Karen Ohland
Karen Ohland has begun her term as the 141st president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Ohland is an ASME Fellow and has been an active member of the society since 1983.
Ohland is the Associate Director for Finance and Operations at the Princeton University Art Museum, where she provides strategic leadership, strengthening and sustaining the process for planning and management across the art museum while serving in an advisory role for the museum's operations and other priorities. She also served as finance and senior administrator in New York Metropolitan Museum of Art's department of education and concerts and lectures. Prior to her career in museum administration, Ohland worked as a biomedical engineer in industry, academia and government, most recently as research manager for Howmedica Inc., an orthopedic implant manufacturer, and Howmedica Osteonics Inc., acquired by Stryker Orthopaedics in 1998.
Ohland served on the ASME Board of Governors from 2016 to 2019, and in 2020 was selected by the board to return to complete a vacated governor position. Since joining ASME, she has held several leadership positions including as a student leader, section chair, regional secretary, district leader, vice president and senior vice president. She served on several presidential task forces as well as the committees on finance, organization and rules and the board on professional development. She has mentored and contributed to the professional growth of many ASME members as a lead trainer, member of the ASME Leadership Training Conference (LTC) planning committee, chair of the Advanced Leadership track for the 2010 LTC and as a member of the ASME Volunteer Orientation & Leadership Training (VOLT) Academy executive committee.
Ohland is a recipient of the ASME Dedicated Service Award. She is also a member of the engineering honor society Tau Beta Pi, the American Society of Engineering Education, the Orthopedic Research Society and the American Society of Biomechanics. She received bachelor's degrees in engineering and biology from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and a master's degree in anatomy from the University of Chicago.
In addition to Ohland, three new members of the ASME Board of Governors also have begun their 2022-2025 terms.
Newly appointed ASME Governor and ASME Fellow Susan Ipri Brown is the Director of ExploreHope Academic Outreach and Assistant Professor of Engineering Instruction at Hope College in Holland, MI, where she manages policy development, fundraising, grant writing and staff and volunteer leadership. Previously, she was associate director of the Office of STEM Education Partnerships at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, where she directed teacher professional development programs, grant writing and new program development for outreach with other area organizations. Brown has also held positions with several North Carolina school districts, Delphi Automotive and the Michigan Legislative Service Bureau. As an ASME Federal Fellow, she worked at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Brown's ASME service includes at-large membership on the public affairs and outreach council and prior council on education, along with terms as the vice president for government relations and vice president of global outreach. Throughout her membership, she has been selected as a regional winner of the Old Guard Oral Competition, a Leadership Development Intern, a Federal Fellow, and a recipient of ASME's Dedicated Service Award. She actively engages in encouraging the next generation of engineers through the creation of STEM programs for area Scout councils along with time as a coach and judge for the FIRST robotics programs. She is a long time advocate of programs that enhance diversity, equity and inclusion in the engineering profession.
Brown earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Princeton University in New Jersey, a master's degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a secondary teaching certification from Appalachian State University in Boone, NC.
Jared Oehring, an ASME Fellow and newly appointed Governor, is the Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of VoltaGrid LLC, a clean, intelligent, mobile, microgrid power generation company. As a senior executive engineer, he pioneered electric hydraulic fracturing and mobile power generation operations in the oilfield. Prior to working at VoltaGrid, he served as CTO at U.S. Well Services (USWS) where he led the development and manufacturing of electric powered hydraulic fracturing equipment. His engineering work has earned numerous patents and garnered multiple accolades within the oil and gas industry. He helped take USWS public in 2018. Prior to USWS, he designed heavy off-highway equipment at Stewart & Stevenson headquartered in Houston, TX.
Oehring has served in numerous leadership positions with ASME. He was elected vice president of financial operations for the Knowledge and Community Sector and served on the reorganization committee for the Sector. He also served on the inaugural Technical & Engineering Communities (TEC) Sector Council and later as the chair of ASME's nominating committee. He also worked on the Membership Development and Engagement Sector (MDE) formation.
Oehring earned a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from Brigham Young University in Provo, UT, and a Master of Science in mechanical design from Kettering University in Flint, MI.
Patrick H. Vieth, an ASME Fellow and newly appointed Governor, is Senior Vice President of Dynamic Risk of The Woodlands, TX, where he leads the technical consulting discipline focused on the energy pipeline infrastructure. Throughout his 30-year career, he has been recognized for leading teams of technical experts that bring unique solutions to the challenges at hand.
Vieth has been actively engaged in ASME throughout his entire career. He has undertaken various leadership positions including the ASME local chapter (Central Ohio), and then in the ASME Pipeline Systems Division and Codes and Standards Committees (ASME B31.4). In addition, he has supported learning and development through the ASME-sponsored International Pipeline Conference (IPC), serving recently as its conference chair and as chair of the board for the IPC Foundation.
Vieth was instrumental in establishing Young Pipeline Professionals, USA (YPP USA), which provides learning and leadership opportunities and fosters networking for young professionals to establish their network for the advancement of the industry. He has also helped guide the further development of Young Pipeliners International (YPI) that has aligned YPP USA with similar organizations in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Europe, India, Malaysia, Mexico and Nigeria. He also serves on the board of the Qualification Panel for the Pipeline Industry (QPPI), a group of independent industry leaders developing ANSI-certified competency assessment for the pipeline industry.
Vieth earned a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from The Ohio State University.
In addition to the newly appointed Governors, ASME announced that Thomas Kurfess, Ph.D., P.E., an ASME Fellow, has been appointed for another term. He previously has served as a member of the ASME Board of Governors from 2019 to 2022.
For more information contact:
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