What's New at ESM?

Dr. Cliff Lissenden, Associate Professor in Engineering Science and Mechanics and Director of the Ben Franklin Center of Excellence in Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) announces the annual fall meeting on November 3-4, 2008.

Keynoting for the meeting, the Center welcomes John Johns from the Office of the Secretary of Defense. To read more about Mr. Johns, click the “read more” link at the end of this entry.

For additional information about the SHM fall meeting, visit their website.

Guneet Sethi's paper titled "An overview of dynamic compaction in powder metallurgy" will be published in an upcoming issue of the International Materials Reviews (IMR). Sethi, an Engineering Science and Mechanics doctoral candidate, co-authored the paper with Randall M. German. Look for the article in volume 53, issue number 4, pp. 219-234.

Congratulations Guneet on your success.

Dr. Sam Zamrik, Professor Emeritus in Engineering Science and Mechanics, was recently inducted into the Department of Mechanical Engineering Academy as a Distinguished Alumni, in the Mechanical Engineering Hall of Fame category.

Dr. Zamrik was chosen as a recipient of this award for the significant contributions he has made in furthering the profession of engineering, the interest he has shown in developing the programs in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and the exceptional role model and source of encouragement for current and prospective mechanical engineering students.

Sam will be recognized at the Mechanical Engineering Academy of Distinguished Alumni Awards Ceremony on Friday, October 24, 2008.

Congratulations Sam!

The BioNEMS group, led by Tony Jun Huang, James Henderson Assiatant Professor in Engineering Science and Mechanics, demonstrated a new class of plasmonic switches driven by light. The switches utilize the photoinduced phase transition of azobenzene-doped liquid crystals to alter the localized surface plasmon resonances of gold nanodisk arrays. These switches contribute to the emerging field of plasmonics, and will prove useful in applications such as high-density optical storage devices, optical filters, and plasmonic circuits. The other contributors include post-doctor, Vincent K. S. Hsiao, and two graduate students, Yuebing Zheng and Bala Krishna Juluri.

This research work "Light-Driven Plasmonic Switches Based on Au Nanodisk Arrays and Photoresponsive Liquid Crystals" has been published in the 17 Septembr 2008 issue of Advanced Materials (as the cover article).

Akhlesh Lakhtakia, Charles Godfrey Binder Professor in Engineering Science and Mechanics; Carlo Pantano, director of the Materials Research Institute; and Raul J. Martin Palma, professor of applied physics, Madrid, have replicated the process of making butterfly wings. Their groundbreaking research opens the door for future research into smaller electronic circuitry and other photonic capabilities such as better solar energy concentrators.

Their research work has been published in the 25 August 2008 issue of Applied Physics Letters: "Biomimetization of butterfly wings by the conformal-evaporated-film-by-rotation technique for photonics" and an image of their work appears on the cover of the same issue.

Additional information can be found at Physics.Org:

Michael Motyka, graduate student in engineering science and mechanics, won a Research Excellence Award at the SPIE Optics and Photonics Meeting, August 2008 in San Diego, CA. Congratulations Michael on your accomplishment!

During the summer 2008, Dr. Clifford Lissenden, associate professor in engineering science and mechanics, hosted the Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) Short Course on the University Park Campus. Over 20 professionals attended the meeting which highlighted speakers, experiments, and discussions related to SHM methods and systems. To learn more on the Ben Franklin Center of Excellence in Structural Health Monitoring, please visit their website.

Dr. Eduard Ventsel, professor in engineering science and mechanics, delivered an invited lecture entitled “On one numerical method for the analysis of elastostatic problems.” The lecture was given at the 5th Scientific International Conference on Applied Mathematics in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, August 2008.

Chandrasekaran Venkatasubramanian, graduate student in engineering science and mechanics, presented a paper at the 2008 Ion Beam Modification of Materials (IBMM) meeting in Dresden, Germany. The paper was titled “Ion implantation studies on VOx films prepared by pulsed dc reactive sputtering.” Co-authors of the paper were Professors S. Ashok and Mark Horn. To learn more about the meeting, please visit their web site.

Professor Charles E. Bakis, Distinguished Professor in Engineering Science and Mechanics, has been elected Fellow of the International Institute for Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) Composites in Construction - the IIFC. The aim of the Institute is to advance the understanding and the application of FRP composites in the civil infrastructure, in the service of the engineering profession and society. Fellows are senior members of the Institute who have achieved a position of high responsibility and have contributed significantly to the advancement of the field through research or practice, or both. Fellowship is by conferment by the Council based on proposals made by the Executive Committee of the Institute.