Five associate professors in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering have been selected as Woodruff Faculty Fellows in recognition of their exceptional research initiatives.
Nazanin Bassiri-Gharb, Alper Erturk, Satish Kumar, Michael Leamy, and Yan Wang will hold the position of Woodruff Faculty Fellows from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2022. The award is accompanied by discretionary funds that amount to $12,000 a year, meant for the recipients to continue to grow their research programs.
Bassiri-Gharb’s research is focused on the applications of ferroelectric and multiferroic materials to nano-and micro-electromechanical systems like sensors and actuators.
Erturk’s theoretical and experimental research is centered on the intersection of smart structures and dynamical systems with applications to novel multiphysics problems.
Kumar and his student researchers have been developing an analytical and numerical framework which helps to understand, control, and design nanowire and nanotube composites suitable for thin film transistors for various macro-electronic applications.
Leamy’s multidisciplinary research puts an emphasis on developing analytical and computational models capable of capturing linear and nonlinear response in systems ranging in scale from the macro- to the nano-scale.
Wang is interested in geometric modeling and visualization, multiscale approaches to simulate behaviors of nanomaterials, design information infrastructure and product lifecycle management, and uncertainty quantifications.
The process of choosing the Fellows was based on initial data provided by each faculty member, which reflected their publications, sponsored expenditures, and graduate student advising.
The selections for the Woodruff Faculty Fellow Awards are made each spring, and the number of Fellows named varies each year.