SMRT Solutions for Advanced Manufacturing.

Schmitz Manufacturing Research & Technology, LLC (SMRT) consults with industry and government partners to develop novel, low-cost software, hardware, and educational solutions in support of the U.S. manufacturing industry.

The Schmitz Factor

Leveraging the technical expertise of Dr. Tony Schmitz, world renown mechanical engineering researcher, and the corporate vision of CEO Christine Schmitz, SMRT uniquely bridges the gap between academia and industry

  • Chief Executive Officer

    In 2020, after years of researching, writing and editing for the U.S. manufacturing and metalworking industries, Christine Gallagher Schmitz founded Schmitz Manufacturing Research & Technology LLC (SMRT) with the intent of leveraging her technical communications and marketing skills along with the manufacturing expertise of her husband, Dr. Tony L. Schmitz, to provide advances in smart manufacturing through hardware and software development. SMRT immediately attracted attention from both government and industry partners interested in working together and has continued to grow in scope and application each year since its founding.

    Schmitz received her BA in Journalism with a minor in Public Relations from Temple University in 1992, and her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Florida in 1998. She began her professional career as a journalist, writing and editing daily news content for The Independence (KS) Daily Reporter, followed by academic appointments as an adjunct English professor at Santa Fe College (2004-2008) and as a lecturer in Technical Writing and First Year Writing at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (2011-2014).

    Beginning in 2005, Schmitz began freelance consulting as a technical writer and editor, landing contracts with clients such as the University of Florida Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute, RTI Surgical Inc., and the University of Florida Institute of Food and Resource Economics. In 2014, Schmitz founded The Prompted Writing Agency (PWA), offering full-scale writing and editorial services on a contract basis. Over the next six years her client work included B2B and B2C content writing, script writing for music and brand video treatments, and technical and content writing and editing for the manufacturing industry.

    Schmitz has been recognized for her creative writing skills through the following honors and awards: Discovery/The Nation Joan Leiman Jacobson Poetry Prize of The Unterberg Poetry Center Finalist; University of Florida Graduate Student Teaching Award; Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Baskin Scholarship; Rebecca Elizabeth Porter Creative Writing Fellowship. She is also affiliated with the Delta Zeta Sorority and the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.

  • Chief Technical Officer

    Dr. Tony Schmitz is a professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and holds a joint faculty position at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility. He has seen continued success in manufacturing research supporting the US machine tool industry with an emphasis on machining dynamics. Since arriving at UT in late 2019, Schmitz has been awarded $22 million in funding in support of numerous successful projects including the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) Program/IACMI The Composites Institute: America’s Cutting Edge (ACE) CNC Training Program, the Department of Defense Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program: Southeastern Advanced Machine Tool Network (SEAMTN), and the NSF Engineering Research Center: Hybrid Autonomous Manufacturing, Moving from Evolution to Revolution (HAMMER).

    His professional recognition includes: 2019 SME Frederick W. Taylor Research Medal, 2019 UNC Board of Governors Award for Teaching, 2019 Best Presentation ASPE Annual Meeting, 2019 NAMRI/SME Outstanding Paper (47th North American Manufacturing Research Conference), 2018 51st Annual Bank of America Award for Teaching Excellence, 2017 SME David Dornfeld Manufacturing Vision Award, 2016 SME College of Fellows, UNC Charlotte Lee College of Engineering 2013 Undergraduate Award in Teaching Excellence, 2012 Temple University Alumni Fellow, 2011 Sports Emmy Award (NBC Learn) for the Science of NFL Football video series, 2010 NAMRI/SME Outstanding Paper (38th North American Manufacturing Research Conference), 2009 UF MAE Teacher of the Year, 2005 SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer award, 2004 Journal of Tribology Best Paper Award, 2003 Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, 2003 National Science Foundation CAREER Award, 1999 Measurement Science and Technology Highly Commended Article, 1999 National Research Council Postdoctoral Research Associateship (NIST), 1999 Temple University Gallery of Success Inductee, 1998 Department of Energy/National Academy of Engineering Integrated Manufacturing Predoctoral Fellowship, and 1994 National Science Foundation Graduate Traineeship. Schmitz also serves as an associate editor for the ASME Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering. 

    Schmitz received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from Temple University in 1993, his MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Florida in 1996, and his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Florida in 1999. Schmitz completed a post-doctoral appointment at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and was then employed as a Mechanical Engineer from 1999-2002. During this time, he was also a lecturer at Johns Hopkins University. Schmitz accepted an appointment in the University of Florida’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (UF MAE) in 2002 and joined the Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science Department at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 2011.