Dr. Suren B. Rao is a retired Senior Scientist at the Applied Research Laboratory of the Pennsylvania State University. Formerly the Director of the Drivetrain Center of and Managing Director of the Gear Research Institute, he holds a Ph.D degree (University of Wisconsin-Madison), a M.Eng. degree (McMaster University-Canada) and a B.Eng. degree (Bangalore University-India) — all in mechanical engineering. He possesses over 40 years of experience in manufacturing research in academia, industry and government, most of which — approximately 25 years — has been focused on mechanical power transmission components and systems. He has authored many papers in refereed journals, conference proceedings and several book chapters. Rao also holds several patents in the field of gear manufacturing.