University of Florida Professor Iris V. Rivero, Ph.D., the Paul and Heidi Brown preeminent chair of Industrial and Systems Engineering, has been named a fellow with the prestigious Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME).
“This is the highest distinction you can get in your field. To be nominated, you have to have made an impact in your field throughout the years, and, in my case, it is manufacturing,” Rivero said shortly after receiving the news. “Manufacturing is a passion that I live and breathe all the time.”
Since 1986, the SME College of Fellows has honored members who have made outstanding contributions to the social, technological and educational aspects of manufacturing. The honor is awarded to those with 20 years or more of experience.
“Dr. Iris V. Rivero was selected for the prestigious SME Fellow designation in recognition of her transformative contributions to manufacturing engineering through research, education and professional leadership,” noted Ben Wang, Manufacturing Systems chair and professor emeritus at Georgia Tech University. “Her qualifications as an SME Fellow are rooted in her longstanding technical excellence and educational innovation.”
Wang cited Rivero’s 100-plus publications, multiple patents and talks, noting she consistently bridged the gap between lab-based innovation and industrial application, particularly in additive and hybrid manufacturing.
“Her research on sustainable manufacturing, such as the use of directed energy deposition for remanufacturing large metal components, directly addresses critical environmental challenges in U.S. industry,” Wang added. “She has also modernized manufacturing education by designing hands-on, industry-engaged courses and establishing new curricula in nondestructive testing, lean manufacturing and biomanufacturing — efforts that have inspired student research and catalyzed new faculty hiring.”
Rivero said she received the SME fellow news in March – “It was one of the best days of my life.” She will be formally inducted in October at the 2025 SME Fall Gala in October in Anaheim, California.
“When I was a youngster, I received the SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award, and it was presented at the same gala,” Rivero said. “I got to see the fellows, and I was like, ‘Wow, I wonder if someday I’ll get there.’”
Rivero said ISE is growing, in large part due to its expanding reputation to incorporate hands-on learning.
“The main difference is that with a hands-on approach, students connect concepts they read about in a textbook,” she said. “Having equipment or demos to be able to go and try things makes a big difference.”
Rivero is responsible for securing ISE’s biggest piece of hands-on learning equipment: the BOD3 3D construction printer, one of the largest 3D construction printers in the country and the first of COBOD’s new third-generation models sold in the United States.
The printer will be incorporated into curriculum for multiple departments in the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, including lessons and projects in construction, manufacturing, materials, data analytics and operations research, structural health monitoring, coastal resilience, safety, design and sustainability.
“UF’s Industrial and Systems Engineering department will lead the path in defining one-of-a-kind, infrastructure-driven interdisciplinary research and education,” Rivero noted after the printer arrived last year.
Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Rivero became fascinated with machines and manufacturing thanks to her father and grandfather, who fixed muscle cars and had a lathe in his house.
“We would make things, and that sparked my attention,” she said. “My father also worked in manufacturing. He and my grandfather owned a foundry in Puerto Rico, and they made water meters and manhole covers.”
She shadowed them in all incarnations of creating and repairing machines.
“Cars were my first passion, then I switched to airplanes, then space,” said Rivero, whose first car was a Ninety-Eight Regency, six-cylinder Oldsmobile. “Through school, I knew I wanted to do something related to engineering. I always was attracted to cars, but I also had an interest in business and business logistics. My dad said, ‘If you have an interest in business and also in manufacturing and cars, instead of mechanical [engineering] consider industrial.”
She earned her bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from Pennsylvania State University, all in industrial and manufacturing engineering. She became UF’s ISE chair in 2024.