Biography

David Kazmer began working in the plastics industry in 1988 at GE Plastics, graduating from Cornell University with a BS in Mechanical Engineering in December, 1989. Employed as a Mechanical Engineer at GE Corporate Research & Development, he completed an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in May, 1991. He then transferred back to GE Plastics as a Product and Process Development Engineer where he developed, validated, and applied process simulations for the design of products made from injection molding, blow molding, thermoforming, and extrusion. In 1992, David Kazmer was admitted to Stanford University's Future Professors of Manufacturing program, a joint initiative between the Graduate School of Business and College of Engineering, and completed his Ph.D. from the Mechanical Engineering Design Division in 1995. Concurrent with his doctoral studies, he continued to serve GE Plastics as Technology Programs Manager on a part time basis supporting key commercial programs and technologies.

Dr. Kazmer joined the faculty of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1995, where his research and teaching involved product design, manufacturing process development, sensors, and controls. Between 1995 and 1997, he served Moldflow, designing their Intelligent Process Control system. From 1997 to 2000, he supported the commercial development of Dynamic Feed Control for injection molding. After receiving tenure at Amherst, he took a leave of absence to serve as Director of Research & Development at Dynisco HotRunners (now Synventive Molding Solutions). He later returned to the University of Massachusetts at the Lowell campus in the Department of Plastics Engineering, where he currently focuses on modeling, simulation, development, and optimization of plastics manufacturing processes and products.

Dr. Kazmer’s funded research exceeds $2 million to date. His work is regarded as “pioneering” and “outstanding.” He is the recipient of over ten different recognition awards, including the NSF/CAREER award in DMII Integration Engineering Division as well as a Young Investigator Award from the Office of Naval Research. Kazmer is an inventor with over 20 patents, and the author of more than two hundred technical articles including the 2007 book Injection Mold Design Engineering. In 2007 he was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering, and is currently a member of the American Society of Engineering Education, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Polymer Processing Society, and Society of Plastics Engineers. He currently serves as the Chair of SPE's Process Monitoring and Control Special Interest Group, as well as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Advances in Polymer Technology and the Journal of Polymer Plastics Technology and Engineering. He has previously served as the Chair of the ASME Design for Manufacturing Technical Committee, Chair of the 2001 ASME Design for Manufacturing Conference, Chair of the 2004 PPS Molding Technology Symposium, and Chair of the 2004 IMECHE Design for Manufacturing Symposium, and Associate Editor for the ASME Journal of Mechanical Design.