Biography
Sridhar Kota is the Herrick Professor of Engineering, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan. His research work in kinematics and continuum mechanics led to a new method of bio-inspired elastic design. He authored over 200 technical papers, 30 patents on mechanical and bio-inspired engineering systems. He is the recipient of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Machine Design Award, Leonardo da Vinci Award, and Outstanding Educator Award. He is the founder and CEO of FlexSys Inc., that developed the world’s first modern aircraft with shape-changing wings.
Kota is the founding Director of MForesight: Alliance for Manufacturing Foresight – a federally-funded technology think-and-do tank focused on enhancing U.S. manufacturing competitiveness. Between 2009-2012 Prof. Kota served as the Assistant Director for Advanced Manufacturing at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). He played an instrumental role in initiating and launching President Obama’s National Manufacturing Innovation Institutes and the National Robotics Initiative.