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Molinaroli College of Engineering and Computing

Faculty and Staff

Thorsten "Thor" Wuest

Title: Professor
Department: Mechanical Engineering
Molinaroli College of Engineering and Computing
Email: twuest@sc.edu
Phone: 301-869-4897
Office: McNAIR, Suite 120A
LinkedIn: My LinkedIn profile
Resources: My Website
Google Scholar
Thorsten West

Education

  • Ph.D. (Dr.-Ing.) in Production Engineering, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany.
  • Master of Professional Business Studies (MPBS), AUT University - Business School, Auckland, New Zealand.
  • Master of Science (Dipl.-Wi.-Ing.) in Industrial Engineering and Management, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany.

Background

Thorsten Wuest is a Full Professor in Mechanical Engineering in the Molinaroli College of Engineering and Computing at the University of South Carolina . His research focusses on Smart and Advanced Manufacturing, Machine Learning/Data Analytics, AI/ML and Hybrid Analytics, Industry 4.0, Servitization and Product Service Systems, as well as closed-loop, item-level Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) with a focus on Smart Manufacturing Systems. Dr. Wuest's research is funded by a variety of federal agencies (incl. NSF, NIST, DoD, EPA, NIH, CESMII/DoE), international agencies (incl. Thomas Jefferson Fund, DFG, EC, BMBF, etc.), and industry. In his research, he puts an emphasis on an interdisciplinary and holistic approach towards analysis and problem solving. He is a globally recognized Smart Manufacturing thought leader and one of SME's 20 most influential professors in smart manufacturing. In addition to publishing his work in the premier academic outlets of his field, he was featured by Forbes, Futurism, IndustryWeek, the World Economic Forum, CBC Radio, and World Manufacturing Forum, etc. He is involved in several professional societies in his field, among others, he is a member of IFIP WG 5.1 & 5.7, IFAC TC 5.3, SME, a senior member of IISE, and research affiliate of the CIRP.

Dr. Wuest gave invited talks in more than 10 countries and published three award-winning books and over 170 peer-reviewed articles in international archival journals and conferences gathering over 11,000 citations to-date, and serves as a reviewer for many. He serves as Vice-Chair Americas for the IFIP WG 5.7, is an Associate Editor for the Robotics & Computer-Integrated Manufacturing (RCIM), ASTM Journal Smart and Sustainable Manufacturing Systems (SSMS), and the International Journal of Manufacturing Research (IJMR), and a member of the Editorial Board for the Journal of Manufacturing Systems (JMSY) and Production & Manufacturing Research (PMR). He serves on the Advisory Board for several companies and startups, including the Knudsen Institute,  Maven Machines, Veepio, Sustainment, and SavePlanetEarth.

Awards

  • Listed in 'Who’s Who in Industry 4.0? Top 50 Influencers to Follow' by Onalytics (2023).
  • Recipient of Editor's Choice award for our paper on Pattern Recognition in Multivariate Time Series:Towards an Automated Event Detection Method for SMS published in JMMP.
  • WVU Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources ‘ 2022 Statler Outstanding Researcher of the Year/Senior' Award (2022).
  • Featured among the 20 Manufacturing Innovators and Thought Leaders You Should Know by Matics Manufacturing Analytics (2022)
  • Recipient of the 2021 WVU Value Coin for representing the core Mountaineer Values of Service, Curiosity, Respect, Accountability and Appreciation presented by Pedro Mago (2021).
  • Listed in Who's Who in Industry 4.0 by onalytica (2021).
  • Recipient of the IISE/Joint Publisher Book-of-the-Year award for Digital Supply Networks (2021)
  • David Dornfeld Manufacturing Vision Award Finalist. NAMRC/SME/NSF Blue Sky Competition (2021).
  • Wuest named among 2021 Pros to Know Awardees by Supply & Demand Chain Executive (2021)
  • Recognized as one of 'The 20 most influential professors in smart manufacturing' by SME (2020).
  • Commended Paper Award at the 5th International Conference on System-Integrated Intelligence (SysInt 2020) for the paper 'Data-Driven Context Awareness of Smart Products in Discrete Smart Manufacturing Systems'.
  • Paper 'Pattern Recognition in Multivariate Time Series: Towards an Automated Event Detection Method for Smart Manufacturing Systems' Selected as Title Story for Journal of Manufacturing and Materials Processing
  • WVU Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources ‘Outstanding Teacher of the Year 2019’ Award (2019).
  • Featured Paper Award at the International Conference on Advances in Production Management Systems (APMS 2019) for the paper 'The APMS Conference & IFIP WG 5.7 in the 21st Century - A Bibliometric Study'.
  • SME Journal Award - 2018 Outstanding Reviewer Award for the Journal of Manufacturing Systems.
  • 2018 IJAT Best Review Paper Award for the most prominent review paper in recent years published in the International Journal of Automation Technology (IJAT) for the paper ‘"Industrie 4.0" and Smart Manufacturing - A Review of Research Issues and Application Examples’.

Research Overview

  • Smart, Advanced, and Sustainable Manufacturing
  • Hybrid Analytics, AI, time-series analytics, and ML in Manufacturing Systems
  • Additive Manufacturing, Composites 3D printing
  • Industry 4.0 / Industrial Internet / Industrial Internet of Things / CPS
  • Digital supply networks (DSN), SC resilience and optimization
  • Knowledge, information, and data utilization in manufacturing systems and (distributed) supply chains/networks
  • Closed-loop, item-level Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
  • (Industrial) Product Service Systems (IPS2/PSS) and Extended Products

Challenge the conventional. Create the exceptional. No Limits.

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