Biography

Dr. Ashok Midha earned Ph.D. and Master of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1977 and 1970, respectively. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the National Institute of Technology in the steel city of Jamshedpur, India, in 1968.

Dr. Midha joined Missouri S&T in 1997 as a professor of Mechanical Engineering and Chair of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Prior to that, he held positions of professor and associate professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University. He also held positions of associate and assistant professor at The Pennsylvania State University, and assistant professor at Michigan Technological University.

Prior to his academic career, Dr. Midha served as a mechanical engineer for two years with FluiDyne Engineering Corp., in Minneapolis.

Dr. Midha has conducted research and consulted in the following areas: mechanical design, kinematics and dynamics of mechanisms, rigid-body and compliant mechanisms design, and machine vibration and stability. He has written nearly 140 journal articles, conference proceedings papers and book chapters, and has received several best paper, design, and college research awards. His more recent efforts have been devoted to design education and the development of a methodology for design of compliant mechanisms.

Dr. Midha received the coveted American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Design Engineering Division Mechanisms Committee Award in 1998 for “Outstanding Contributions to the Science of Mechanism Theory and Design, and Valued Services in Advancing the Engineering Profession.” He was named a Fellow of the ASME in 2002. He served as an associate editor for the Journal of Mechanisms, Transmissions, and Automation in Design (now known as the Journal of Mechanical Design), and the feature editor of Mechanism and Machine Theory, the Journal of the International Federation for the Theory of Machines and Mechanisms (IFToMM).

Research Interests

Mechanical design, Rigid-body and compliant mechanism design, High-performance machinery analysis and design, and Machine vibration and stability

Honors and Awards

• ASME Mechanisms Committee Award, ASME Design Engineering Technical Conferences, GA (1998)
• South Pointing Chariot Award for 1996-1997, 4th National Applied Mechanisms & Robotics Conference, OH (1995)
• IPC-8 Committee Prize Paper Award, Eighth International Pacific Conference on Automotive Engineering, The Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan, Inc., Japan (1995)
• Mechanical Design Contributor to the Category A – Second Prize Winners, 3rd International Plastics Design Competition, Finland (1993)
• Recipient of the Mechanical Dynamics, Inc. (MDI) Software Award, 22nd Biennial ASME Mechanisms Conference, AZ (1992)

Education

• 1977 – Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota
• 1970 – M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota
• 1968 – B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Regional Institute of Technology Jamshedpur