Young professionals honored include engineers, entrepreneurs, students and instructors across multiple sectors of manufacturing

(SOUTHFIELD, Mich., Dec. 19, 2023) – Future leaders in the manufacturing industry are being recognized today with the announcement of the 2023 “30 Under 30” by SME, the nonprofit committed to accelerating new manufacturing technology adoption and building North America's talent. The honorees, representing a wide variety of industries, are profiled in a supplement to the November issue of Manufacturing Engineering, an SME Media publication.

Each of the honorees was selected based on their impact not only professionally, but also for their engagement with the manufacturing industry and with their individual communities. Among the honorees are high school students, community college instructors, entrepreneurs and engineers working in aerospace, mobility, semiconductors and energy.

“At SME, we feel a great responsibility to shine the light on talented individuals whose activities in the manufacturing profession are an inspiration and expand horizons for the entire field,” said Robert “Bob” Willig, SME executive director and CEO. “These young men and women are the future of manufacturing and they represent thousands of other young people raising the bar for the rest of us.”

This year’s 30 Under 30 honorees are:

• Emma Betters, R&D Associate Staff, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Knoxville, Tenn.
• Prahar Bhatt, Software Engineering Manager, Divergent 3D, Torrance, Calif.
• Alex Brasington, Senior Material and Process Engineer, Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, New Haven, Conn.
• Danea Buschkoetter, Welding Instructor, Cloud County Community College, Concordia, Kansas
• Olufolahan “Fola” Dinyo, Manufacturing Engineer II, Greene Tweed, Houston, Texas
• Sean Earl, Enterprise Production Engineering Manager, The Boeing Company, Philadelphia, Pa.
• Cassandra Fong, Technologist, Innovation Services-Lifestyle, Flex, Washington, D.C.
• Michael Gomez, Senior R&D Engineer, Metalworking Innovation, MSC Industrial Supply Co., Davidson, N.C.
• Benjamin Graybill, Operations Lead—Additive Manufacturing, Agile Space Industries, Durango, Colo.
• Tibor Gyorfi, Metal AM Production Manager, Endeavor 3D, Douglasville, Ga.
• Rebecca Haber, Principal Research Scientist, Northrop Grumman, Promontory, Utah
• Michael Hobernicht, Mechanical Engineer, Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment, Lam Research, Portland, Ore.
• Daniel Huang, Student, Eastside High School, Gainesville, Fla.
• Ryan Kerezman, Applications Engineer, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, Fort Worth, Texas
• Alexis Khalil, Equipment and Tooling Engineer, The Boeing Company, North Charleston, S.C.
• Sameer Kumar Misra, Founder, Navonmesh Prayoghshala, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
• Bhargavi Mummareddy, Additive Manufacturing Engineer, Dimensional Energy, Ithaca, N.Y.
• James Nowak, Technical Staff, Fabrication Engineering Group, Lincoln Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT LL), Lexington, Mass.
• Hasnaa Ouidadi, PhD Student, School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks, Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz.
• Ava Raugust, Bilingual Agriscientist and Engineer, El Capitan High School, Lakeside, Calif.
• Casey Ross, Academic Program Director, Greenville Technical College, Greenville, S.C.
• Mike Sale, Program Manager, Northrop Grumman, Ashburn, Va.
• Jacob Sanchez, Industry Analyst and Content Creator, Industrial Strength Marketing; Associate Producer, Social Media Manager, Industrial Studios, Berrien Springs, Mich.
• David Scannapieco, Scientific Development Manager, NSL Analytical, Cleveland, Ohio
• Kelsey Unser, Additive Manufacturing Design Engineer, Caterpillar, Inc., Lenoir City, Tenn.
• Rashmi Vadlakonda, SMART Transformation SME - Manufacturing Engineer, Trane Technologies, Columbia, S.C.
• Ankur Verma, PhD Candidate in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Diefenderfer Fellowship in Entrepreneurship recipient, Pennsylvania State University; Co-Founder & CEO, Lightscline, State College, Penn.
• Bryce Walters, Manufacturing Robotics Engineer, Missiles and Fire Control, Lockheed Martin, Grand Prairie, Texas
• Luke Wilkerson, Automation Controls Engineer, Bell Textron Inc., Fort Worth, Texas
• Xiaowei Yu, Researcher, General Motors, Farmington Hills, Mich.

For more information on each of the honorees, visit For more information on each of the honorees, visit https://www.sme.org/smemedia/industry-reports/30-under-30/.

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