University of California, Berkeley Mechanical Engineering

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Research Interest

Design for Nanomanufacturing

Our research spans the invention, modeling and simulation of micro- and nano-scale manufacturing processes. We are particularly focused on processes that can be used to fabricate extremely rich and complex, multi-scale geometries, such as are found in semiconductor integrated circuits and biological tissues. Recent work includes the introduction of the tomographic volumetric additive manufacturing process, …

Gu Research Group

The Gu Research Group works at the intersection of mechanics, additive manufacturing, materials, and computer science. We aim to make additive manufacturing more accessible, economical, and ubiquitous. Using a bioinspired algorithmic-driven design approach, we harness tools such as advanced computational analysis, machine learning, and topology optimization to expand and revolutionize the field of smart additive manufacturing …

Computational Manufacturing and Materials Research Laboratory

Research themes: (1) Modeling and simulation of advanced manufacturing and 3D printing systems; (2) Modeling and simulation of multiphase/composite material behavior; (3) Modeling and simulation of fire propagation and control with the Fire Research Group; (4) Modeling and simulation of UAVs and swarms; (5) Modeling and simulation of biological systems; (6) Modeling and simulation of ballistic …

Tarek I. Zohdi

Will C. Hall Family Chair in Engineering

Will C. Hall Endowed Chair
Chair of the UCB Computational & Data Science & Engineering Program
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Associate Dean for Research, College of Engineering

6117 Etcheverry Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
zohdi@berkeley.edu
(510) 642-9172

For more information see:

Click here for Professor Zohdi’s CV

Tarek I. Zohdi http://www.me.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/tarek-i-zohdi/ received his Ph.D. in 1997 in Computational and Applied Mathematics from the University of Texas at Austin. He was a post-doctoral fellow at the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany from 1997 to 1998 and then a lecturer (C2-Oberingenieur) at the Gottfried Leibniz University of Hannover in Germany from 1998 to 2001, where he received his Habilitation in General Mechanics (Allgemeine Mechanik). Approximately one out of every twenty doctoral degree  holders in Germany is allowed to proceed with a Habilitation. It is the highest academic degree in Germany and is usually required to obtain the rank of full Professor there and in other parts of Europe. In July 2001, he became an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He was promoted to Associate Professor in July 2004 and to Full Professor in July 2009. He has held a number of administrative posts at UC Berkeley, including: 

 

  • 7/2020-present Associate Dean for Post Baccalaureate Programs, College of Eng., UC Berkeley.

 https://engineering.berkeley.edu/about/leadership-team/,

https://funginstitute.berkeley.edu/about-us/our-people/staff/,

  • 7/2018-6/2020: Elected Chair of the Faculty, College of Engineering, UC Berkeley,
  • 7/2012-present: Chair, Computational and Data Science and Eng. Program, UC Berkeley,
  • 7/2009-6/2012: Vice-Chair for Instruction, Dept. of Mech. Eng., UC Berkeley,
  • 7/2008-6/2012: Chair, Engineering Science Program, UC Berkeley,
  • 7/2008-11/2008: Acting Assoc. Dean, Interim Eng. Sci. Prog. Exec. Comm., UC Berkeley.

