Their vision and hard work have been critical to advancing global economic and social prosperity; their legacy strengthens continued industry contributions to improving our quality of life and serves as an inspiration for tomorrow's leaders.
The 2013 inductees into the AEM Hall of Fame are:
- Dipl.-Ing. Dr. h. c. Helmut Claas, CLAAS KGaA mbH
- Ray O"Connor, Topcon Positioning Group
- Friedrich W. Schwing, Sr., Schwing GmbH
AEM Hall of Fame inductees have been evaluated by an independent panel of industry experts on five criteria that are vital to the health of the off-road equipment manufacturing industry: 1) innovation, 2) industry contributions, 3) leadership, 4) corporate citizenship/social responsibility and 5) sustainability.
For more information on the AEM Hall of Fame and all its inductees, visit www.aem.org/HallofFame.
Below are summaries for each of the 2013 honorees with some of the reasons they were selected for induction.
Dipl.-Ing. Dr. h. c. Helmut Claas (CLAAS KGaA mbH)
Helmut Claas, an engineer by education and with in-depth and hands-on farming experience, has dedicated his professional life and engineering talents to agricultural crop production sustainability. He joined CLAAS in 1957, was named managing director of technology in 1962 and later became CEO. He initiated or co-designed many CLAAS innovations, including the DOMINATOR Series combine harvesters, JAGUAR forage harvesters and XERION tractors.
A firm believer in fostering development of the next generation, Helmut Claas established the CLAAS Foundation in 1999, which promotes education and research and development in agricultural technology and related engineering and economic disciplines.
In recognition of his contributions, he has received honorary doctorates and professorship from prestigious universities in Germany, Great Britain, Russia, Hungary and Bulgaria. His awards and other high decorations include the Profesor-Niklas-Medal of the German Ministry of Agriculture, Order of Merit of the French Ministry of Agriculture and Order of Merit of the British Association of Agricultural Engineers.
Ray O"Connor (Topcon Positioning Group)
Ray O’Connor joined Topcon in 1993 as the only employee dedicated to laser products. O"Connor had one goal: automate the construction industry. Today, with the joining of imaging, GNSS, scanning and software technology, there are few construction sites or farms that do not use automated positioning. To meet the global requirement of positioning automation, he developed a ring of technology centers where the brightest geospatial engineers in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia create the next generation of products.
Recognizing the importance of educating future generations of end users, O"Connor helped implement the Topcon Educational Partnership Program, which provides a full range of educational tools to more than 500 universities and associations worldwide.
O"Connor is the 2006 recipient of Toshiba Corporation’s Business Performance Award (the first recipient of non-Japanese descent) for “his superior leadership and performance.” In 2012, Pompeii, Italy honored him for supporting “preservation and renovation” of the landmark city; the University of Naples awarded him an honorary doctorate degree for his efforts. O"Connor also received an honorary doctorate from The Dublin Institute of Technology for his “global leadership in precision measurement technology.”
Friedrich W. Schwing, Sr. (Schwing GmbH)
Friedrich Schwing, Sr., founder of Schwing GmbH, has more than 1,200 patents relating to innovations in material handling and construction equipment. Most notably, the Schwing all-hydraulic, twin-cylinder concrete pump design powers the majority of modern concrete pumps. This invention established a new method for moving concrete through a pipeline resulting in structures that could not have been built prior to the modern concrete pump. His invention resulted in construction efficiency without the manual labor and with extraordinary speed of placement never before achieved by other methods.
His engineering expertise was not only aimed at product performance but also operator safety. Schwing helped establish the American Concrete Pumping Association, which has safety as a key focus. Schwing's corporate policy directed resources towards safety guidelines, safety seminars, safety materials and hundreds of hours of donated employee time on industry committees and boards.
Schwing had a penchant for sustainability before it was popular. Another of his innovations was a ready-mix reclaimer introduced in the 1980s to convert returned concrete to its components of sand, aggregate, cement and water. This system provides 100 percent recycling of these materials for economic and environmental benefits, especially less water use and excess concrete dumping.
Nominations for the next AEM Hall of Fame will open in spring 2014.
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