STAFF
LEADERSHIP TEAM
Sridhar Kota, PhD
Sridhar Kota, is Herrick Professor Emeritus of Engineering at the University of Michigan and a manufacturing entrepreneur for over 35 years. Serving as the Assistant Director for Advanced Manufacturing (2009-12) at the White House Office of Science and Technology (OSTP), he conceived and championed the creation of national manufacturing innovation institutes which President Obama announced in 2012. He is the founding Executive Director of MForesight: Alliance for Manufacturing Foresight, a federally funded national think-and-do tank focused on accelerating technological innovation to enhance U.S. manufacturing competitiveness. In this role, Kota engaged several thousand experts across the nation (2015-2019) in workshops, roundtable discussions, and annual summits to identify technology and policy solutions to rebuild a U.S. manufacturing innovation ecosystem. Kota is the Founder and CEO of FlexSys Inc., and Inspire Rx LLC. FlexSys Inc. (founded in 2001) developed and successfully flight tested the world's first modern aircraft with shape-morphing wings. In flight tests conducted over three years by NASA and the U.S. Air Force, FleySys demonstrated fuel savings and 30% noise reduction. Inspire Rx LLC rose to the Covid-19 challenge by inventing and manufacturing clinically tested negative pressure devices that protect health care workers and enable non-invasive treatment of Covid-19 patients sparing ventilators.
Tom Mahoney
Thomas Mahoney was Associate Director of MForesight. He has over 30 years of experience solving manufacturing competitiveness issues in the U.S. and New Zealand, working with policy leaders and directly with manufacturers to improve factory operations. At MForesight, Tom co-authored studies on U.S. supply chains, cybersecurity for manufacturers, and actions needed to reclaim U.S. leadership in advanced manufacturing. Prior to this role, Tom was President of the West Virginia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (WVMEP), providing operations and business consulting services to small manufacturers. Tom also provided advice and management help to startups emerging from the engineering school at West Virginia University. While Executive Director of the National Academies’ Manufacturing Studies Board, Tom was instrumental in the creation of the national MEP program, as well as other national initiatives to support a strong U.S. industrial base. Tom also spent time as the Chief Economist for New Zealand’s Ministry of Research, Science, and Technology, working with industry, universities, national laboratories, and Cabinet officials to develop and implement a national strategy to spur growth in New Zealand’s technology-intensive economic sectors.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Michael Russo
President, National Institute for Industry and Career Advancement
Chair of Executive Committee
Glenn Daehn
Director
HAMMER-ERC
The Ohio State University
Pramod Khargonekar
Vice Chancellor for Research
University of California, Irvine
MForesight’s work was supported by the National Science Foundation from 2015 to 2020 under Grant No. 1552534 to the University of Michigan (Dr. Sridhar Kota).
Please note that any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed on this website do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation or the University of Michigan.
