Historic Alums honored with the Lohmann Medal

The College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology at Oklahoma State University honored Dr. Ken Case and Dr. Harvey Manbeck with the prestigious Lohmann Medal on March 29. This award is considered the college’s highest honor for distinguished graduates.
 
Dr. Case, regent’s professor emeritus at OSU, is widely regarded as one the top Industrial Engineers in the world. He holds three degrees from OSU and has taught at both OSU and Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He served as professor and head of Industrial Engineering.  His crowning achievement has been his visionary leadership in developing the Master of Science and Engineering Program at OSU.  This distance learning degree program was innovative in its design, and has now graduated more than 400 students.
 
“Dr. Case is the most outstanding university faculty member I have ever known,” said Dr. Joe Mize, regent’s professor emeritus at OSU.  “He is known as an original thinker, and many of his technical achievements are regarded as game changers in education.”
Dr. Case is an ASQ Certified Quality Engineer, Certified Reliability Engineer, Certified Quality Auditor, Certified Manager of Quality / Organizational Excellence, and Certified Six Sigma Black Belt, as well as Certified in Production and Inventory Management by APICS.  His primary interests are in quality and reliability engineering, economic analysis, and production planning and control.  He serves as a consultant to industry, having assisted 60 organizations, many involving repeat visits, with a few resulting in 10-28 year relationships. Dr. Case is a licensed professional engineer and was named the Outstanding Engineer in Oklahoma in 1987.  Additionally, he was a Senior Examiner on the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award from 1988 to 1990.
 
Dr. Manbeck holds the title of Distinguished Professor Emeritus in Agricultural Engineering at Pennsylvania State University. He is a licensed professional engineer who has been named to the Rural Builder Hall of Fame, received the American Society of Agricultural Engineer’s Henry Giese Structures and Environment Award, and the Engineered Timber Bridge Award by the National Forest Products Association.
Manbeck earned his Ph.D. from Oklahoma State University in 1970.  Professionally, he has taught wood structural engineering and building systems at Penn State for nearly 30 years.  He has published more than 340 technical articles and received a multitude of industry and professional awards.

“Leading both the association’s research agenda and the development of its educational platform, Harvey’s contributions to the association and industry are numerous,” said Jeff Henry, president of the National Frame Building Association. “Simply put, he has been and remains the post-frame industry’s greatest ambassador.”

Dr. Manbeck chaired the standards writing committee that developed the first nationally recognized engineering practice on diaphragm design of post-frame buildings.  His research in wood buildings and post-frame design includes studies on spliced glued laminated posts, in-plane shear strength and stiffness of metal clad, wood framed structural diaphragms, computer modeling of metal-clad post-frame diaphragms, creep response of wood I-joint floor systems, and lateral stability of structural composite lumber.

The Melvin R. Lohmann Medal was established in 1991 to recognize graduates of the Oklahoma State University College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology who have made outstanding contributions to the profession or education of engineers, architects or technologists. The medal is named after Dr. Melvin R. Lohmann, former dean (1955-77), who led the college to national prominence.

There have now been 29 distinguished graduates of the College presented with the Lohmann Medal.