Joseph J. Beaman, Jr.

Professor Joseph J. Beaman joined The University of Texas at Austin faculty in 1979 after receiving his ScD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the area of nonlinear control in the Mechanical Engineering Department. His career work has been in both manufacturing and control. His specific manufacturing research interest is in Solid Freeform Fabrication, a manufacturing technology that produces freeform solid objects directly from a computer model of the object without part-specific tooling or knowledge. Dr. Beaman coined this term in 1987. Professor Beaman initiated research in the area in 1985 and was the first academic researcher in the field. One of the most successful Solid Freeform Fabrication approaches, Selective Laser Sintering, was a process that was developed in his laboratory. Professor Beaman has been both an inventor and a mentor to inventors during the development of this technology. In particular, he has worked with graduate students, faculty, and industrial concerns on the fundamental technology that span materials, laser scanning techniques, thermal control, mold making techniques, direct metal fabrication, and biomedical applications. He was one of the founders of DTM Corporation (now merged with 3D Systems), which markets Selective Laser Sintering. During the period 1990-1992, Professor Beaman was in charge of Advanced Development for DTM. During his tenure at DTM, the company developed and marketed its first commercial systems. Dr. Beaman is an academic whose technical work has had a significant and growing impact on society. His work has played an important role in engendering a whole new industry in the US and abroad. Solid Freeform Fabrication and Selective Laser Sintering equipment is now widespread. Rapid prototyping with this equipment is commonplace, and represents a significant shortening of the design cycle. Rapid manufacturing is now emerging and offers the potential to radically compress the manufacturing cycle for complex parts. Benefits are greatly reduced cost, time, and the capability to achieve, in one operation, shapes that would otherwise require multiple operations or shapes impossible to manufacture with standard techniques. Applications cross a broad spectrum from medical to automotive. He participated on the Japanese Technology Evaluation Center Panel study on Rapid Prototyping in Japan and Europe, a Workshop on Rapid Prototyping in Japan and Europe in March 1996, which was a worldwide assessment of the research area. He also was chair of a World Technology Evaluation Center panel in 2003 on Additive/Subtractive Manufacturing. Dr. Beaman received the National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award in 1984, its inaugural year. Other awards include UT's Faculty Excellence Award, the DuPont Young Faculty Award, two Engineering Foundation Awards (1984, 1988), the Best Paper Award from the Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control, Best Paper Award for the Journal of Rapid Prototyping (1996), and Best Paper Award for the 2001 Vacuum Metallurgy Conference. Dr. Beaman is a member of Tau Beta Pi, Phi Kappa Phi, Sigma Xi, Pi Tau Sigma, and the Texas Society of Professional Engineers. He received a fellowship while attending MIT and graduated with a B. S. M. E. with high honors from The University of Texas in 1972. He is member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Dynamic Systems and Control Division. He is currently Technical Group Leader Elect of the ASME Systems & Design Technical Group. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers elected Dr. Beaman Fellow in August 1996. Dr. Beaman holds the Earnest F. Gloyna Regents Chair in Engineering in the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Beaman is currently the Chairman of the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Most Significant Journal Articles

1. Brooke Stevinson, David L. Bourell, Joseph J Beaman, Jr., "Dimensional stability during post-processing of selective laser sintered ceramic preforms", Virtual and Physical Prototyping, Vol. 1, (January 2007), 4, pp. 209-216
2. Brooke Stevinson, David L. Bourell, Joseph J Beaman, Jr., "Freeform Fabrication of Non-Metallic Objects by Selective Laser Sintering and Infiltration", (2007)
3. Evans, R. S., Bourell, D. L, Beaman, J. J., Campbell, M. I., "Rapid Manufacturing of Silicon Carbide CompositesRapid Prototyping Journal", Rapid Prototyping Journal, Vol. 11, (2005), 1, pp. 37-40
4. King, C. W., Campbell, M. I., Beaman, J. J., Sreenivasan, S. V., "Synthesis of Multistable Equilibrium Linkage Systems Using an Optimization Approach", Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization, Vol. ISSN 1615-147X, (2005), pp. 1615-1488
5. Carey W. King, Matthew I. Campbell, Joseph J. Beaman, and S.V. Sreenivasan, "Synthesis of Multistable Equilibrium Linkage System Using an Optimization Approach", Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization, Vol. 158, (2004), pp. 1-26