Wichita State University's College of Engineering has named Vis Madhavan as the inaugural Sam Bloomfield Chair in Engineering Innovation. Madhavan is a professor in the Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Department.

The Sam Bloomfield Chair in Engineering Innovation was established through a $2.5 million endowment pledge by the Sam and Rie Bloomfield Foundation. Sam Bloomfield, an aeronautical engineer, was president of Swallow Airplane Co., based in Wichita, from 1934 to 1956. He was an entrepreneur and inventor who acquired 23 U.S. patents for his innovations.

“Dr. Madhavan exemplifies the kind of innovative educator and researcher deserving of this post – someone who inspires by example and is helping to infuse our engineering curriculum with an entrepreneurial mindset,” said Royce Bowden, dean of the College of Engineering. “I am very proud that Vis is the inaugural holder of the Sam Bloomfield Chair in Engineering Innovation.”

Madhavan is one of the inventors of the Stretch Roll Forming process, a manufacturing innovation with the potential to revolutionize the process of bending extrusions into components. This process allows parts to be produced rapidly using computer numerical control programs instead of part specific dies, at lower production and environmental cost, with improved quality and increased accuracy. He is also one of the founders of Fairmount Technologies, which is commercializing the Stretch Roll Forming process with funding from the Defense Logistics Agency's Small Business Innovation Research program.

Madhavan holds two U.S. patents, with other patent applications in process and is the recipient of research funding totaling nearly $5 million from the National Science Foundation, Department of Defense (Army Research Office), Boeing Co., Cessna Aircraft Co., Raytheon Co., Spirit AeroSystems, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Naval Research Laboratory and the Defense Logistics Agency.

He serves part time as a senior research engineer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and has served as a visiting professor at the Naval Research Laboratory. His research has been published in 21 journal articles and 50 conference proceedings.

The Sam Bloomfield Chair in Engineering Innovation is the third endowed chair in the College of Engineering supported by the Bloomfield Foundation. John Tomblin, vice president of Research and Technology Transfer, executive director of the National Institute for Aviation Research, holds the Sam Bloomfield Chair in Aerospace Engineering. Muhammad Rahman, chair of Mechanical Engineering, holds the Sam Bloomfield Chair in Engineering.

“We truly value the opportunities that the members of the Bloomfield Foundation have entrusted us with. Endowed chair positions are investments that shape our future,” Bowden said. “Holders of endowed chairs move departments, colleges and universities in new directions, from good to great.”