Thomas Morel

Armour College Alumnus Thomas Morel (M.S. ME ′69, Ph.D. ′72) was awarded the Soichiro Honda Medal at the President’s Luncheon during the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) 2014 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition. The Soichiro Honda Medal, established in 1983 in recognition of Soichiro Honda’s exemplary achievements in the field of personal transportation, is awarded in recognition of an individual’s outstanding achievement or a series of significant engineering contributions in developing improvements in the field of personal transportation.

Morel was recognized for the visionary, focused, and dedicated development of GT-POWER, which has become the industry standard for engine simulations; and GT-SUITE, the virtual simulation software that is used by all major engine, power train, and vehicle manufacturers worldwide, a total of more than 500 customers. The software was developed at the company he founded, Gamma Technologies, Inc., where he currently serves as president and CEO.

His contributions to engineering have been widely recognized, and he is a fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers and a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He is also a past chairman of the ASME Fluids Engineering Division and a past chair of the SAE Fellow Selection Committee. Morel’s direct technical contributions are reflected in more than 90 publications, and he has received several awards for best publications and presentations. He is a holder of one United States patent.

During his time at IIT Armour College of Engineering, Morel was a part of the team developing The Blue Flame, a rocket-powered car that set the land speed record of 622 mph in 1970. He contributed to the aerodynamic design of the car, which helped it to achieve such great speeds.