Education

  • Ph.D, University of Natal, Durban, South Africa, 2001
  • MSc.Eng., University of Natal, Durban, South Africa, 1999
  • BSc.Eng., University of Natal, Durban, South Africa, 1996

Background

Dr. Mayor began at Tech in Fall 2006 as an Assistant Professor. Prior to coming to Tech, Dr. Mayor was the President and CEO of Powerix Technologies, LLC, and previously was an Assistant Research Scientist with the S. M. Wu Manufacturing Research Center at the University of Michigan.

Research


 

Dr. Mayor's primary research interests are in the emerging areas of micro-manufacturing and micro-power generation, and focus on the development of enabling technologies in these fields through the application of integrated mechatronics design principles.

Global trends toward increased integration and miniaturization in products and systems have highlighted the need for more efficient manufacturing processes for mass produced micro/meso-scale components: components that have nominal sizes in the range of tens of microns (10-6 m) and tens of millimeters (10-3 m). Micro-manufacturing represents a paradigm shift toward the rescaling and miniaturization of the actual manufacturing processes themselves to align with the reduced sizes of the miniaturized components and products. Dr. Mayor is actively researching the development of full functionality desktop-scale micro-factories that implement true digital manufacturing practices; for example, a USB, plug-and-play, CAD-direct production system. These micro-factories have the potential to provide pervasive impact on society by providing significant economic benefits, as well as reducing environmental footprint and energy consumption associated with conventional scale manufacturing of micro/meso-scale components. Current research activities include the development of micro/meso-scale machine tool systems (mMTs), the scientific characterization of the process mechanics at the micro/meso-scale for traditional mechanical removal processes, laser-assisted micro-machining processes, and the development of micro-scale primary manufacturing processes forming methods, including ceramic injection molding and semi-solid forming.

Micro-power generation is an area of active research that aims to provide long-term solutions for the increased power requirement of integrated systems and products by developing light-weight, high energy density power systems. Dr. Mayor's research in this area is focused on the development of fuel-flexible, integrated micro-engine-generator systems that convert the very high energy content of hydrocarbon fuels (gas and liquid) into electrical energy at moderate to high net conversion efficiencies. Specific research interests are in the development of near-adiabatic ceramic micro-engine systems, system-level thermal management techniques, thermo-mechanical optimization of micro-generators and the investigation and study of novel stacked-cycle micro-energy systems development.

Additional research interests are in the development of integrated micro-mechatronic systems and meso-scale robotic platforms including unmanned air and ground vehicles (UAVs and UGVs).

Dr. Mayor's research has been sponsored by the National Science Foundation, NIST (ATP program), DARPA DSO, the Department of Energy, and various industrial partners, including GM and DaimlerChrysler.

  • Society of Manufacturing Engineers John G. Bollinger Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award, 2009
  • National Science Foundation Workshop on USA/South Africa Collaborative Research Workshop Chair, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 2004
  • Society of Manufacturing Engineers
    • 3rd SME Workshop on Fundamentals of Precision Micro Machining Workshop Chair, Minneapolis, 2005
    • 2nd SME Workshop on Fundamentals of Precision Micro Machining Workshop Chair, Massachusetts, 2004
    • 1st Workshop on Fundamentals of Precision Micro Machining Workshop Chair, Minneapolis, 2003
    • 17th International Conference on CAD/CAM, Robotics and Factories of the Future Technical Chair, Durban, South Africa, 2001

Representative Publications

  • S. Lee, J. R. Mayor, and J. Ni. 2006. Dynamic Analysis of Meso-Scale Machine Tool. ASME Transactions on Manufacturing Science and Engineering 128(1), 194-203.
  • S. Lee, J. R. Mayor, and J. Ni. 2005. Development of a Six-Degree-of-Freedom Geometric Error Measurement System for a Meso-Scale Machine Tool. ASME Transactions on Manufacturing Science and Engineering 127(4), 857-865.
  • G. Kim, J. R. Mayor and J. Ni. 2005. Parametric Study of WGS Micro-Reactor Design Using and Integrated Reaction and Heat Exchange Model. Chemical Engineering Journal 110(1-3), 1-10.
  • C. J. Kim, J. R. Mayor and J. Ni. 2004. A Static Model of Chip Formation in Micro-Milling Processes. ASME Transactions on Manufacturing Science and Engineering 126(4), 710-718.
  • H. R. Chen, J. R. Mayor and J. Ni. 2004. A Virtual Machine Tool (VMT) Integrated Design Environment and Its Application to Meso-Scale Machine Tool Development. Transactions of the North American Research Institute of SME 32.