Thomas R. Kurfess is the Chief Manufacturing Officer of the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the Executive Director of the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute. At Georgia Tech he is the HUSCO/Ramirez Distinguished Chair in Fluid Power and Motion Control and Regents’ Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. He also serves as the Chief Technology Officer at the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences. During 2019-2021 he was on leave serving as the Chief Manufacturing Officer and the Founding Director for the Manufacturing Science Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he was responsible for strategic planning in advanced manufacturing.
During 2012-2013 he was on leave serving as the Assistant Director for Advanced Manufacturing at the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President of the United States of America. In this position he had responsibility for engaging the Federal sector and the greater scientific community to identify possible areas for policy actions related to manufacturing. He was responsible for coordinating Federal advanced manufacturing R&D, addressing issues related to technology commercialization, identifying gaps in current Federal R&D in advanced manufacturing, and developing strategies to address these gaps.
He served as the President of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 2023-2024 and was President of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers in 2018. He presently serves as an appointed member of the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration, Advisory (NNSA) Committee for Nuclear Security. He has also served as an appointed member of the U.S. Department of the Navy’s Science and Technology Board federal advisory committee.
His research focuses on the design and development of advanced manufacturing systems targeting secure digital manufacturing, additive and subtractive processes, and large-scale production enterprises.
Kurfess is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering and is a Fellow of ASME, AAAS, and SME. He is a member of the NASEM National Materials and Manufacturing Board, the NASEM Laboratory Assessment Board, and is the Chair of the NASEM Standing Committee for Defense Materials, Manufacturing and its Infrastructure.
He received his S.B., S.M. and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering from M.I.T. in 1986, 1987 and 1989, respectively. He also received an S.M. degree from M.I.T. in electrical engineering and computer science in 1988.