ASME bestows the Fellow Grade to recognize significant engineering achievements and contributions to the engineering profession.  To learn more about the Fellow nomination process you can read more at ASME.org.  If you are interested in becoming a Fellow or working on a team dedicated to nominating Fellows from Southern Nevada email Bradford Colton (bcolton@apfc.com).

The Silver State Section is honored to have the following Fellows:

Robert F. Boehm, PhD, PE – 1983

Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Energy Research Center Howard H. Hughes College of Engineering University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

William P. Graebel, PhD – 2003

William Graebel’s career spans nearly 50 years as an educator., researcher and writer. He was a faculty member of the University of Michigan for 35 years. He has published an undergraduate textbook, Engineering Fluid Mechanics, contributed to the analysis of flow stability, to the understanding of non-Newtonian fluids. measured the effectiveness of removal techniques for oil spills, and evaluated technologies for mobile base environmental cooling units. He consulted on matters pertaining to the launch of missiles from submarines and on enhancing complex compounds for use in heat pumps. In partnership with ophthalmologists, he performed measurements of the material properties of human eyes. He was a licensed professional engineer in Michigan and Nevada, was faculty advisor to the University of Michigan ASME student chapter, and is past chair of the Silver State ASME section. He is an associate fellow of AlAA. Ph.D, (1959) University of Michigan

Darrell Pepper, PhD – 1996

Darrell Pepper is Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Nevada Center for Advanced Computational Methods (NCACM) as the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV). He previously served as Interim Dean of the College of Engineering at UNLV, was a Congressional Fellow working for Senator Feinstein in Washington, DC where he handled science, aerospace, and engineering issues. He was Chairman of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and founded the NCACM in 1996. He obtained his B.S.M.E., M.S.A.E., and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Missouri – Rolla. Prior to his arrival at UNLV in 1992, Dr. Pepper held various technical and managerial positions with Dupont at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, SC, including head of the atmospheric science group there. He also served as Chief Scientist for the Marquardt Company in Van Nuys, CA, where he worked on the National Aerospace Plane program, and was CEO of a company he co-founded in southern California. He has given briefings to Congress and to several Presidential Science Advisors on modeling issues. Dr. Pepper has published over 300 technical papers on fluid dynamics, heat transfer, and environmental transport topics, including five textbooks on numerical modeling. He was a recipient of the 1996 Barrick Distinguished Scholar Award from UNLV, and the 1996 Distinguished Research Award from the College of Engineering. He was selected as a member of the Baldrige Board of Examiners in 2003 and was appointed a Commissioner to the ABET Engineering Accreditation Board in 2008. In 2008 he was awarded the international Eric Reissner medal by the ICCES and in 2010 he was awarded the Harry Reid Silver State Research Award by UNLV.

Mohamed Trabia, PhD – 2004

Dr. Mohamed Trabia, professor and chair of Mechanical Engineering Department at the UNLV, has a professional career that spans nearly 20 years with primary contributions in academia to research, teaching, and administration. His research work has focused on design, controls, and optimization. One of the areas where he has been particularly productive is in applications of fuzzy logic control. The developments he and his students have addressed include automatic tuning of fuzzy controllers using optimization techniques, and numerous applications of fuzzy logic. Dr. Trabia has also developed new optimization search algorithms that incorporate fuzzy logic. He has been active in the ASME Design Automation Committee, and has held various positions in the ASME Silver State Section, including advisor to the ASME Student Section. Arizona State University, Ph.D., 1987, Mechanical Engineering

Vellore C. Venkatesh, PhD – 2007

Dr. Venkatesh has three major research areas: – Manufacturing processes & materials – Manufacturing engineering – Precision engineering His research programs were well-funded and consistently resulted in many publications in the top journals of his field. Based on his scholarly record, I am sure that he will be successful in attracting additional funded research. Dr. Venkatesh always impressed me with the quality of his publications. His papers are thorough and reflect his careful analysis of the problems he studies. Based on various discussions that I had with other researchers, his papers were well-received by his colleagues.

Woosoon Yim, PhD – 2009

Professor Woosoon Yim has made significant contributions to the engineering profession through research and education. He used his expertise in dynamic system modeling and control to the areas of robotics, smart material, and biomimetic system development. He has been active in developing flexible manipulator system, soft polymer actuator, and shock/vibration isolators using a novel biased-magnetorheological elastomar. He has authored/co-authored more than 100 technical papers. He joined the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1987, and is currently Chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department of University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). Ph.D. (1987), University of Wisconsin-Madison