August
2006
Dr. Aman Haque, professor
of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, received
a three-year grant from the National
Science Foundation (NSF) for $200,000. The
grant will fund Haques research "Nano-mechanics
of Carbon Nanotube-Polymer Interfaces". The "objectives
of this research are to experimentally study and
model deformation and failure of nanoscale interfaces
using nanowires and nanotubes as reinforcing agents.
Single nanowire or nan be performed in-situ inside the Scanning Electron
Microscope (SEM) at up to 100,000x magnification
while interfacial forces and displacements are
measured. The simultaneously qualitative and quantitative
information on the nanoscale interfaces will be
used to model the load bearing, deformation and
failure mechanics after exploring the effects of
surface functionalization and accounting for adhesion
and friction. The advances in the fundamental understanding
in the mechanics of nanoscale interfaces will help
develop nano-composites with novel properties."(8/06)
Dr. Ashok
Belegundu, professor of Mechanical and Nuclear
Engineering, received a three-year grant from the Army
Research Office for $296,943. The
grant will fund Belegundu's research project "Topology
optimization of structures for impact damage mitigation".
The research project will focus on "developing
new concepts and materials with an eye toward withstanding
impact damage. The research team will also test
new design methods against a variety of impact
scenarios".
Belegundu received his Ph.D in Civil
Engineering from the University of Iowa and has been
with Penn State University since 1986. (8/06)
Dr. Karen A. Thole
|
The Department of Mechanical and Nuclear
Engineering welcomes Dr. Karen A. Thole as their
new Department Head. She replaces Dr.
H. Joseph Sommer III who served as Interim Department
Head from July 1, 2005 through July 31, 2006. Dr.
Thole comes to us from the Virginia Polytechnic
Institute and State University where she held the
title of William S. Cross Professor of Mechanical
Engineering.
Dr. Thole holds two degrees in mechanical engineering
from the University of Illinois and a Ph.D. from
The University of Texas at Austin. After receiving
her Ph.D., she spent two years as a postdoctoral
researcher at the Institute for Thermal Turbomachinery
at the University of Karlsruhe in Germany. Her academic
career began in 1994 when she became an assistant
professor at the University of Wisconsin—Madison.
In 1999, she accepted a position in the mechanical
engineering department at Virginia Tech, where she
was promoted to professor in 2003. For the past two
years, she served there as the assistant department
head of the mechanical engineering department. Read
full story here. (8/06)