and recently (2021) he has started serving as Academic Director of the  Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology (SCET), at UC Berkeley ( https://scet.berkeley.edu/scet-names-tarek-zohdi-as-new-academic-director/).  From 2014-2020, he was a  Chancellor’s Professor of Mechanical Engineering. Since 2016, he is the holder of the W. C. Hall Family Endowed Chair in Engineering. He also holds a Staff Scientist position at Lawrence Berkeley National Labs and an Adjunct Scientist position at the Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute. His main research interests are in modeling, simulation and optimization of  nonconvex multiscale-multiphysics  problems for  industrial applications. He has published over 180 archival refereed journal papers and eight books: (1) Introduction to computational micromechanics (T. Zohdi and P. Wriggers, Springer-Verlag), (2) An introduction to modeling and simulation of particulate flows (T. Zohdi, SIAM), (3) Electromagnetic properties of multiphase dielectrics: a primer on modeling, theory and computation (T. Zohdi, Springer- Verlag), (4) Dynamics of charged particulate systems: modeling, theory and computation (T. Zohdi, Springer-Verlag) (5 and 6) A finite element primer for beginners-the basics (T. Zohdi, Springer- Verlag, 2 distinct editions), (7) Modeling and simulation of functionalized materials for additive manufacturing and 3D printing: continuous and discrete media (T. Zohdi, Springer-Verlag) and (8) Modeling and simulation of infectious diseases: microscale transmission, decontamination and macroscale propagation (T. Zohdi, Springer-Verlag), as well as eight handbook/book chapters and five encyclopedia chapters. In 2000, he received the Zienkiewicz Prize and Medal, which are awarded once every two years, to one post-graduate researcher under the age of 35, by The Royal Institution of Civil Engineers in London, to commemorate the work of Professor O. C. Zienkiewicz, for research which contributes most to the field of numerical methods in engineering. In 2002, he received the Best Paper of the Year 2001 Award in London, at the Lord’s Cricket Grounds, for a paper published in Engineering Computations, pertaining to modeling and simulation of the propagation of failure in particulate aggregates of material. In 2003, he received the Junior Achievement Award of the American Academy of Mechanics. The award is given once a year, to one post-graduate researcher, to recognize outstanding research during the first decade of a professional career. In 2008, he was elected Fellow of the International Association for Computational Mechanics (IACM) and in 2009 he was elected Fellow of the United Stated Association for Computational Mechanics (USACM). The USACM is the primary computational mechanics organization in the United States and the International Association for Computational Mechanics is the primary international organization in this field. In 2011, he was selected as “Alumnus of the Year” by the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Louisiana State University (LSU), where he did his undergraduate studies. In 2017, he was awarded the University of California, Berkeley Distinguished Teaching Award. The Distinguished Teaching Award is a campus-wide recognition for faculty that have established a sustained and varied record of teaching excellence. This is the highest award for  teaching in the University: http://teaching.berkeley.edu/node/240     and   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntzkn71r2Sg. In 2019, he was selected to give a  Lindbergh Lecture, by the University of Wisconsin in honor aviation pioneer (and engineer)  Charles Lindbergh (a 1924 graduate of UW). In 2019 he was elected  as Fellow of the American Academy of Mechanics (AAM)-only one new Fellow is inducted in the nation and the Americas into the AAM each year: https://medium.com/the-coleman-fung-institute/tarek-zohdi-named-2019-aam-fellow-d4df374246e1. In 2020, he  received the prestigious Humboldt-Forschungspreis (Humboldt Research Prize). The prize, given by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of the  German Government, recognizes renowned researchers outside of Germany whose “fundamental discoveries, new theories or insights have had a significant impact on their own discipline and who are expected to continue producing cutting-edge achievements in the future.” He received it in the area of Mechanics in recognition of  lifetime achievements https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/web/humboldt-award.html,  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldt_Prize and https://www.uni-due.de/2020-07-21-humboldt-forschungspreistraeger-tarek-i-zohdi-kommt). He is  an editor of  two leading  journals in his  field, namely an editor  of Computational Mechanics and managing editor of Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and  serves on 11 editorial boards of international journals. He is  also the  co-founder and co-editor-in-chief of the relatively new  journal, Computational Particle Mechanics (CPM),  as well as an editor of the Computational Mechanics book series (Wiley). He has organized or co-organized over 30 international conferences and workshops and been appointed/invited  to the Scientific Advisory Boards of  over 40 international conferences. He was elected President of the USACM in 2012, and served from 2012 to 2014. Since  2009, he has served as a  representative of the USACM on the General Council of the IACM, which is the governing committee of the primary international organization in his field of research and was elected to the Executive Council of IACM in 2020  (seven were  elected worldwide in 2020).  In 2014, he was appointed by the United States National Academy of Science (NAS) and the National Research Council (NRC) as a member of the US National Committee for Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (USNC/TAM) representing the USACM (4/15/2014-10/31/2018): https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/us-national-committee-for-theoretical-and-applied-mechanics-usnc-iutam. USNC/TAM is the primary national governing body for Mechanics in the United States. This committee operates under the auspices of the US Board on International Scientific Organizations (BISO) and the Policy and Global Affairs Division of the NRC. Furthermore, he is the national coordinator for the NAS and USNC/TAM for  AmeriMech Symposia, which  are intended to promote interactions among researchers in an area of contemporary interest in the mechanics of fluids and solids http://sites.nationalacademies.org/pga/biso/iutam/pga_086043. These symposia are  designed to encourage participation of young researchers, and to promote interdisciplinary ideas and discussions. This format allows for in-depth discussions and close interactions between participants. Such symposia are renown to help assess the state-of-the-art and chart new directions for the future. In 2018, he was elected to Member-at-Large status of the USNC/TAM  by the National Academy of Sciences: http://www.me.berkeley.edu/about/news/me-professor-tarek-zohdi-appointed-member-large-us-national-academy-sciences-and-national. Overall, he has been a plenary speaker at each of the three major conferences in his field:  (a) The World Congress for Computational Mechanics (Sao Paulo , 2012), (b) The United States National Congress for Computational Mechanics (Montreal, 2017) and (c) The International Conference on Particle-based Methods (Stuttgart 2013, Hannover, 2017, Hamburg 2021) and given more than 200 other plenary, keynote and contributed lectures at conferences, universities and other research institutions worldwide. In addition to his academic credentials, he  has been active in five main industrial areas:

