Dominick DeMichele, Engineer at GE, Union College Director 

SCHENECTADY - Dominick J. DeMichele, 84, of Nassau Avenue, died Friday (October 6, 2000) at St. Clare's Hospital after a short illness. Born in Utica, Mr. DeMichele was a 1934 graduate of Utica Free Academy, and attended the N.Y. Diesel Institute in Albany. He received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In 1940, Mr. DeMichele began his career at General Electric's Research and Development Laboratory as a project engineer. He was the youngest recipient of GE's highest award, the Charles E. Coffin Award, for his contributions in the field of solid mechanics  (vibration, shock, stress-strain and acoustics). While at GE, Mr. DeMichele was awarded four patents for his work on strain gages; high temperature strain gages; methods for making resistance strain gages; and strain gage pressure transducer. He retired from General Electric Co. in 1979. Mr. DeMichele was Director of Technical Courses in the Continuing Education and Graduate Studies Program at Union College, where he organized and lectured for special technical courses. In 1982, he organized and codirected the first International Modal Analysis Conference (IMAC) and was director of 13 annual IMACs. In 1988, he organized and directed the International Machine Monitoring and Diagnostics Conference. He retired from Union College in 1991.

Mr. DeMichele was a 42-year member of SEM and in 1979, was elected a Fellow of the Society. Mr. DeMichele was a member of the Executive Board; served on the Technical Papers Committee; and organized the New York-Hudson Section.  He was founder and president of Instrumentation and Measurement Technology  Services. Mr. DeMichele was a lifetime member of the Instrument Society of America; the American Society for Nondestructive Testing; and the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology. He was a member of National Academy of Science Instrumentation Committee for the American Association of Highway Officials Road Test. Mr. DeMichele was appointed to the National Commission of Technical Education for the National Science Foundation; and was the author of numerous technical papers and reports.

Mr. DeMichele was a communicant and usher at St. Paul the Apostle Church, and served as Treasurer of the St. Vincent DePaul Society.

Survivors include his wife, Josephine Pedone DeMichele, whom he married June 7, 1941; three sons, D. Richard DeMichele of Scotia (NY), Robert DeMichele of Maitland, FL and William DeMichele of Albany (NY); a daughter, Elizabeth Sheppard Cogdil of Winston-Salem, NC; a brother, Sam DeMichele of Utica (NY) and five grandchildren.

Excerpted from The Daily Gazette
Saturday, October 7, 2000

A Note from SEM.
Mr. DeMichele was recently honored at the Society's annual meeting with the prestigious SEM Honorary Member Award. The following pictures were taken at the SEM IX International Congress this past June where Dick was presented the SEM Honorary Member Award.  He has done a lot for SEM through the years and will be missed.