Kemper Lewis named a fellow of the AAAS

By Elizabeth Egan 

Lewis was recognized for his distinguished contributions to the field of design automation, advancing both fundamental decision theory and novel applications to systems design, design analytics, and Industry 4.0.

AAAS fellows include distinguished scientists, engineers and innovators who are recognized for their achievements across a range of disciplines, including research; teaching and technology; administration in academia, industry and government; excellence in communicating; and interpreting science to the public.

Lewis is one of seven University at Buffalo faculty members to receive the distinction this year. The other UB faculty are Sherry Chemler, Jean-Pierre Koenig, Gabriela Popescu, Thomas Russo, Frederick Stoss and Janet Yang.

Lewis is a global leader in engineering design, system optimization and advanced manufacturing. Before being named dean in 2020, he served as the chair of UB’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, where he was the Moog Professor of Innovation. He is also the director of UB’s Community of Excellence in Sustainable Manufacturing and Advanced Robotic Technologies (SMART), a university-wide initiative to develop advanced manufacturing and design processes including autonomy, intelligence and materials technologies.

He has served on the National Academies Panel on Benchmarking the Research Competitiveness of the United States in Mechanical Engineering and is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Lewis is also serving as the co-chair of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) 2024 Engineering Dean’s Institute.

His recent awards include the 2019 ASME Donald N. Zwiep Innovation in Education Award, 2017 ASME Design Automation Award, and UB’s Exceptional Scholar Award for Sustained Achievement in 2017. Lewis has published over 200 refereed journal articles and conference proceedings and has been a principal or co-principal investigator on grants totaling over $33 million.

Lewis joined UB in 1996. He earned his PhD and master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in business administration from UB, and his bachelor’s degrees in mechanical engineering and mathematics from Duke University.