Dr. Mote Receives Founders Award From National Academy of Engineering

The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) will present the Founders Award to Clayton Daniel Mote Jr., an exceptional researcher and university administrator, at a ceremony to be held on Sunday, Oct. 9.

Mote is an NAE member and president and Glenn L. Martin Institute Professor of Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park; he will receive the Founders Award "for the creation of a comprehensive body of work on the dynamics of moving flexible structures and for leadership in academia." The award recognizes outstanding professional, educational, and personal achievement to the benefit of society, and it includes $2,500 and a gold medallion.

Mote is a pioneer in the dynamics and stability of high-speed, axially moving and rotating structures used in magnetic recording, machining, and transport systems. His research established a comprehensive framework for the analysis and design of flexible machine elements and provided a fundamental understanding of vibration and noise in circular and band saws, fluid-conveying pipes, belts, and disk drives. Mote's world-renowned research in saw mechanics enabled the forest products industry to significantly decrease waste and preserve natural resources worldwide, improve product quality, and reduce the considerable noise and hearing loss associated with wood machining.

Furthermore, Mote has largely defined the fields of ski mechanics and skiing biomechanics. Through his novel experiments, Mote uncovered the basic mechanisms behind many skiing injuries, established the fundamental dynamic models for the skier and ski equipment, and helped protect skiers by developing industry standards for ski equipment.

Along with his research, Mote began to take on administrative roles at the University of California, Berkeley, first as chair of the department of mechanical engineering and FANUC Chair in Mechanical Systems, and later as vice chancellor of university relations. As president of the UC Berkeley Foundation from 1991 to 1998, his fundraising was unprecedented. The University of Maryland recruited Mote to become president in 1998, and since then he has transformed it into a formidable research university. He has marshaled widespread support to create corporate and government partnerships. Agreements with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Department of Defense (DOD), Fujitsu, four of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), among others, are turning the university into a center of innovative research and economic development.

In addition to leading institutions to greater prominence, Mote has cultivated the potential of his many students. He has guided 56 graduate students to achieving Ph.D.s, and many of these students now run their own vibrations labs. He continues to co-advise graduate students and give lectures on engineering, and each year extends an individual lunch invitation to every member of the student body. In these ways he stays connected to his roots as a teacher and scholar. "Every student should have a mentor," asserts Mote. "Mentoring is as important to student achievement as teaching."