Mechanics and Materials

Renowned Research Faculty

The Mechanics and Materials research area advances the intersection of solid mechanics, materials science, biomechanics, and modern engineering. Nationally recognized for their expertise in hard and soft material characterization, shape memory alloy behavior, multiscale computational methods, and instability phenomena, our AEM faculty lead research in phase transformations, dynamic and biomaterials, and smart systems—frequently authoring widely-used textbooks and research monographs.

Our research-intensive instruction equips students with a deep understanding of foundational theoretical and applied mechanics through hands-on, experiential learning. Although the nonlinear theories covered apply to all materials, they are particularly critical to studying today's emerging advanced materials, biological tissues, and reconfigurable structures. Much of this area’s molecular research is driven by the KIM Initiative (and its flagship OpenKIM project), which develops state-of-the-art software for atomistic simulations—currently used by more than 520 research teams across 43 countries.