Ken Currie

Effective August 1, 2021, Ken Currie, Ph.D., P.E., is Professor and Chair of the Engineering Technology Department at MTSU. Prior to that Currie was the chairperson of the Industrial and Management Systems Engineering Department within the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources at West Virginia University between 2014 - 2021. Prior to July 2014, Currie was Director of the Center for Manufacturing Research (CMR) at Tennessee Technological University, an Accomplished Center of Excellence within the State of Tennessee. He has taught numerous courses during his thirty-year academic career including Design for Manufacturability, Facilities Design and Industrial Simulation. Prior to pursuing an academic career, Currie also held positions as an industrial engineer at ALCOA Warrick Operations and Honeywell Solid State Electronics Division. Dr. Currie has been an active researcher, serving as either Principal or Co-Principal Investigator of over $9 million in externally funded research with a client list that includes the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, Oak Ridge National Laboratories, National Center for Advanced Manufacturing, Lennox Heating and Air Conditioning, Saturn Corporation, Northrop Grumman, (ESSD), The Aerostructures Corporation and several other smaller industries. Topics of his externally funded research include:

• Counter Gravity Casting of Magnesium Alloys,
• Statistical Factors Affecting Missed or Incorrect Operations,
• In-Situ, Real-Time Control of Metal Casting Processes,
• Minimizing Life Cycle Costs of Composites Through Design

Currie has also served as Associate Director of the DOE-funded Industrial Assessment Center at Tennessee Tech University, which offers energy assessments to small and medium-sized industrial clients at no cost to the industry. He attained the following energy and energy management certifications: (1) Certified Practitioner of Energy Management Systems – Industrial; (2) Certified Practitioner for Superior Energy Performance Verification – Industrial; and (3) Qualified Specialist in AirMaster+ for compressed air systems.