Blog posts

“Metamaterials” are the fabled materials exhibiting properties and functionalities that defy expectations. Or at least that's how I have always defined them to myself. These first emerged on the scientific scene in the nineties; or perhaps that is when an extensive flurry of activities on this subject can be traced to. The initial focus was on designing (what appeared to me as) composites with a specific geometrical inner structure that allowed the emergence of electromagnetic properties not typically seen in nature; such as negative refractive index.

The Institute of Mechanical Engineering is soliciting applications for a faculty position at the level of tenure-track assistant professor in Thermal Sciences.

I do not think in Imechanica there has been an obituary for Paul Paris, whose work in fatigue crack propagation is extraordinary and one of the few important and lasting contributions ----- today our aircrafts, both civil and military, all rely on "damage tolerance", which is based on Paris' law.   Paris' law, as every great innovations, was published in 1961 only after rejection by three of the leading journals in the fracture mechanics field.  It bears the name of "law" although of course it is not like Newton's law.  It is a power law, based perhaps on what Baren

The School of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering at the University of Technology Sydney is seeking PhD students to work on projects related to:

a) Energy Harvesting: harnessing renewable energy from wind, vibration, human motion, ocean wave, etc.

b) Smart Materials and Structures: adaptive structures with composite materials, smart materials (piezoelectric/flexoelectric/triboelectric/magnetorheological,etc) for energy conversion and vibration control; acoustic metamaterials

A fulltime researcher is sought for an open research position effective immediately. Research project is in the field of biomimetics – fabrication of bioinspired surfaces for water collection and repellency. Project involves microfabrication of surfaces using various coating composites and characterization as well as some modeling.

The Institute of Test and Simulation for Gas Turbines within the Organization of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) is focused on new aeroengine technologies through coupling of numerical and experimental processes to enable the validation of new innovative solutions.