Director: Sia Nemat-Nasser, Distinguished Professor of Mechanics and Materials

More than a dozen graduate students, undergraduates and postdoctoral fellows are conducting research under the center's auspices.

Recent News

Sia Nemat-Nasser presents the 'Sia Nemat-Nasser Early Career Medal' to Dr. Jiangyu Li

November, 2008

Sia presented the first ASME Materials Division 'Sia Nemat-Nasser Early Career Medal' to Dr. Jiangyu Li, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at University of Washington, at the ASME annual meeting held in Boston, MA, November 2-6, 2008. This award is given to recognize research excellence in the areas of experimental, computational, and theoretical mechanics and materials by young investigators who are within 10 years after their Ph.D. degree.

Sia Nemat-Nasser receives the 2008 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Stephen P. Timoshenko Medal

November, 2008

The Timoshenko medal recognizes Sia for ‘fundamental theoretical and experimental contributions in dynamic stability; deformation and failure modes of materials; nano-electro-chemo-mechanical characterization and modeling of ionic polymer metal composites; and composites with tuned electromagnetic functionality, self-healing and self-sensing.’ The medal was presented during the ASME 2008 International Mechanical Congress and Exposition (IMECE), Oct 31-Nov 06, 2008, in Boston, MA.

In his acceptance speech, Sia noted that it was in June of 1958 when he stepped on American soil with $200 in his pocket. Managing to finish his BS, MS, and PhD degrees by 1964, he joined Northwestern University, then UCSD, then back to Northwestern, and finally back to UCSD in 1985, where he created the Center of Excellence for Advanced Materials and spearheaded the creation of the University-wide Materials Program, serving as its Founding Director for five years. Guided by Timoshenko’s teaching, he following his passion for engineering education and research to receive this great honor, the Timoshenko Medal, 50 years later, since he arrived in the USA.

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