Fossum, Ph.D., FSME, will serve as 2010 president. In that role, she would like to coordinate efforts among professional societies and other organizations to achieve key objectives for the manufacturing community.

“I believe SME can be a catalyst among professional organizations to make progress toward a national manufacturing strategy,” said Fossum. “Working together, government, industry and academia can rebuild U.S. manufacturing capability in key industries.”

Fossum would also like to work with other organizations to refine the image of manufacturing as a good career option and develop educational paths that prepare the future generation for jobs in manufacturing.

 

Fossum brings a diverse academic and industrial background to SME, having held a number of positions in industry and academia. Currently, she is an independent consultant and coach in the areas of strategic planning, process engineering and business planning for entrepreneurial startups. Fossum is also a senior research fellow of the IC2 Institute of the University of Texas at Austin, where she works in worldwide economic development projects involving technology commercialization. She holds a bachelor’s degree in physics, a master’s of business administration degree, a master’s degree in mathematics/computer science, and a doctorate in operations management.

For additional details, visit www.sme.org.