mechanician

To: Engineers, Fracture Analysts, Mechanicians, Physicists...

In science and engineering, we have an excellent tradition: naming a physical unit using the name of a prominent personality from the concerned field. For example, in SI system, we measure force in newton, work in joule, power in watt...

But the unit of fracture toughness, i.e. KIC, is too lengthy to pronounce: (mega) pascal-underoot-meter. Further, it has also been in use for something like half a century by now, perhaps more. So, how do you like the idea of giving a name to this unit?

Jan D. Achenbach, Walter P. Murphy Professor and McCormick School Distinguished Professor at Northwestern University was presented a 2005 National Medal of Science by President George W. Bush on July 27. Achenbach, who  is well known in the mechanics community, was honored for his seminal contributions to engineering research and education in the area of wave propagation in solids and for pioneering the field of quantitative non-destructive evaluation. Previously, Achenbach received a 2003 National medal of Technology from President Bush.

Cambridge University Press and the Journal of Fluid Mechanics are delighted to announce the launch of The Batchelor Prize, sponsored by the Journal of Fluid Mechanics, to be awarded in recognition of outstanding research in fluid mechanics.

As a member society of the U.S. National Committee on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (USNC/TAM) , the objective of the American Academy of Mechanics (AAM) is the advancement of the science and profession of mechanics.

The scope of AAM includes all of the disciplines involved in the modeling and study of the response of inanimate and animate matter to forces and environmental effects.

The Applied Mechanics Division, of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), administers 5 awards.  The 2007 recipients are

Assad Oberai wins the 2007 Special Achievement Award for Young Investigators in Applied Mechanics. The Award will be presented at the Applied Mechanics Annual Dinner, during the ASME Congress, 11-15 November 2007, in Seattle.

A message from Woody Ju.  It is with deepest sadness and sorrow that I inform you that Professor T.H. Lin, our kindest role model and gentleman, passed away on June 18, 2007; he was 96 years old. Prof. Lin worked until last Friday.

He is survived by his sons (Prof. Robert Lin of UC Berkeley, Prof. Jim Lin of UCSD) and his daughter (Rita).

Professor Graeme Milton will be awarded the 2007 Prager medal from the Society of Engineering Science for his work on solid mechanics.  The medal will be handed out at the 44th Annual Technical Meeting of the Society of Engineering Science (SES2007) to be held between October 21 and 24, 2007 at College Station, Texas.