News & EventsDepartment Events
Events
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Jan6
EVENT DETAILS
lessWinter classes begin
TIME Monday, January 6, 2025
CONTACT Office of the Registrar nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR University Academic Calendar
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Jan9
EVENT DETAILS
lessAbstract: Exactly 40 years ago I defended my dissertation in this building under the guidance of my mentors Leon Keer and Suru Shah. I cannot say it was “the very same” Technological Institute building because at that time our offices were not air-conditioned and the leaky windows were permeable to falling snow. Today I will describe how a bunch of clever and hardworking students and other collaborators have enabled me to use what I learned at Northwestern as a springboard for applying theoretical, computational and experimental mechanics to improve our understanding of the response (at multiple scales) of materials and structures to mechanical, thermal, and environmental loads. The illustrative examples include the use of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices as platforms for structural testing at the micrometer and nanometer scales; bioinspired design of ceramic-matrix composites through the reverse engineering of the shells of mollusks; fracture mechanics-based design in civil, mechanical and aeronautical engineering; and stochastic buckling of thin-walled shells containing geometric imperfections.
Bio: Roberto Ballarini, who received his NU doctorate in 1985, is Thomas and Laura Hsu Professor and Chair of the Civil and Environmental Department at the University of Houston, and Director of the University of Houston-Dalian Maritime University Institute. His multidisciplinary research focuses on the development and application of theoretical, computational and experimental techniques to characterize the response of materials to mechanical, thermal, and environmental loads. Ballarini is particularly interested in formulating analytical and computational models for characterizing fatigue and fracture of materials and structures arising in civil engineering, mechanical and aerospace engineering, materials science, microelectromechanical systems, biological tissues and prosthetics. He has published more than 130 papers in refereed journals, including Science, Nature and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and several of his research projects have been featured in the popular press, including the New York Times Science Times, American Scientist, Business Week, Financial Times, and Geo. Ballarini a Distinguished Member of ASCE, Fellow of ASME and of the Engineering Mechanics Institute, is Past-President of the ASCE Engineering Mechanics Institute and served as Editor of the ASCE Journal of Engineering Mechanics. He is recipient of the 2019 ASCE Raymond D. Mindlin Medal in recognition of outstanding research contributions to applied solid mechanics, and the University of Houston’s Global Faculty Award for his leadership in international teaching and research collaborations.
TIME Thursday, January 9, 2025 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
LOCATION A230, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Andrew Liguori andrew.liguori@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick - Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)