Ajay Malshe named to SME Board of Directors

Indian American professor to play key role on the SME governing body with power to establish its business policy

By Arun Kumar

Ajay Malshe, an Indian American professor at Purdue University. has been elected as a 2025 International Director for the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), a nonprofit representing the entire North American manufacturing industry.

Malshe, the R. Eugene and Susie E. Goodson Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University, is expected to play a key role on the SME governing body, with power to establish business policy for SME, order and conduct professional meetings, and guide its member units.

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“I’m thrilled Professor Malshe is a new SME international director this year and grateful for his guidance and commitment to our mission,” said Jeannine Kunz, SME executive director and CEO. “His extensive professional and academic experience, and impressive honors received both nationally and internationally make him ideal for this role as part of the governing body of SME. The organization and the rest of the Board are sure to benefit from Professor Malshe’s already evident enthusiasm for contributing to SME and the greater manufacturing industry.”

Malshe’s leadership roles at Purdue include being a President’s Fellow and the inaugural director of the Materials and Manufacturing Research Laboratories (MMRL), according to his profile.

He has 40 years of collective professional experience in nanomanufacturing industries as a founder, board member and officer as well as academia. He has gained national and international recognition in advanced manufacturing, bio-inspired design, functional multi-materials, system integration, and productization.

Application areas of his contributions include in-space servicing, assembly and manufacturing (ISAM), biomanufacturing for foods, packaging of microelectronics and nanomanufacturing for machines.

Malshe has trained more than 1,400 students and mentored numerous engineers for leadership. He has published in excess of 225 papers and has received more than 28 patents resulting in more than 20 award-winning nanomanufactured products applied by leading corporations in energy, defense and aerospace, transportation, EVs and other critical industrial sectors.

Malshe has received over 45 prestigious international honors for scientific discoveries, engineering breakthroughs, and product innovations. In 2018, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering “for innovations in nanomanufacturing with impact in multiple industry sectors,” the highest award an engineer can receive.