BLACKSBURG, Va., April 27, 2007 – Kevin Creehan of Christiansburg, Va., associate director and research assistant professor at the Center for High Performance Manufacturing at Virginia Tech, has been promoted as the center’s new director.
Creehan, associated with the center virtually since its inception in 2001, is “an active contributor to both the research and the administrative aspects of the center and he brings to the job a fresh view on how to engage both existing and prospective members,” said Don Taylor, head of the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering in the College of Engineering.
His research areas include lean manufacturing; rapid prototyping and rapid tooling; reverse engineering applications in manufacturing; simulation of manufacturing environments; project management in manufacturing; neural network applications in manufacturing; and manufacturing cell design and analysis.
He received his bachelor’s degree from Allegheny College in 1997, and his master’s and Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1999 and 2001, respectively.
The Center for High Performance Manufacturing helps manufacturing firms research, develop, and implement new processes, methods, and technologies in order to stay competitive in today’s dynamic manufacturing environment. Work is performed in wide variety of areas, ranging from supply chain design and flexible automation to rapid prototyping and low-cost composite manufacturing.
Virginia Tech leads the center, with participation from James Madison University, The College of William and Mary, and Virginia State University. It was launched with $4.35 million in funding from the State of Virginia’s Commonwealth Technology Research Fund.
Former center director Robert Taylor, a research professor of industrial and systems engineering, is retiring in May. He plans to return home to Tennessee to be with his family. “I have benefited greatly from the association and friendships I have made over the past few years. We learned much during the early years of the center and it is now widely recognized as the premier manufacturing center in the Commonwealth,” said Taylor.