Every year, the North American Manufacturing Research Institution of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (NAMRI/SME) hosts the North American Manufacturing Research Conference (NAMRC). This year, the 54th NAMRC (collocated with the ASME International Manufacturing Science and Engineering Conference, MSEC) was hosted by Pennsylvania State University from June 14-18, 2026.

The S. M. Wu Research Implementation Award was created to pay tribute to outstanding research presented at NAMRC that has achieved significant commercial and/or societal impact following implementation. It was named to honor the late Prof. Shien-Ming (S.M.) Wu of the University of Michigan (and before that the University of Wisconsin).

The 2026 S.M. Wu Research Implementation Award was presented to Dr. John W. Sutherland, FSME, Distinguished Professor and Fehsenfeld Family Head School of Sustainability Engineering and Environmental Engineering at Purdue University. The award recognizes Sutherland’s seminal contributions since the 1990s to the area of sustainable manufacturing: maximizing effective use of material and energy resources and minimizing waste and environmental and human health impacts in the engineering of products and manufacturing systems. Over nearly 35 years, Sutherland has developed core concepts, advanced rigorous engineering research and partnered with major manufacturers to implement sustainable manufacturing practices that emphasize industry being proactive by identifying and eliminating root causes to environmental challenges as opposed to taking remedial actions. Consequently, these efforts have generated significant financial gains and meaningful socio-environmental benefits. More notably, his work has transformed how the manufacturing research community views multi-dimensional sustainability issues related to products and manufacturing processes/systems.