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We write to invite your participation in the symposium on New Directions in Large Deformation Solid Mechanics to be held at Texas A&M University campus in College Station as part of the 44th Annual Technical Meeting of the Society of Engineering Science, October 21–24, 2007. The purpose of this symposium is to address and outline new directions in large deformation solid mechanics and to furnish a forum for discussions on a wide range of research in all fields comprising modern mechanics.

Luis Dorfmann, Ray Ogden, Alan Wineman

There are 5 vacant PhD positions with good stipend in the field of solid mechanics, constitutive modelling and numerical simulations. We are looking for very competent, creative students all over the world. It is a rare opportunity for a young scientist to develop his versatile skills and this is your chance. As some people know, SIMLab (Structural Impact Laboratory) is internationally reputed group working on problems related to Crashworthiness and Structural Impact. Our group recently got a Centre for Research based Innovation (CRI). All these positions are filling under CRI. Please find the details in the links here:

The Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI) of NSF and the DOE Office of Freedom CAR and Vehicle Technologies intend to co-sponsor proposals addressing fundamental research issues in advanced high strength steels (AHSS). Specifically, proposals focused on

1. AHSS materials development and characterization,
2. predictive modeling that integrates AHSS material structure and product performance, and
3. fundamental research in the area of processing and manufacturing of AHSS, are of interest. This collaborative effort is a direct outcome of the Advanced High Strength Steel Workshop.

Interested PIs should consider submitting an unsolicited proposal to the core programs of the CMMI Division namely, (1) Materials Processing & Manufacturing (MPM), (2) Materials Design & Surface Engineering (MDSE), (3) Applications & Structural Mechanics, or (4) Mechanics & Structures of Materials (MSM), during the January 15, 2007 to February 15, 2007 submission window. Unsolicited proposals in response to this letter should have titles beginning with "AHSS:".  Proposals from the March-April 2007 panel review will be eligible for co-funding, pending availability of funds.

Some time ago (12-19-06), Daniel Isabey posted an interesting comment on mechanical responses of cells obtained via magnetic twisting cytometry. While the comment was about the nonlinearity of the bead angular displacement, a broader question is how adequately the bead moment/angle relationship represents the complex cell mechanics. There are different patterns of actin bundles at the whole-cell level.

(A message from Dave Barnett) George Herrmann passed away yesterday in Switzerland -- quickly, quietly, and peacefully.

I just jointed iMechanica. Great blog site! I thought to bring to your attention another blog that I enjoy, run by a retired engineer, on renewable energy issues. Here is the link: http://thefraserdomain.typepad.com/

Electro-sensitive (ES) elastomers form a class of smart materials whose mechanical properties can be changed rapidly by the application of an electric field. These materials have attracted considerable interest recently because of their potential for providing relatively cheap and light replacements for mechanical devices, such as actuators, and also for the development of artificial muscles. In this paper we are concerned with a theoretical framework for the analysis of boundary-value problems that underpin the applications of the associated electromechanical interactions. We confine attention to the static situation and first summarize the governing equations for a solid material capable of large electroelastic deformations. The general constitutive laws for the Cauchy stress tensor and the electric field vectors for an isotropic electroelastic material are developed in a compact form following recent work by the authors. The equations are then applied, in the case of an incompressible material, to the solution of a number of representative boundary-value problems. Specifically, we consider the influence of a radial electric field on the azimuthal shear response of a thick-walled circular cylindrical tube, the extension and inflation characteristics of the same tube under either a radial or an axial electric field (or both fields combined), and the effect of a radial field on the deformation of an internally pressurized spherical shell.

Attached is an article by Jia-shi Yang in memory of Professor Mindlin. It will be presented at the Fifth International Conference on Nonlinear Mechanics at Shanghai, China, June 11-14, 2007.