Mechanical Engineering Research

Prof. Riccardo Bonazza’s interests are in the experimental investigation of impulsive, unsteady fluid flows such as shock-interface interactions, shock-driven mixing, and shock-initiated combustion.

The vision for work in Prof. Bronkhorst’s group is to offer a new approach to the study and prediction of multi-physics events taking place within materials exposed to conditions of extreme loading.

Prof. Crone studies biomechanics at the cellular and multicellular scales. Her lab has developed a platform that allows the production of a range of micropatterns on substrates of varying stiffness to study cardiomyocytes (CMs) and skeletal muscle cells differentiated from stem cells.

The Eriten Research Group conducts research that involves the study of Contact Mechanics, Nonlinear Dynamics, and Advanced Modeling and Simulations. Laboratory activity focuses on a Multiscale approach involving the following three areas: Materials modeling, Experiments and diagnostics, and System identification and modeling.

The Franck Lab is an experimental mechanics laboratory specializing in the development of new experimental techniques at the micro- and nanoscale. Their goal is to provide unprecedented full-field 3D access to real-time imaging and deformation measurements in complex soft matter and cellular systems.

Prof. Franck’s research group investigates the dynamics and physics of unsteady fluid flows. They utilize and develop various computational techniques, mostly using high-performance computing centers, to simulate complex, three-dimensional, and turbulent flows with applications in aeronautics, propulsion, and renewable wind/tidal energy.

Dr. Li’s current research interests in the Computational Materials Design Lab are: multiscale modeling, computational materials design, mechanics and physics of polymers, and machine learning-accelerated polymer design.

The Notbohm Research Group studies mechanics of soft materials. Current areas of interest are in mechanics of fibrous materials, cell-matrix interactions, and collective cell migration. This work draws on the fields of engineering mechanics, soft matter physics, applied math, and cell biology.

Prof. Prabhakar’s group works on unraveling the mechanics of failure in reinforced composites under multi-physics environments, including extreme temperatures, moisture, salinity, and microbes. The aim is to enable damage-tolerant and resilient lightweight structures for sustaining such environmental stressors along with mechanical loadings like dynamic impact and fatigue.

Prof. Rudraraju’s research focuses on the mathematical and computational modeling of emergent phenomena in materials (structural and biological) that are driven by mechanics and multiphysics. Microstructural evolution, patterning processes and bifurcations are of particular interest.

Prof. Rudykh’s group focuses on Mechanics and Physics of Soft Materials. Their research bridges the gap between material microstructures and macroscopic properties. They actively utilize design rules observed in nature to develop bio-inspired materials with a large variety of functionalities.

The Engineering Representation and Simulation Laboratory (ERSL) research group focuses on large-scale topology optimization, design for additive manufacturing, and high performance finite element analysis (FEA).

Prof. Thevamaran’s laboratory focuses on advancing the fundamental knowledge of process-structure-property-function relations in structured materials and creating innovative structured materials with extreme mechanical properties.