Carnot Cycle
Notes and slides for a course on engineering thermodynamics. I used the Dover edition of Carnot's book.
Zhigang Suo's blog
Mechanics for soft machines
I gave a seminar at Xian Jiaotong University on 27 October 2009. I recently found the video of the seminar online. The seminar was in Chinese, but the slides were in English.
If the subject interests you, the following papers will lead you to the literature.
Lithium batteries--When mechanics meets chemistry
When I learned chemistry in college, the subject was presented to me with equations of chemical reactions. It took me some time to realize a couple of simple points: reactants need to meet to produce a product, and compounds take space.
The connection between chemistry and mechanics is made vivid to me in recent years in studying lithium batteries. As an example, here is a recent paper when chemistry is linked with plasticity, mass transport, and fracture—essential ingredients of solid mechanics.
Whitesides on how to write a paper to communicate your research
George Whitesides has published over 1,100 papers. In 2004 he published a three-page essay “Whitesides’ Group: Writing a Paper”. I have been asking all my students to study this essay when they begin to work with me. Now you can watch Whitesides on video explaining his approach to publishing papers.
Polymer gels
These notes are part of a graduate course on advanced elasticity.
Thermodynamics 0, 1, 2, 3
In teaching the elements of thermodynamics in the graduate course on soft active materials, I have followed this sequence:
Temperature vs. chemical potential
For the third time I am teaching the graduate course on soft active materials. This course is called Advanced Elasticity in the Catalog of Courses. In the last several years, I have dropped several traditional topics, and focused on thermodynamics and finite deformation. I have added several topics where both thermodynamics and finite deformation play significant roles, such as elastomeric gels and dielectric elastomers.
Professor in Computational Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Harvard University
The Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (HSEAS) seeks applicants for an appointment at the level of tenured professor in the field of computational mechanical and materials engineering. The ideal candidate will have high expertise in computation, and will also have a demonstrated commitment to significant and innovative applications in mechanical engineering and/or materials engineering.
Who was PhD advisor of Prager?
I have been asking colleagues this question for some time. I was a Ph.D. student of John W. Hutchinson, who was a Ph.D. student of Bernard Budiansky, who was a Ph.D. student of William Prager. But for years, the Mathematics Genealogy Project listed the advisor for Prager as “unknown”.