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John Dodge

Timken Outstanding Engineer Reads Outstanding Publications (Design News)

Normally, we do not cover internal company recognition for engineers, but here’s one we can’t pass up — Michael Kotzalas, PhD, as Outstanding Young Engineer at the Timken Company. Why cover this? Well, I’ll let the quote from the Timken feature that speaks to Kotzalas’ great taste in reading:

"Mike Kotzalas grew up in Pittsburgh, where he was raised on football, good food and family traditions. His grandfather and father, who immigrated to the United States from Greece, were engineers. During Mike’s childhood his father, Nick Kotzalas, worked on government-classified projects at the Westinghouse nuclear lab. Unable to talk about his work, he brought home copies of Design News and Machine Design to share with his children. “I used to read them as a kid,” Kotzalas says, noting the early indication of his interest in mechanical works."

The press release about Kotzalas about contained the following information:

"Kotzalas, 34, is a technical group leader for The Timken Company.  He is responsible for the application and design engineering of off-highway and marine power-transmission applications.  Prior to Timken, he was a research assistant at the Applied Research Laboratory for The Pennsylvania State University. 

Kotzalas holds two U.S. patents for cylindrical roller bearing designs.  He is the co-author of the fifth edition of Rolling Bearing Analysis (CRC Press, New York, 2006), an encyclopedic, two-text engineering reference widely regarded as the industry standard.  He has also published nine papers in peer-reviewed journals and four papers in conference proceedings.  He is the recipient of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Tribology Division’s Best Paper Award and a two-time recipient of the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers’ (STLE) Hodson Award.

A member of SAE International, Kotzalas is also a member of ASME, where he is secretary and treasurer of the Tribology Division, and STLE.  He also instructs courses for the American Bearing Manufacturer’s Association. Kotzalas holds his bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in mechanical engineering from The Pennsylvania State University.  He resides in North Canton, Ohio."