Reginald Irenee Vachon (January 29, 1937 – December 24, 2020) was an American mechanical engineer, business executive, lawyer and inventor, known as former president of the

American Society of Mechanical Engineers The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing ...

Biography

Youth, education and early career

Vachon was born in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

, son of Rene Albert Vachon and Regina (Galvin) Radcliffe Vachon. After his high school graduation in 1954, he attended the United States Naval Academy in 1954-55. He continued his studies at the

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

, where he obtained his BSc in mechanical engineering in 1958, and his MSc in nuclear science in 1960."Reginald Irenee Vachon, Curriculum Vitae" at ''theshanafoundation.org,'' The Shana Foundation, 2008. Accessed 2017-09-22. Vachon further continued his studies at the Oklahoma State University, where he obtained his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering in 1963. In 1969 he would also obtained his Bachelor of Laws at the

Thomas Goode Jones School of Law The Thomas Goode Jones School of Law (FaulknerLaw, Jones Law, JLS, or JSL) is the law school of Faulkner University, located in Montgomery, Alabama. History Jones School of Law was founded in 1928 by Montgomery County Circuit Judge Walter B. ...

. In the maintime Vachon had started his academic career at the

in 1958 as research assistant, became research associate in 1963, and was associate professor from 1963 to 1978.

Further career

In 1977 Vachon founded Vachon Nix & Associate, where he is president ever since. From 1981 to 1990 he worked as chief operating officer at the Thacker Construction Company. In 1991-92 he was President and CEO of Compris Technology, Inc., and served as executive in some other companies ever since, including United Information Technologies, Inc. and Direct Measurements, Inc.

Honours and awards

He was President of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers International in 2003-2004. He was awarded the 2019 ASME Medal by the

Selected publications

;Articles, a selection * Fong, J. T., Ranson, W. F., Vachon, R. I., & Marcal, P. V. (2008, January). Structural Aging Monitoring via Web-Based Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) Technology. In ASME 2008 Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference (pp. 1565-1613). American Society of Mechanical Engineers. ;Patents, a selection * Vachon, Reginald I.
Apparatus and method for determining stress and strain in pipes, pressure vessels, structural members and other deformable bodies
" U.S. Patent No. 4,591,996. 27 May 1986. * Vachon, Reginald I., and William F. Ranson.
Apparatus and method for determining the stress and strain in pipes, pressure vessels, structural members and other deformable bodies
" U.S. Patent No. 5,065,331. 12 Nov. 1991. * Vachon, Reginald I.
Finite element analysis fatigue gage
" U.S. Patent No. 6,874,370. 5 Apr. 2005.

References

External links

Dr. Reginald Vachon
at ''wfeo.org'', 2008-17. {{DEFAULTSORT:Vachon, Reginald I. 1937 births Living people American mechanical engineers American lawyers American business executives United States Naval Academy alumni Auburn University alumni Oklahoma State University alumni Thomas Goode Jones School of Law alumni Auburn University faculty People from Norfolk, Virginia Presidents of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Engineers from Virginia