Chinedum (Chi) Okwudire is a professor of Mechanical Engineering and Miller Faculty Scholar at the University of Michigan (U-M). He is also currently serving as the Special Assistant to the Dean for Manufacturing at U-M, and the CTO at Ulendo Technologies, Inc. His research is focused on exploiting knowledge at the intersection of machine design, control, and computing to boost the performance of manufacturing automation systems at low cost. His research has found applications in 3D printing, machining, and semiconductor manufacturing. Chi has received several awards including the NSF CAREER Award; SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award; and UC Berkeley’s Russell Severance Springer Visiting Professorship. He was recently selected by SME as one of the 25 leaders transforming manufacturing. He has co-authored a number of best-paper-award-winning papers in the areas of manufacturing automation, control and mechatronics. He is a member of SME’s Technical Community Leadership Committee on additive manufacturing. He founded Ulendo Technologies, Inc. in 2018 to help translate advanced research at the university to industry.