SME, a nonprofit association committed to advancing widespread adoption of manufacturing technologies, has named University of Utah ME assistant professor Yong Lin Kong as one of the 2023 Delcie Durham Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineers. Kong is one of 18 recipients this year.

This award recognizes engineers, age 35 or younger, for their exceptional contributions and accomplishments in the manufacturing industry. Each year, the award is named in honor of a specific individual who has made lifelong contributions to manufacturing and SME. The 2023 award namesake is longtime SME member Delcie R. Durham, PhD, FSME, PE, a professor emerita in the University of South Florida’s Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Kong’s research focuses on the additive manufacturing of nanomaterial-based functional devices and biomedical devices and has been awarded patents in “3D printed active electronic materials and devices” and “3D printed multi-functional hybrid devices and structures”, and invented “gastric resident electronics”. In addition to this award, he has also received the ONR YIP award, NIH Trailblazer Award, NIH R01 Award, and a 3M Nontenured Faculty Award. You can learn more about Kong’s work through the Kong Research Group website