S. Jack Hu, Ph.D.

UGA Foundation Distinguished Professor

706-542-0415

[email protected]

2125 Driftmier Engineering Center
597 D.W. Brooks Drive
Athens, Georgia 30602
United States

UGA Foundation Distinguished Professor of Engineering
Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost
University of Georgia

Dr. S. Jack Hu joined the University of Georgia as Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost in 2019. In this role, he provides visionary leadership for the UGA academic enterprise and oversees instruction, research, public service and outreach, information technology, and UGA’s 19 schools and colleges. Hu is also a UGA Foundation Distinguished Professor in the College of Engineering.

Prior to his appointment at UGA, Hu was Vice President for Research at the University of Michigan, where he oversaw a research enterprise that generates annual expenditures exceeding $1.5 billion and spans the university’s campuses in Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Flint. He was Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Professor of Industrial and Operations Engineering, and the J. Reid and Polly Anderson Professor of Manufacturing at Michigan.

Dr. Hu’s research and teaching interests are in manufacturing systems. His work has been supported by more than $46 million in external funding from agencies such as the U.S. Department of Energy, Department of Commerce, and the National Science Foundation, as well as corporations such as General Motors. Hu has authored or co-authored nearly 200 peer-reviewed journal articles related to his research in manufacturing systems, assembly, and engineering statistics. He holds ten patents, co-founded a startup company based on his research, and worked closely with several industry partners to enhance manufacturing quality and productivity.

Hu is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), the National Academy of Inventors, and the International Academy for Production Engineering. He is the recipient of various awards, including the William T. Ennor Manufacturing Technology Award and the DeVor/Kapoor Manufacturing Medal from ASME, the SME Gold Medal, and several best paper awards. In 2021, SME named him one of the 20 most influential academics in smart manufacturing.

View CV

Education

Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan
M.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan
B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Tianjin University, China

Professional Appointments

Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, UGA Foundation Distinguished Professor, University of Georgia, 2019 – present
Vice President for Research, University of Michigan, 2014 – 2019
J. Reid and Polly Anderson Professor of Manufacturing, University of Michigan, 2011 – 2019

Awards and Honors

Membership in Professional Organizations

Fellow, National Academy of Inventors, elected 2023.
Fellow, Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), elected 2018.
Foreign Member, Chinese Academy of Engineering, elected 2017.
Member, U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE), elected 2015.
Fellow, International Academy for Production Engineering (CIRP), elected 2012.
Fellow, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), elected 2003.

Awards and Recognitions

DeVor/Kapoor Manufacturing Medal, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2024. The Medal recognizes an individual or a team of researchers for a body of impactful achievements in the field of manufacturing.
20 Most Influential Academics in Smart Manufacturing, SME Smart Manufacturing Magazine, 2021.
Best Paper Award, ASME Manufacturing Science and Engineering Conference (MSEC), June, Chenhui Shao, Jionghua (Judy) Jin and S. Jack Hu, “Dynamic sampling design for characterizing spatiotemporal processes in manufacturing.”
ASME Blackall Machine Tool & Gage Award, H. Nguyen, H. Wang, B. Tai, J. Ren, S. J. Hu, and A. Shih, “High definition metrology enabled surface variation control by cutting load rebalancing,” ASME Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering. This award is the ASME Manufacturing Division’s annual literature award.
Best Applications Paper, IIE Transactions on Quality and Reliability Engineering, 2017. Suriano, H. Wang, C. Shao, S. J. Hu and P. Sekhar, “Progressive measurement and monitoring for multi-resolution data in surface manufacturing considering spatial and cross correlations.”
SME Gold Medal. 2017. In recognition of intellectual leadership in inventing novel algorithms and practical methodologies for multi-station assembly systems and their implementation in industry, as well as influential service to government and the manufacturing profession.
SME/NAMRI S. M. Wu Research Implementation Award, 2014. This award recognizes outstanding original research presented as a paper at the annual North American Manufacturing Research Conference (NAMRC) and subsequently, upon implementation, had a significant commercial and/or societal impact. I was recognized for contribution in developing Principal Component Analysis based method for systematically identifying sources of quality variation in assembly systems.
ASME William T. Ennor Manufacturing Technology Award, 2012. The award recognizes an individual or a team of individuals for developing or contributing significantly to an innovative manufacturing technology, the implementation of which has resulted in substantial economic and/or societal benefits. I was recognized for “developing innovative methods for predicting and diagnosing quality variation in multi-stage assembly systems and methods for designing manufacturing system configurations, and their implementation in automotive assembly and battery manufacturing.”
Best Paper Award, ASME Manufacturing Science and Engineering Conference (MSEC), June 2012, Tai, H. Wang, H. Nguyen, S. J. Hu, and A. Shih, “Surface variation reduction for face milling based on high definition metrology.”
Best Paper Award, International Conference in Frontiers of Design and Manufacturing, Chongqing, China, June, 2012, Sha Li, Yhu-Tin Lin, Hui Wang, Sheng Yang, Ci Chen, S. Jack Hu, Jeffrey Abell, “An assembly system configurator for automotive battery packs.”
Reid and Polly Anderson Professor of Manufacturing, The University of Michigan, September 2011 – June 2019.
Selected as a Big 10 Academic Alliance fellow of Academic Leadership Programs, 2010. (organized by Big 10 + universities in the US for emerging academic leaders.)
Best Paper Award, 9^th International Conference on Frontiers of Design and Manufacturing, Changsha, China, July, 2010. Suriano, H. Wang, S. J. Hu, “Sequential monitoring of surface spatial variation in automotive machining processes based on high definition metrology”. Also recognized for outstanding contributions to the conference series.
Lawton and Louise G. Johnson Professor of Engineering, The University of Michigan, January 2009 – August 2011.
General Motors Technical Education Program, “Partnership Excellence Award”, March, 2008.
College of Engineering Research Excellence Award, The University of Michigan, 2006.
Robert Caddell Faculty/Graduate Student Team Award (with Ph.D. student Guosong Lin), Sept. 2005. University of Michigan.
Mechanical Engineering Teaching Incentive Award, 2001, 2003, University of Michigan.
Best Paper Award, ASME Design Engineering Technical Conference/6^th Design for Manufacturing Conference, September, 2001. Camelio, D. Ceglarek, S. J. Hu, “Modeling variation propagation in multi-station assembly systems with compliant parts.”
Faculty Achievement Award, Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Michigan, 2000
Recognized by Society of Automotive Engineers International for Developing the Body-in-White Certificate Program with General Motors, Feb. 1999.
Robert Caddell Faculty Research Achievement Award, Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, The University of Michigan, 1997.
National Science Foundation CAREER Award, 1996.
Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award, Society of Manufacturing Engineers, 1993.

Research and Impact

Publications

Google Scholar Page

Selected Professional Services

Peers Committee, National Academy of Engineering, 2020 – 2022
Strategic Planning Committee, National Academy of Engineering, 2020
Member of Executive Committee, Transportation Research Board, 2016 – 2022
Member, National Materials and Manufacturing Board Committee, May 2015 – 2018
Member, Operations Committee, Advanced Manufacturing Partnership. Developed recommendations for the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation and the Manufacturing Innovation Institutes. 2011 – 2014.
Co-Chair, National Science Foundation Workshop on “Innovation and Operations of Manufacturing Systems”, May 12 – 14, 2010, Ann Arbor.
Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Manufacturing Systems, Society of Manufacturing Engineers. Jan. 2008 – June 2014.
Associate Editor, CIRP Journal of Manufacturing Science and Technology, 2013 – 2023.
Founding Editor in Chief, Procedia Manufacturing. 2014 – August 2019

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