Stephen Malkin

Stephen Malkin (June 20, 1941 – August 19, 2013) was an American engineer. He taught at the University of Texas at Austin, the University at Buffalo, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.

Malkin's research work was in manufacturing with a focus on grinding and abrasive processes. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), “for pioneering research in and the implementation of grinding-system simulation and optimization”.

Malkin was also a Fellow of the International Institution for Production Engineering (CIRP), a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and a Fellow of the Society of Manufacturing Engineering (SME).

Early life and education Stephen Malkin was born in Malden, Massachusetts and grew up in the Boston area. In 1963 he graduated in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In 1965 he received his M.S. degree and in 1968 - his Sc.D., both from MIT. His Sc.D. advisor was Nathan Cook, and his thesis topic: “The Wear of Grinding Wheels”.

Career Malkin joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin in 1968, as an assistant professor and was later promoted to associate professor. In 1974 he was an associate professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the State University of New York, Buffalo. In 1976 Malkin joined, as tenured associate professor, the faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Technion - Israel Institute of Technology.

In 1986 Malkin joined the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst as a full professor. In 2000 Malkin was appointed as the first Head of the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, which merged the scholarly activity of two separate departments: Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Engineering. He was the department Head during 2000–2006. Malkin was a Distinguished University Professor from 1998 until he retired in 2008 as a Distinguished Professor Emeritus.

He then developed a virtual manufacturing system that provides quantitative and computerized simulation of the grinding process. This system can predict the outcome and calculate the optimal conditions, and is used by the industry. His latest research focused on the grinding process optimization and intelligent control of grinding machines. He held two patents.

Books

Selected articles S Malkin, NH Cook: The wear of grinding wheels: Part 2–Fracture wear. ASME Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering. Vol. 93(4), 1971.

S. Dong, K. Danai, S. Malkin, A Deshmukh: Continuous optimal Infeed control for Cylindrical Plunge Grinding, Part 1: Methodology. ASME J. of Manufacturing Science and Engineering. Vol. 126(2), 2004. S. Malkin, C. Guo: Thermal Analysis of grinding. CIRP Annals, Vol 56(2), pp. 760–782, 2007. AJ Shih, BL Tai, L. Zhang, S. Sullivan, S. Malkin: Prediction of bond grinding temperature in skull base neurosurgery, CIRP Annals, Vol. 61(1), pp. 307–310, 2012

Honors and awards

Honorary Doctorate Degree (Doctor Honoris Causa), J. E. Purkyně University, Czech Republic, 2010 Member, National Academy of Engineering (NAE), 2008 Life Fellow, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), 2006

Personal life Malkin was married to Maccabit (Gross). They raised a son, Gonen, and a daughter, Ruth. He died in 2013 and was buried in Tivon, Israel. A grinding wheel is engraved on the gravestone.