Now in its third year, the Fluid Power Hall of Fame, hosted by the International Fluid Power Society (IFPS), is pleased to announce seven new members and two posthumous individuals who have dedicated their careers and have made significant contributions to fluid power technology.
This year’s group includes:
Peter A.J. Achten, PhD has more than 40 individually titled patents in Europe, the United States, Japan, and through the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). He has also authored well over 200 survey reports, conference papers, magazine articles, books, and has presented invited speeches, workshops, and lectures around the world and in several languages. He is the recipient of the Robert E. Koski Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the Joseph Bramah Medal from the Mechatronics, Informatics and Control Group of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
Timothy R. Bailey has been involved in fostering the development of all Australian fluid power organizations. Bailey has served as President of Western Australian Fluid Power Society Inc. for 12 years (1994-2006), President of International Fluid Power Society Australia Inc. for 8 years (2006-14), President of Fluid Power Society Australia Inc. for 2 years (2014-2016), and President of Fluid Power Society (WA) Inc. for 5 years (2014-2019). In leading these organizations, he concentrated on developing and promoting fluid power training and certification.
Jim Brizzolara has 56 years of dedicated service in fluid power. He co-founded HydraForce in 1985. Through his emphasis on quality and performance, including the formation of a Quality Support Administrative Team (QSAT), the company won industry awards and accolades including quality commendations from Bobcat, Caterpillar, Douglas Dynamics, Terex Genie, Clark Hurth, and Skyjack.
George Doig started in fluid power after WWII naval service. He completed his B.S.M.E. degree at Detroit Institute of Technology and worked several years for J.N. Fauver before he and three others founded Numatics in 1953. He rose to Senior Vice-President and Director of Sales/Marketing and participated in the rollout of Numatrol products. In 1966, he and L. Irwin Walle authored Practical Air Circuitry to address real, practical fluid power aspects. He was one of 30 founders of the IFPS and Chapter 1 in Detroit.
Craig M. Fox has focused on all aspects of excellence in fluid power education – including training design, teaching, and publishing educational materials — for most of his 41 fluid power years. He served as technical editor for the Lightning Reference Handbook published by Berendsen Fluid Power. He worked for Eaton Corp.as a senior technical trainer and contributed to Eaton’s published Industrial Hydraulics Manual, an industry-recognized hydraulics textbook.
Medhat Khalil, PhD, CFPAI is serving his 16th year as the Director of Professional Education and Research Development for the Applied Technology Center of the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE). He won the 2012 Otto Maha Pioneer in Fluid Power Award and is the recognized authority on the design and construction of Universal Fluid Power Trainers, which he originally developed under a grant from the Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power (CCEFP) in 2009. He has authored five books on fluid power components, systems, fluids, and contamination controls as well as numerous periodical articles.
Noah D. Manring, PhD, P.E., is a prominent educator-author who has served on the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department faculty of the University of Missouri, teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in fluid power since 1997, becoming Dean of Engineering in 2020. He published 44 archival journal papers, 38 conference papers, and three books in fluid power. Manring holds 12 United States patents including his most recent 2019 “Check valve pump with two-phase flow control.”
Post-humous awards were given to Richard J. (Dick) Fontecchio (1948 – 2014) and Harley E. Bergren (1917 – 2021). Fontecchio co-founded HydraForce with Jim Brizzolara. With his leadership as VP of Sales and Marketing, HydraForce introduced over 15,000 standard and proprietary cartridge valves and their electrohydraulic controls. Bergren worked for Gates Rubber selling to agricultural equipment companies and later moved to Char-Lynn. In 1966, Bergren founded Power Systems in Minnesota, a fluid power distributor with expertise developing transmission systems. He retired in 1982 but held company stock until the 1998 sale of Power Systems.
Visit fluidpowerhalloffame.org for full bios on all 2021 recipients.
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