The Executive Committee of the ASME Applied Mechanics Division is pleased to congratulate the recipients of the 2025 Robert M. and Mary Haythornthwaite Foundation* Research Initiation Grants Awards: Prof. Vatsa Gandhi (University of California at Los Angles), Prof. Chase Hartquist (University of Florida), Prof. Junsoo Kim (Northwestern University), Prof. Emily Sanders (Georgia Institute of Technology), and Prof. Angkur JD Shaikeea (California Institute of Technology). This award, which includes a $20,000 grant for each recipient, was presented at the AMD Honors and Awards Banquet, during the 2025 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE 2025), held during November 16 – 20, 2025, at the Renasant Convention Center Memphis, TN.
The Haythornthwaite Foundation Research Initiation Grants Awards target university faculty engaged in research in theoretical and applied mechanics that are at the beginning of their academic careers. Applicants must hold a tenure‐track appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor at a US university, and must not be more than 5 years beyond receipt of their doctoral degree at the time the award is made. The intent of the grant is to assist with the purchase of equipment or instrumentation, fabrication of a unique apparatus, travel, or other items that serve the proposer’s research objectives. The applicant is expected to complete at least a portion of the proposed effort within one year of the award and report the results as an oral or poster presentation at the following IMECE.
Narayana R Aluru
Chair, ASME Applied Mechanics Division
* The Robert M. and Mary Haythornthwaite Foundation supports scientific research in the field of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics. Robert Haythornthwaite was a founder and first President of the American Academy of Mechanics.