The 16th IFToMM (International Federation for the Promotion of Mechanism and Machine Science) World Congress was held in Tokyo, Japan from November 5th to 9th, 2023. At this conference, Academician Jian S. Dai, was awarded the IFToMM Award of Merit, becoming the 15th recipient of the award since its inception 20 years ago.

Figure 1. Academician Jian S. Dai received the "IFToMM Award of Merit" at the award ceremony.

IFToMM, founded in Bulgaria in 1965, is one of the most authoritative international academic organizations in the field of mechanical engineering. There are currently 45 national and regional member organisations, covering leading countries in science and technology worldwide. It has 3 permanent commissioins, and 14 technical committees, that include computational kinematics, gear transmission, rotating machinery dynamics, multibody dynamics, engine and power systems, robotics and mechatronics integration, sustainable energy systems, linkages and mechanical control, micromachinery, biotechnology, reliability, transport machinery, multibody dynamics and tribology, and vibration.

The “IFToMM Award of Merit” recognizes exceptionally significant achievements in the science of machines and mechanisms as preferably linked to IFToMM activities. After being nominated and supported by renowned scholars, the Award needs to be voted on by IFToMM in member organisations of 45 countries and regions, needing over two-thirds of the votes in order to be approved. Academician Jian S. Dai was the only recipient of this award at this conference in four years.

The citation of the Award indicates that Prof. Dai is distinguished for his “exceptionally significant achievements to Mechanism and Machine Science (“metamorphic mechanisms”) upon which the IFToMM community and mechanism and machine next-generation scientists may build up new research directions.”

Figure 2. The "IFToMM Award of Merit" certificate with citation.

The IFToMM World Congress is the most important and largest international conference organized by IFToMM. It takes place every four years and the host country or region to host the next conference is decided by the vote of all members of the conference. The first IFToMM World Congress was held in Bulgaria in 1965. Afterwards, it is held every 4 years, with most of the host countries being European and American countries. The 16th World Congress hosted by Japan this year attracted over 440 experts and scholars from 45 countries and regions including the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, China, France, Italy, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Japan, Belgium, Finland, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Czech Republic, Brazil, etc. The 17th World Congress will be held in Brazil in 2027.

Figure 3. Professor Jian S. Dai.

Professor Dai is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng), a member of Academia Europaea, an Emeritus Professor at King's College London, and the Director of the Institute for Robotics at the Southern University of Science and Technology. He is an IEEE Fellow, ASME Fellow, Editor-in-Chief of the long-standing international journal Robotica, a Subject Editor of Mechanism and Machine Theory. He has published 10 monographs, nearly 700 peer-reviewed papers, with an H-index of 70, and over 40 authorized patents. In 2009, he established the prestigious IFToMM/IEEE Triennial Conference Series on Reconfigurable Mechanisms and Robots (ReMAR), opening up the field of reconfigurable mechanisms and reconfigurable robots internationally.

Academician Dai was awarded the top award in the field of mechanisms in 2015, the ASME DED Mechanisms and Robotics Award, becoming the 27th recipient of the award since its inception in 1974. In 2020, he was awarded the highest accolade in the machine design field, the ASME Machine Design Award, becoming the 58th recipient of the award since its inception in 1958.

Professor Dai’s Papers Published in Our Journal

Review

Reconfigurability in Automobiles—Structure, Manufacturing and Algorithm for Automobiles

Zheming Zhuang, Yuntao Guan, Shuangjia Xu, Jian S. Dai

International Journal of Automotive Manufacturing and Materials, 2022, 1(1): 1. doi: https://doi.org/10.53941/ijamm0101001

Review

Deformable Morphing and Multivariable Stiffness in the Evolutionary Robotics

Huijuan Feng, Yahui Xue, Honggeng Li, Zhao Tang, Wenjin Wang, Zhenhua Wei, Guosong Zeng, Mingwu Li, Jian S. Dai

International Journal of Automotive Manufacturing and Materials, 2023, 2(4): 1. 

Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.