Mechanical engineering alumnus J. Robert Sims Jr. (BE’63) will serve as president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers for 2014-2015.
Sims, of Basking Ridge, N.J., is a senior engineering fellow with Becht Engineering Company Inc. He is a renowned authority in risk-based technologies, high pressure equipment, mechanical integrity evaluation and Fitness-For-Service analysis, including brittle fracture analysis.
Before joining Becht Engineering in 1998, he worked for more than 30 years with Exxon (now ExxonMobil), the last 10 years as a pressure equipment specialist with worldwide responsibility for standards and improving equipment integrity.
He is past vice chair and current member of the ASME/API Joint Fitness for Service Committee and a member of a number of Standards and Certification committees and subcommittees. Sims represented the Board of Governors on the ASME Presidential Task Force on Response to Japan Nuclear Power Events.
Sims developed the ASME Guide to Life Cycle Management of Pressure Equipment Integrity and the Roadmap for Development of ASME Code Rules for High Temperature Gas Reactors. He received the Melvin R. Green and the J.Hall Taylor Codes and Standards Medals as well as the ASME Dedicated Service Award.
Sims has more than 30 publications and two patents and is a frequent speaker and chair in technical forums.
ASME, founded in 1880, has more than 130,000 mechanical engineers and allied professionals in 158 countries as members. ASME also has 500 student chapters with more than 30,000 student members globally.