Blog posts

As advanced energy materials with higher conversion efficiencies, enhanced storage capacities, and better reliabilities are being developed to meet the ever-increasing global energy needs, mechanics has emerged as one of the key factors that affect the performance of energy systems. In thermoelectric energy conversion for waste heat recovery, thermal stress is a big concern for reliabilities, and the efficiency and reliability of photovoltaic materials is similarly affected by strain and mechanical defects.

Veryst Engineering is offering a 2-day in-person training course on Advanced Structural Mechanics using COMSOL Multiphysics. The course will be in Houston on November 3-4, and it will cover basic and advanced structural/solid mechanics capabilities in COMSOL including contact, material modeling, and fatigue. I will teach the course together with Dr. Stuart Brown, Veryst’s Managing Principal.

Professor James R. Rice, of Harvard University, will receive the 2014 Theodore von Karman Medal.  Here is a link to an announcement.

POSTDOCTORAL ASSOCIATE POSITION University of Pittsburgh The Shankar Research Group (www.shankarlab.pitt.edu) at the University of Pittsburgh anticipates an opening for a postdoctoral associate starting tentatively in September 2014. The position’s primary area of research will focus on mechanical instabilities and actuation in structures fabricated from photoresponsive, azobenzene-functionalized liquid crystal polymers and polyimides. A background in experimental mechanics and mechanical characterization is required.

HARVARD SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCES

Tenure-track Faculty Position in Materials Science and Engineering

The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) at Harvard University seeks applicants for a tenure-track faculty position in the field of Materials Science and Engineering. We seek an individual who will perform the highest quality scholarly research, with potential applications to meet an important societal need, such as energy, environment, or health. The expected start date is July 1, 2015.

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