Downing Named Distinguished Engineering Management Fellow
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowCraig Downing, head of the Department of Engineering Management at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, has been appointed a distinguished fellow of the American Society of Engineering Management for his demonstrated professional accomplishments along with service and contributions to the organization. Society Fellow status is the highest level of ASEM membership, with no more than five persons being elected annually by current fellows. Candidates must have eight years of continuous membership in the organization to be eligible. Downing received ASEM’s Meritorious Service Award in 2015. His areas of expertise include industrial-academic relationships, quality management system development and productions/operations management. He has industry experience as a process engineer and private consultant for organizations such as Lockheed Martin/NASA, Parker Hannifin, Crain Enterprises and Peerless Pump. As leader of Rose-Hulman’s engineering management department, Downing has helped expand and refine the institute’s academic offerings to increase the business acumen within a greater portion of students – through on- and off-campus programs. The next step in the program’s growth, according to Downing, is expanding the department’s online offerings to reach an even larger population of students and professionals. Downing has had a significant role in Rose-Hulman’s leadership role in the Kern Entrepreneurial Education Network, a national initiative supporting development of entrepreneurially minded programs within undergraduate engineering, and the establishment of Escalate, a living and learning community preparing Rose-Hulman students with the business awareness to become tomorrow’s technical leaders. He also has been a faculty mentor for Rose-Hulman’s National Science Foundation-supported Making Academic Change Happen workshops, which have developed change agents at educational institutions across America. Downing, who has received excellence in service and honorary alumnus awards from Rose-Hulman, earned bachelor’s degrees in mechanical engineering technology from Southern Illinois University (1992) and applied mathematics and statistics from Southeast Missouri State University (2005). He has a master’s degree in manufacturing systems (1994) and a doctorate degree in workforce education and development (1999), both from SIU.