A short course on "stability analysis and bifurcation theory" by Ryan Elliott

With a growing interest in soft materials, stability and bifurcation analysis is re-emerging to be a critical topic for mechanicians. There are some excellent books out there but most tend to focus on finite dimensional systems rather than (continuous) infinite dimensional systems which are of most interest to mechanicians. In general, much of the modern developments on this topic are scattered across journal papers and perhaps there are not too many pedagogical resources for beginners. Ryan Elliott is one of the experts in our community on this subject and has done a very nice job of synthesizing both what is known as well what is not fully understood. I recently invited Ryan to give a 3-day short course on this subject to advanced mechanics students at the University of Houston. This was a thoroughly enjoyable experience and I highly recommend this short course to others who wish their graduate students to have a quick jump-start on this complex topic. I am attaching the flyer that Ryan uses to advertise this course.