The Dean's Award for Engineering Achievement is given this year to Dr. Hiroshi Morihara (UB Ph.D. ME '71). Each year the School of Engineering gives this, its highest honor, to a person who has made an exceptional contribution to the practice of engineering or has had an exceptional professional career. Dr. Morihara has done both, succeeding at a major US corporation and as an entrepreneur starting or presiding over six companies.

Dr. Morihara began his college studies in Kobe, Japan. Upon moving to the United States, he enrolled at Henry Ford Community College in Dearborn, MI where he earned an A.S. in Engineering ('61). He then became a co-op student at the University at Michigan's Dearborn Campus and graduated with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1964. Dr. Morihara remained in Michigan for his initial graduate studies and in 1965 graduated from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor with a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering. He joined the graduate program of the University at Buffalo Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in 1966 and finished his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering in 1971.

Simultaneous to his enrollment at UB, Dr. Morihara was employed at the Union Carbide Corporation, Linde Division, Tonawanda, NY (now Praxair). His first work was as a process engineer and then a program manager. His later years at Linde were as project manager and then as international manager of new products for the electronics division where he sought acquisitions and technologies to license. Among his major accomplishments were: designed, fabricated and tested gas bearing supported turbo-expanders for air separation plants; developed and tested an efficient process to produce high-purity silane from metallurgical grade silicon (sand); and designed and built a 1200 tons/year commercial plant to produce ultra high-purity silicon via the silane process for the semiconductor industry. This and other work has resulted in many US patents.

During his years in Buffalo, Dr. Morihara also was an engineering lecturer at UB and an engineering and physics instructor at Erie Community College. He served professionally as Education Committee chair and chair of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Buffalo Section.

Dr. Morihara left Linde to strike out on his own. Early on he founded the Morihara Creative Engineering Institute, Inc. The primary purpose of the Institute was to create a multi-billion dollar theme park in Kobe, Japan entitled "Magical Journeys." The project has been temporarily delayed because of the catastrophic earthquake that hit the Kobe area in 1995. Along the way, he has also been president of hi-tech biology and real estate firms.

Dr. Morihara's present positions reflect his diverse interests and abilities. He is chairman and chief executive officer of Peninsula Laboratories, Inc., San Carlos, CA, a biotechnology company whose main business is to produce biologically active peptides for clinical trials and medical research; president of Via Press, Inc., Gresham, OR, a company which produces educational materials for foreign business people to conduct business in English; and president of CDC, Inc., also of Gresham, an up-scale country club with a championship golf course, conference and banquet facilities and a planned 300 unit living community.

Dr. Morihara's professional affiliations are with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. His long-time volunteering has included: member of the Engineering Dean's Advisory Committee, Washington State University;member of the Technology and Science Transfer Committee, University of Oregon and Oregon State University; board member of Mt. Hood Community College Foundation; and a board member of the Mt. Hood Festival of Jazz, the premier jazz event in the Pacific Northwest held each August. We are especially pleased that Dr. Morihara was a member of the fist UB Engineering Dean's Council in 1995 and he has accepted to serve a second term.

Dr. Morihara has balanced his professional life with extraordinary sports accomplishments. Early in his life he was a gymnast. In Buffalo, he pursued his love of skiing and became a certified Professional Ski Instructor of America, teaching instructors and ski patrollers. He also founded the Linde ski racing team. Today, he runs marathons and has participated in over 30 races.

Dr. Morihara and his wife Mrs. Mary McSwain reside in Gresham, OR.

Following the encouragement of his grandmother that, "anything is possible," Dr. Morihara has indeed believed his grandmother's words to him and achieved success at diverse undertakings. Today, SEAS is proud to recognize its alumnus Dr. Hiroshi Morihara with this year's Dean's Award.