Dr. Farzad Rayegani, Associate Dean in FAST, resigned last week from his position as Chair of the ASME Committee on Additive Manufacturing, a position he has held since 2013. Dr. Rayegani, who shared his resignation letter on social media, asked that we also share it with the Sheridan community.
An Open Letter to the Board of Governors, American Society of Mechanical Engineers
It is with sorrow and regret that I tender my resignation as Chair of the ASME Committee on Additive Manufacturing. Over the past four years, I have provided leadership on strategic planning on additive manufacturing content, and have enjoyed collaborating with colleagues at ASME member institutions internationally. With a membership that includes representatives from 151 countries, ASME has long stood for inclusivity and diversity.
I have also taken great pride in launching and leading ASME’s additive manufacturing challenge, IAM3D. This annual, international competition has given mechanical and multi-disciplinary undergraduate students around the world the opportunity to apply their skills to re-engineering existing products or creating new designs, all in the interest of minimizing energy consumption or improving energy efficiency.
For me, the great appeal of the IAM3D Challenge has been its global reach. Over the past few years we have seen participation by students from around the world, including Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Colombia and India.
In light of the United States President’s executive order banning immigration and travel to the United States by individuals from a select number of countries, that inclusivity will no longer be a hallmark of the event, which is scheduled to take place this year in Las Vegas and Tennessee.
As a Canadian citizen of Iranian origin, it runs counter to my values and principles to continue my role in IAM3D and to serve as Chair on Additive Manufacturing for ASME – an organization whose stated purpose of fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing toward a goal of helping the global engineering community develop solutions to benefit lives and livelihood, will be sorely constrained by the current political climate in the United States.
It has been an honour to serve ASME, and I wish the organization continued success in its mission.
Farzad Rayegani, Ph.D., P.Eng.
Fellow of Engineers Canada
Associate Dean, Sheridan School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering & Technology
Director, Centre for Advanced Manufacturing and Design Technologies (CAMDT)