Dr. Gana Natarajan, assistant professor of industrial and mechanical engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, is being honored with two awards from the American Society for Engineering Management (ASEM). Natarajan will receive the 2021 ASEM William Daughton World Headquarters Service Award and Fellow Award at the virtual International Annual Conference held Oct. 27-30.
“It feels great. It means my work and service has been recognized by the society,” said Natarajan. “I joined the American Society for Engineering Management in grad school. I’m originally from India and came to Texas Tech University for grad school and joined. It’s stuck with me.”
According to ASEM, the William Daughton World Headquarters Service Award recognizes members for their contribution of time and teamwork in its ground-breaking efforts through providing the planning and execution of ASEM’s first virtual conference. The Fellow Award represents the highest level of membership in ASEM and is presented to candidates who have demonstrated engineering management accomplishments and continuing distinguished service and contributions to the society.
Throughout Natarajan’s tenure with ASEM, he’s served in various roles, and this year, he’s organizing the conference. Currently, there are 200 registrations with participants from across the globe including the United States, Europe, Brazil, South Africa and Australia.
“I have been on the conference technical committee for about three years. Right now, I’m the director of the conference. Last year, I helped ASEM switch over to a virtual format because of the pandemic,” said Natarajan. “It’s a smaller conference, but it’s an internationally recognized conference.”
Natarajan calls joining a professional organization a great way to network for faculty, staff and students. He hopes to establish an ASEM chapter on UW-Platteville’s campus.
“Professional organizations are absolutely important because employers want to go beyond the transcript. Professional organizations teach leadership and organization skills,” said Natarajan. “Most professional societies have a handbook, practitioner’s guide or have a conference participants can go to. You can update yourself with research, learn about what’s going on in your industry and bring it back into your classroom. It’s adding value to your students’ education.”
To learn more about ASEM, visit www.asem.org.