ASM International (ASM), Materials Park, Ohio, announced that Sunniva R. Collins, associate professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), was elected ASM Board President.
A professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Collins teaches materials, design and manufacturing courses. She also contributes to the university’s initiatives in advanced manufacturing. Prior to joining CWRU, Collins was employed by Swagelok Company for 18 years, beginning in 1995 as a research metallurgist. As a senior research fellow, she coordinated the company’s academic and governmental research partnerships. Collins’ previous roles within Swagelok include engineering management positions and technical director of Swagelok Technology Services Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Swagelok Company.
“Since I joined in 1988 and for the majority of my professional life, ASM has remained a critical facet of my career developments, volunteer activities and opportunities to advance the field,” she said. “I’ve made great friends, connected with phenomenal mentors, received industry-leading technical insights, and greatly look forward to giving back to the Society that has given so much to me.”
Sunniva plans to continue focusing on fostering and growing the ASM community that she became a part of over two decades ago, by asking members to get engaged and volunteer more often in the hopes of sparking new experiences and new engagement among the next generation of members and volunteers.
“Sunniva Collins’s work and expertise in both the field and classroom has inspired many of those around her to develop, revolutionize and transform in materials and engineering related industries,” said Thom Passek, managing director at ASM International. “We are honored to welcome her as ASM Board President and look forward to an exciting year with Sunniva at the helm.”
From 2003 to 2006, Collins served as Swagelok’s principal investigator on a Department of Education funded project to evaluate surface hardening of austenitic stainless steels by low temperature carburization. This research received numerous accolades, including the 2006 ASM Engineered Materials Achievement Award and a 2008 R&D 100 Award. In 2011, she was named a fellow of Alpha Sigma Mu, the national honor society for materials scientists. She is also the 2014 recipient of the Cleveland Technical Societies Council’s Technical Educator Award.
Collins has instructed courses for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) on Bioprocessing Equipment (BPE) and for the International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineers (ISPE). She is a Fellow of ASM International (FASM) and served on the ASM Board of Trustees from 2008 to 2011. Additionally, she was the Cleveland Chapter Chair from 2000 to 2001 and received the Chapter’s Award of Distinction in 2009 and the Distinguished Service Award in 2013. She has served as a Materials Mentor for the ASM Materials Camp for Students and organized the Cleveland Materials Camp for Teachers, currently beginning its seventh year. Collins served as ASM Board Vice President before becoming President-Elect.
