Self Introduction for ES 242R

My name is Jeff Chambers, I am a 1st year PhD candidate in the Department Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT. I received my BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara. While at UCSB, I worked with Prof. Keith Kedward investigating impact of composites. I did my MS in Aero/Astro at MIT working with Prof. Brian Wardle on durability of structural health monitoring systems. My PhD project is investigating failure theories for traditional composites. I will be working with Prof. Paul Lagace. My research lab is the Technology Laboratory for Advanced Materials and Structures (TELAMS).

My course background includes Strength of Materials, Mechanics of Solid Materials, Advanced Structural Dynamics, Wave Propagation in Solid Elastic Solids, Advanced Elasticity (ES 240), and Mechanics of Filamentary Composite Materials. I am fairly strong in the fundamentals of solid mechanics, but my weakness is tying multiple concepts together to solve more difficult problems. Fracture mechanics will greatly contribute to my research as it is the basis for many composite failure theories.