Mr. M. Eugene Merchant
6 May 1913 - 19 August 2006 - USA
Affiliation to CIRP
Active Member - 1956
Chairman of STC O - 1966 – 1971
President - 1968 – 1969
Honorary Member - 1983
Contributions
Contributed to STC C and STC O
Distinctions
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Named Cincinnati’s “Engineer of the Year” by the Technical and Scientific Societies of Cincinnati in 1955
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Research Medal of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1968;
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Tribology Gold Medal of the IMechE (Great Britain) in 1980;
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Schlesinger Prize of the City of Berlin in 1980;
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National Award of the American Society of Lubrication Engineers; AM Award of American Machinist Magazine in 1980;
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Otto Benedikt Prize of the Computer and Automation Society of Hungary;
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Automation Hall of Fame of Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry in 1983;
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Medal of the Polish Institute of Metal Cutting; Society of Manufacturing Engineers Masters of Manufacturing Award, 2004.
He received Honorary Doctorates from University of Vermont, University of Salford in England and GMI Engineering and Management Institute.
Accomplishments:
In 1936 Gene Merchant joined Cincinnati Milling Machine Co. where he did ground breaking research on friction in metal cutting. Later, as Director of Physical research, Gene built up a world-class research department to study machine tools and manufacturing processes.
In the 70’s and 80’s, as Principal Scientist for Manufacturing Research, Merchant changed his focus and began studying how to bring the power of computers to bear on the problems of manufacturing. He visualized computer-integrated manufacturing systems long before others believed that this could ever be practical.
In 1983 He retired from Cincinnati Milacron and joined Metcut Research where he continued his study of manufacturing systems. In 1995 he moved his work to TechSolve where he worked until his death. TechSolve honored him by naming their laboratory The M. Eugene Merchant Technology Development Center, and funding a scholarship in his name at the University of Cincinnati.