2015 Thomas J.R. Hughes Young Investigator Award - Professor Thao (Vicky) D. Nguyen

2015 Thomas J.R. Hughes Young Investigator Award - Professor Thao (Vicky) D. Nguyen

The Executive Committee of the ASME Applied Mechanics Division is pleased to announce and congratulate Professor Vicky Nguyen, Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins University, as the recipient of the 2015 Thomas J. R. Hughes Young Investigator Award.  This award will be presented at the AMD Honors and Awards Banquet, tentatively scheduled on Tuesday, November 17, 2015, during the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, to be held in Houston, Texas, November 13-19, 2015.

The Young Investigator Award was established in 1998 and renamed the Thomas J.R. Hughes Young Investigator Award in 2008. The Award recognizes special achievements in Applied Mechanics for researchers under the age of 40.

Professor Nguyen received this award for her contributions to both polymer mechanics and biomechanics. She has developed fundamental and innovative physics based models for the mechanics of shape memory polymers, and her work on the complex mechanics of the eye is outstanding. She has shown a remarkable ability to identify the key mechanics issues in complex soft material problems, and then to develop novel theoretical and experimental tools to address these issues.

The award, which includes a medal, a plaque, and an honorarium of $1,500, will be presented at the AMD Honors and Awards Banquet, during the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, to be held in Houston, Texas, November 13-19, 2015.

Huajian Gao, Chair

AMD Executive Committee