Homework 1, problem 1 - Self description

Francisco T S Aragao — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 17:31:46 -0500

I'm Francisco Thiago S. Aragao. Please call me Thiago. I'm currently enrolled at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln Civil Enginering Master's Program under the advisory of Dr. Yong-Rak Kim. I have also a minor course in Engineering Mechanics. Below I'm answering the questions from the Problem 1 of Fracture Mechanics' Assignment 1.

Prior courses in solid mechanics:

* Continuum Mechanics;

* Theory of Elasticity;

* Inelastic Behavior of Construction Materials (focusing on viscoelasticity);

* Introduction to Finite Element Methods.

Undergraduate major

* I graduated in Civil Engineering at the Federal University of Ceara, Brazil (2004).

* I took my last semester of undergraduation here at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln when I was awarded from my country's government scientific agency CAPES with a 6 months scholarship.

Strength and weakness

Strength

* I'm a really self-motivated person and I know that fracture mechanics will be really helpful for my upcoming PhD research related to fatigue cracking of asphalt mixtures.

* I have taken some Mechanics courses and I hope them to be helpful for this course.

Weakness

* I'm not sure if programming will be required here, but this by far is my most evident weakness in any course where it is required.

Research group

* I'm part of Dr. David H. Allen's/Dr. Yong-Rak Kim's asphalt research group at UNL.

* The group's website is currently to be constructed.

Research directions

* I'd really like to get knowledge about crack growth for my asphalt fatigue cracking characterization.

Fracture Mechanics helping my research

* As already mentioned, it will be a very useful tool for my understanding of asphalt mixtures fatigue cracking characterization.

Fracture Mechanics improving my education level

* I truly believe that courses in Solid Mechanics are important tools for my career. Fracture Mechanics in special will allow me to design stuctures more

precisely and safely. Also, such course gives me a career flexibility. Currently I'm working with asphalt mixtures, but understanding Fracture Mechanics I could use my knowledge in different types of materials.

Francisco Thiago S. Aragao, Civil Engineer
Graduate Student - MSc
Research Assistant

NH150 Department of Civil Engineering
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Lincoln NE 68588
Work PH: 402-472-4899

Only Jesus saves!

iMechanica - Homework 1, problem 1 - Self description - Comments

Homework 1, problem 1 - Self description