Momentum - The Magazine for Virginia Tech Mechanical Engineering Vol. 4 No. 4 Winter 2019 | Page 4
04
AZIMESKANDARIAN
NICHOLAS AND REBECCA DES CHAMPS PROFESSOR
DEPARTMENT HEAD, MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Interdisciplinary engineering
I am delighted to share more innovative interdisciplinary research and dis-
coveries of our faculty and students with you in this issue of our Momentum
Magazine.
First, I am pleased to congratulate Drs. Oumar Barry and Ling Li who just
received National Science Foundation CAREER Awards to study and develop
inspection robots for power lines, and the structural design and formation
mechanisms of biomineralized architected metamaterials, respectively. This
highly selective honor illustrates our faculty’s commitment to cutting-edge re-
search in keeping with our mission as a land-grant university. (Find Dr. Barry's
award covered on page 12, and Dr. Li's on page 13.)
Our cover story this quarter is another case for interdisciplinary work. Dr.
Ling Li and collaborators at several universities, including MIT and Harvard,
conducted an in-depth study of the chiton mollusk to model armor, based on
the mollusk’s distinctive plating and scale arrangements. (See page 8) Dr. Shima
Shahab is working in smart materials and vibrations with collaborators in
mining and minerals engineering on a $900,000 project to making mining more
efficient and, as a result, safer for miners. (See page 6)
Our nuclear engineering program has recently received two grants worth
$850,000 to help both students and faculty. Principals involved are Drs. Ali
Haghighat, Juliana Pacheco Duarte, and Azim Eskandarian. The nuclear pro-
gram will continue to grow with issues as diverse as nuclear security, policy,
materials, and energy. (See page 14)
As evident, our trans- and inter-disciplinary collaborative research is helping
to solve some of the most pressing and challenging engineering problems with
creativity and innovations. Finally, our work also highlights how cross-disci-
plinary projects are redefining what it means to be a mechanical engineer.
Please enjoy this issue of Momentum, and I hope you all enjoyed your well-de-
served break between semesters. Happy new year!
With Best Regards,
Azim Eskandarian