Yoram Koren

Professor Yoram Koren is the James J. Duderstadt Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Manufacturing and Paul G. Goebel Professor Emeritus of Engineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan College of Engineering. He earned a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering in 1965, an M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering in 1968, and a D.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering in 1971, all from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. Koren served as Paul G. Goebel Visiting Professor at the University of Michigan from 1980 to 1982, joined as a tenured professor in Mechanical Engineering in 1986, held the Paul G. Goebel Professorship of Engineering from 1993 to 2014, and was appointed James J. Duderstadt Distinguished University Professor of Manufacturing in 2010. He founded and directed the NSF-sponsored Engineering Research Center for Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems from 1996 to 2012, the first such center for the University of Michigan College of Engineering, securing over $47 million in funding and graduating 70 Ph.D. students and 270 M.S. students.

Koren is internationally recognized for conceiving the Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems paradigm in 1995, establishing its scientific foundations, defining its core characteristics, and inventing key technologies such as reconfigurable machine tools—the world's first full-scale version introduced in 2002—and reconfigurable inspection machines, protected by seven U.S. patents among his total of 14. His pioneering contributions also include the world's first computerized real-time adaptive controller for milling machines in 1973, obstacle-avoidance algorithms for autonomous mobile robots including the Vector Field Histogram method (1991), and developments in flexible automation and robotics such as the snake robot (1993). He has authored four books, including Computer Control of Manufacturing Systems (McGraw-Hill, 1983) and Robotics for Engineers (McGraw-Hill, 1985), over 300 scholarly papers with more than 28,000 citations and an h-index of 72 (Google Scholar), and holds numerous patents. A member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering since 2004, Koren is a Fellow of CIRP, SME, ASME, and IEEE, and has received the SME Gold Medal (2007), ASME William T. Ennor Manufacturing Technology Award (1999), ASME/SME Merchant Medal (2006), and University of Michigan College of Engineering Stephen S. Attwood Award (2008).

Professional Email: ykoren@umich.edu