Dr Nam Pyo Suh is an internationally-recognised pioneer in mechanical engineering.
Dr Suh is the creator of axiomatic design theory – which has been adopted by industrial firms and taught at universities around the world. He is credited with the development of microcellular plastic, and is also considered an authority in the field of tribology – the phenomenon encountered whenever there is relative motion between two surfaces.
Throughout his distinguished career, Dr Suh has held positions with the National Science Foundation in Washington DC, the University of South Carolina, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he was head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering from 1991 until 2001. He was also the 13th and 14th president of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST), and the principal architect of the highly successful Five-Year Plan of Korea for the period 1980–1985.
Receiving his PhD from the illustrious Carnegie-Mellon University in the United States in 1964, Dr Suh has gone on to publish more than 300 papers in scholarly journals. In 2007, he was awarded a Doctor of Engineering honoris causa by UQ.