Visionary society
By Dr. Hong Liang, STLE President | TLT President's Report October 2023
There are many people within STLE who are making significant impacts on lubrication and tribology.
As a science and technical society, STLE consists of many members with vision. Here the vision refers to a clear and compelling image of the technical future for our community. Those members are critical components of STLE who provide direction, purpose and motivation for the field of lubrication and tribology. Their visions provide guidelines in decision making, creating common goals, inspiring commitment and influencing policy making. We are proud of who we are and what we do. In this article I’m using one example to support my statement.
One of many visionary figures in STLE is STLE Life Member Dr. Erwin V. Zaretsky. Zaretsky has been actively involved in STLE—he is a Fellow and chaired the Bearing Life Factors Committee for years. In 2021 he was inducted into the NASA Glenn Research Center Hall of Fame and selected based on “contributions having a sustained and far-reaching influence on the direction and mission of the center, whose work at the center has generated fundamental advancements in their field, and/or serve as an inspiration to employees through their character and embodiment of the NASA spirit.” We all know that Zaretsky has made significant contributions in lubrication and tribology, particularly in the aerospace industry. He played a pivotal role in advancing the understanding of lubrication principles, bearing design and reliability analysis. His work on rolling bearing fatigue has had a lasting impact on aerospace engineering and various other industries.
Zaretsky’s research on lubricant properties, bearing fatigue life and lubrication-related failures have been well presented at STLE annual meetings and published, including books he authored and edited as STLE special publications. Zaretsky has about 200 publications that contributed to the fundamental knowledge of tribology. In his work, he emphasized combining theoretical understanding with practical application that helped bridging the gap between academic research and real-life problems.
Indeed, we have so many people within STLE who are making significant impacts on lubrication and tribology. Because of those visionary technical leaders, STLE leads our field with far-reaching vision. This past May, the STLE Board of Directors approved the 2023-2026 strategic plan (more information at
www.stle.org/StrategicPlan). It lays out four focused domains in professional development, technology and innovation, communications and advocacy and organizational excellence. To succeed in the plan, each domain has a clear goal, objectives and key performance indicators.
Furthermore, STLE has recently released the 2023 Report on Emerging Issues and Trends in Tribology and Lubrication Engineering (more information at
www.stle.org/2023EmergingTrendsReport). Led by Dr. Neil Canter, the Advance Innovation Team conducted research on exciting and new challenges and predicted future developments potentially impacting lubrication and tribology. We will see that the field of lubrication and tribology aims for a more sustainable and efficient future.
What is your vision for our fields?
Dr. Hong Liang is Oscar S. Wyatt Jr. Professor of the J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. You can reach her at hliang@tamu.edu.