Energy Absorbing Mechanisms in Natural Materials and Implications for Bioinspired Designs

Friday, May 16, 2014 - 3:00 p.m. to Saturday, May 17, 2014 - 2:55 p.m.
McDonnell Douglas Engineering Auditorium

ChEMS Seminar

Professor Joanna McKittrick

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering

University of California, San Diego

Abstract:

Structural biological materials such as mollusk shells, bone, antler, and animal horns are lightweight yet strong and fracture resistant. These natural materials offer a plethora of ideas that can be used to fabricate bioinspired synthetic materials. The challenge is to identify methods to duplicate the arrangement of the internal structures and use engineering materials, not available in the natural world, to create new materials with enhanced mechanical properties. This presentation will discuss how natural materials achieve extraordinary mechanical properties and the new methods developed to form bioinspired materials.

 

Bio:

Joanna McKittrick has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado, a M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Northwestern University and a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from MIT. She has worked in the area of structural biological materials and bioinspired design of new materials for the past 10 years.  She also has research interests in luminescence properties of materials.