Mechanics-Looking Ahead
Abstract
This proposal requests funding in partial support of a Symposium entitled Mechanics, Educationand Research Universities: Perspectives for the 21st Century. This one day Symposium withapproximately 40 participants will be held on May 12, 2016 at the American Academy of Artsand Sciences in Cambridge Massachusetts. The organizing committee consists of JohnHutchinson (chair), Alan Needleman and Zhigang Suo. This proposal requests funding in partial support of a Symposium entitled Mechanics, Education and Research Universities: Perspectives for the 21st Century. This one day Symposium with approximately 40 participants will be held on May 12, 2016 at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge Massachusetts. The organizing committee consists of John Hutchinson (chair), Alan Needleman and Zhigang Suo. The morning session will focus on areas of mechanics that are expected to have a significant impact on critical 21st century technologies. There will be three broad, overview talks presented by leaders in the respective fields with ample time for discussions and interactions on the mechanics issues and technological implications of the research. Each talk will focus one key area of mechanics. The three areas selected are: (i) Applications of mechanics in biological systems, (ii) The role of mechanics in geophysics and geophysical materials, and (iii) the mechanics of soft materials. These areas of mechanics underlie technologies of importance to the Navy including, for example, bio-inspired materials and structures, bio-mimicry, ice mechanics, the deformation and fracture of geological materials, and emerging applications of soft materials, not only in bio-medicine but also in a wide range of structural applications. The afternoon sessions will focus on the challenges research universities face in providing the educational opportunities and the research environment needed so that engineers and researchers can provide the needed creative solutions to future technology problems and issues. As is well appreciated, in the 20th century leading edge engineering in the US was strongly dependent on extraordinarily talented immigrants who have relocated to the US, many after receiving their advanced education at US universities. Due to the economic advances in much of the rest of the world, particularly Asia, it is unlikely that the influx of such highly talented immigrants will continue in the numbers needed to meet the challenges of the 21st century. The issue of how US research can maintain its leadership in graduate education thereby producing the engineers needed in an increasingly competitive global environment is of much importance for the US and, in particular, for the Department of Defense. Also, beginning in the late 20th century, universities have become much more globally oriented such that understanding and managing the global interaction is a key issue. Since universities in Europe and Asia are facing many of the same issues, we are assembling an international panel of highly qualified researchers/educators to discuss these issues. The afternoon session will consist of two panels each comprised of four individuals who will present short (approximately 10-15 minutes) discussion points related to the challenges ahead with an hour of general discussion. The aim of the panels is to capitalize on the expertise of the participants to identify the prospects and problems for research universities meeting the research and education needs in the 21st century, with a particular focus on the field of mechanics and its many application areas. The slides from the morning session and a summary of the afternoon sessions will be posted on a website created on iMechanica and will be used as the final report to ONR.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Nov 23, 2016
- Source ID
- N000141612552
Entities
People
- John N Hutchinson
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- President and Fellows of Harvard College
- United States Navy