Computational Mechanics & Materials Research Laboratory

Director
Professor Gregory M. Odegard
Greg earned his Ph.D. at the University of Denver in 2000, where he studied the failure behavior of graphite/polyimide composites. From 2000-2004 he worked at NASA Langley Research Center where he conducted research on the multiscale modeling and characterization of polymer-based nanostructured materials. Since 2004, Gregory has been at Michigan Technological University where he conducts research on a wide range of engineering materials and biological tissue. Greg has earned the SAMPE Outstanding Graduate Student award, ASME/Boeing Structures and Materials Award, Henry J.E. Reid Award, MTU Oustanding Graduate Mentor Award, and the Ferdinand P. Beer and E. Russell Johnston Jr. Outstanding New Mechanics Educator Award.

PhD Candidate
Ananyo Bandyopadhyay
Ananyo is a PhD student in Materials Science and Engineering. Ananyo is from Kolkata, India. He did his Bachelor's degree in Materials Engineering from Jadavpur University, Kolkata. Prior to his PhD, he was an Assistant Manager-Technical in Vesuvius India Ltd. and there he worked for two years on ceramic refractories used for continuous casting of steel. Ananyo's PhD work is on multiscale molecular modeling of epoxy polymer and study the effects of thermal, chemical and hydrothermal aging on the mechanical properties of this polymer nanocomposite. His project is funded by NASA and he is using LAMMPS (Courtesy-Sandia National Laboratories) software for doing molecular dynamics of the epoxy polymer system.

PhD Candidate
Cameron Hadden
Cameron received his Bachelor's in Biomedical Engineering from Michigan Technological University in 2008. He really enjoys living in the U.P., participating in many outdoor activities such as snowboarding, wakeboarding, and golf. Cameron's PhD focus is on multiscale modeling of epoxy polymer composites and the effects of thermal, chemical, and hydrothermal aging on the mechanical properties of the composite, with emphasis on the fiber-to-matrix interface. His project is funded by the United States Air Force and he is also using LAMMPS (Courtesy-Sandia National Laboratories) software for doing molecular dynamics of the epoxy polymer system.

PhD Candidate
Benjamin D. Jensen
Research Project:Polymer-matrix nanocomposites have the potential to become one of the primary structural materials used in future aircraft and spacecraft because of their high specific-stiffness and specific-strength properties. However, the large number of different fiber/matrix parameters makes experimental development of these materials time consuming and expensive. Alternatively, multi-scale computational modeling can facilitate development by predicting structure-property relationships efficiently and accurately. Molecular models of the composite are created using computational modeling techniques including molecular dynamics, energy minimization, molecular monte carlo, coarse-graining, reverse mapping, and more. Molecular model results can be used to parameterize micromechanical models, giving accurate bulk-level mechanical properties for the polymer-matrix nanocomposite.

Masters Candidate(Solid Mechanics)
Nikhil Anand

I am first year Masters student in Mechanical engineering department from Mumbai, India. I completed my Bachelors degree from Mumbai university in Mechanical engineering. I worked as a Stress analyst at Chemtex Global Engineers Pvt Ltd- multi-national company involved in EPCM(engineering, procurement, construction and management) for one year. My research work is based on physical aging of epoxy resins used in aerospace applications and determining the effects of physical aging on the tensile properties of epoxy resin.

Masters Candidate
Joseph Wlodyka

Joseph Wlodyka is a Masters student in the Mechanical Engineering Dept. He is sponsored by Titan International, a major off the road tire manufacturer headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. Using Abaqus, Joseph is conducting shear and belt layup analysis on a number of tire lines produced by Titan. Prior to his Masters, Joseph worked for Ford Motor Company for 7 years, where he worked assembly and production at the Michigan Truck Plant in Wayne, Michigan. Joseph also worked as a Firefighter/EMT for 2 years and spent 4 years in the United States Marine Corps, where he took part in 2 deployments as a Marine Raider and Assault Climber.

Masters Candidate
Puneet Soman
Puneet Soman is a Masters Candidate in Mechanical Engineering Department at Michigan Tech.He pursued his Undergraduate Degree from Pune University,India.Prior to his Masters. He worked for Mercedes Benz India as a Quality Manager for a period of 2 years where he dealt with the Quality Improvements on Assembly Line at Mercedes Benz India.He also had a short stint in AT Technologies Private Limited in India where he dealt with Projects related to Structural Analysis using FEA tools like Hypermesh and Nastran.His Research Work deals with Finite Element Analysis of a Biological Tissue,in which he will be using Abaqus to develop the Finite Element of the Nerve Tissue.

PhD Candidate
Ben Wang
Ben Wang is a PhD Candidate in Mechanical Engineering Department at Michigan Tech. He pursued his Bachelor Degree from NorthWestern Polytechnic University in China. Currently, he focuses on the multiscale molecular modeling.

Masters Candidate
Mandar Kulkarni
Mandar Kulkarni is a Masters Candidate in Mechanical Engineering. He did his Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Pune University, India. Prior to his Masters, he was Sr. Project Engineer at Faurecia Technology Center India Pvt. Ltd and he worked for four years on design, development of plastic components of Interior trims of automobile. Mandar is having hands on experience on CATIA V5 and Visual Basics Application. Mandar's Masters research work consists of developing finite element model of composites using ABAQUS software.

Department of Mechanical Engineering - Engineering Mechanics
Michigan Technological University