Boston Section
Serving Mechanical Engineering Professionals in Eastern Massachusetts

Menu Home
About ASME Boston
History
Subsections
Calendar of Meetings/Events
News Archive
Executive Board
Section Officers
ASME Links
Local Student Sections

Contact Us

2008 - 2009 Executive Committee

	Michael Smith Section Chair Michael Smith received the B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology from Northeastern University, Boston, MA, the B.S. degree in Liberal Arts from Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. In 1980 he joined M/A-Com, where he was involved in the research and development of missile and radar systems in the Radar Products Division of the Defense Department Subcontractor. In 1990, he joined the firms engineering facilities, where he was involved in the development of millimeter-wavelength applications. In 1992 he joined the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge MA. In 2005 he was made a research Associate to the Smithsonian Institution and was mechanical engineering consultant to the Science Education Department’s Micro Observatory Project from 2006 to 2007. He is currently with the Submillimeter Receiver Laboratory, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA. He is currently involved in the research, development and deployment of hardware for the Submillimeter Array, Mauna Kea, HI, and terahertz frequency receivers for future ground based initiatives.
	Vice Chair
	Dr. Jamie Nichol Program Chair Dr. Jamie Nichol, founder and president of J. Gordon Nichol & Company, LLC, has 19 years of practical experience in software development, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, manufacturing, automation and autonomous control. Dr. Nichol has worked as a software developer, tool and die designer, manufacturing process engineer, machinist, automation designer, robotics engineer, project manager, student and teacher. Dr. Nichol was awarded the degree of batchelor of science with honors from Brigham Young University in mechanical engineering with a minor in mathematics. He studied biped locomotion, sensing and control for his undergraduate thesis. Dr. Nichol went on to study at Stanford University where he received an MS and Ph. D. in Mechanical Engineering under Professor Ken Waldron. His graduate work had emphasis in mechatronics, kinematics, control systems and machine design. For his dissertation, Dr. Nichol designed the KOLT, a quadrupedal robot capable of high speed locomotion. Following graduate school, Dr. Nichol contributed to a variety of research projects as a postdoctoral scholar at MIT. In a recent hiatus from consulting activities, Dr. Nichol served as director of robotics and manufacturing at Vecna Technologies, Inc. While at Vecna, Dr. Nichol grew the robotics division from a single full-time employee to a core group of 13 people. Dr. Nichol lead the design of the BEAR robot through early proof-of-concept hardware (which was awarded TIME magazine's "Best inventions of 2006") to a fully articulated, functional prototype. In addition, Dr. Nichol was able to substantially reduce manufacturing costs on Vecna's patient check-in kiosks through improvements to product design, manufacturing processes, and competitive bidding practices. These improvements cut Vecna's manufacturing costs by nearly half.
	Technical Series Coordinator
	Art Rosmaniere Treasurer
	Continuity and Change Chair
	Lindsay Dahlben College Relations Chair Lindsay Dahlben received her B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Rochester in 2007. During her undergraduate career she was extremely involved in the Rochester ASME Section, serving as her student section's co-social chair, vice chair, and subsequently chair her senior year. She was also on the Region III Student Operations Board of ASME International as a member-at-large. She is currently pursuing her M.S. degree in Industrial Engineering at Northeastern University and is a graduate research assistant with the NSF-funded Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing. Her thesis work is on the environmental assessment of manufacturing with carbon nanotubes.