Dear Mechanics Community Members:

We have great news to share! Two additional program directors have joined the Mechanics and Engineering Materials (MEM) cluster. Recall that the MEM cluster is composed of two programs devoted to the discipline of mechanics: Biomechanics and Mechanobiology (BMMB) and Mechanics of Materials and Structures (MoMS). The new hires will work across and bridge both programs, forming a complement of five program directors in total serving the needs of the ever-expanding mechanics community.

Dear colleagues,

Universal (controllable) deformations of an elastic solid are those deformations that can be maintained for all possible strain-energy density functions and suitable boundary tractions. Universal deformations have played a central role in nonlinear elasticity and anelasticity. However, their classification has been mostly established for homogeneous isotropic solids following the seminal works of Ericksen. In this paper, we extend Ericksen's analysis of universal deformations to inhomogeneous compressible and incompressible isotropic solids.

We are looking for a creative, enthusiastic, self-motivated, and qualified postdoctoral researcher to work on modeling and simulations for metallic additive manufacturing. 

Phononic materials: controlling elastic waves in solids

Ignacio Arretche (ia6 [at] illinois.edu), Ganesh Patil (gupatil2 [at] illinois.edu), Kathryn Matlack (kmatlack [at] illinois.edu)

The Applied Mechanics Division Executive Committee (AMD-EC) is pleased to announce the 2021 IMECE Student presentation award competition. 

Dear Colleagues,

We would like to invite you to submit abstract and attend the minisymposium titled "325 Mechanics of Liquid Crystal Elastomers" in the 19th U.S. National Congress on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (USNC/TAM 2022), to be held June 19-24, 2022 at the University of Texas in Austin. Congress website: https://www.usnctam2022.org/

I am delighted to inform the mechanics community that the 2020-2021 recipient of the highly prestigious is our distinguished colleague James R. Rice, as follows

The 2020-2021 Harvey Prize Award is granted to Professor James R. Rice for fundamental and long-standing contributions to the fields of mechanics of materials and geophysics. For the J-integral, and for leadership that enhanced the understanding of friction and earthquakes.

A fully funded PhD position is available as early as Spring, 2022 in Dr. Ning Zhang’s research group at the University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa), the department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics. This position is in the general area of mechanics, structural and multifunctional materials with focus on mechanical and thermal properties.

The research topics include:

(1)  Polymer composites;

(2)  2D materials;

(3)  Shape memory ceramics/alloys;

(4)  High entropy alloys;

(5)  Biomaterials.

One Ph.D. position is available in mechanics of materials/data science area in Multiscale Materials Modeling Lab at University of Arkansas. The starting date is Spring 2022.

Students who have master’s or bachelor’s degree in physics, mechanical or materials engineering with computational or experimental background are encouraged to apply.