 

  • Modeling and simulation of high-strength fabric: He has  worked extensively in  the computational analysis of high-strength ballistic fabric shielding. Initially, this work was funded by the FAA and Boeing as part of a 10 year (2001-2011) multi-million dollar laboratory and simulation effort to develop ballistic fabric shields for the Boeing 787. He was heavily involved in the  development of 787 Boeing designs. The work was then applied to the development of new ballistic fabric shielding armor (from 2007-present) with the Army Research Labs (ARL) and the Army High Performance Computing Research Center (AHPCRC). In summary, the combined laboratory, modeling and simulation efforts have been instrumental for the development of new types of ballistic fabric shields for the safety and betterment of society.
  • Modeling and simulation of highly heterogeneous materials: He worked extensively in the computational analysis of particulate functionalized materials in multiphysical regimes. This work has been continuously funded by a number of industries, most notably for power-generation materials in harsh environments such as thermal barrier turbine blade coating materials (CMCs: Ceramic Matrix Composites) and high-voltage electromagnetic generator (dielectric) materials, such as End Corona Protection systems. This work has been a direct industrial outgrowth of the  unique book: Introduction to computational micromechanics (T. Zohdi and P. Wriggers, Springer-Verlag: https://cmmrl.berkeley.edu/zohdi-publications/).
  • Modeling and simulation of fire-technologies: In 2018,  he founded the UC Berkeley Fire Research Group(FRG):  https://frg.berkeley.edu/,  whose mission is to serve the best interests of the State of California and society at large, by working toward the development and implementation of more effective solutions for uncontrolled wildfires. The FRG’s mission is to  develop, harness and integrate the state-of-the-art technologies across many fields in order to produce robust and affordable firefighting systems that are easy to maintain, upgrade and deploy for early detection and control of fires. The FRG has brought together engineers, scientists, technologists, first responders and firefighters to bolster research in fire science, management and emergency control.
  • Modeling and simulation of food systems: In 2019,  he  founded the UC Berkeley Center for Next Generation Food Systems: https://food-manufacturing.berkeley.edu/. The overall mission of the center is to optimize societal food production, quality, and food safety/security in the era of pandemics and beyond. These themes are central to California since its economy is the 5th largest economy in the world. The center encourages cross-collaboration and sharing of information, where possible, and through various forums to further enhance expanding opportunities. Furthermore, the center supports the research, education, extension, and economics endeavors designed to advance public knowledge and commercial interests. The center explores themes associated with (a)  pandemic driven food system security and safety, (b) improving food yield, quality, and nutrition, (c) decreasing energy and water resource consumption, (d) increasing production yield and eliminating food waste, (e) large surface-area agriculture, using energy-efficient technologies such as solar and wind and the (f)  use of autonomous systems, drones, sensors and machine-learning for detection of inefficiencies and hazards. The center is part of  a 20,000,000 dollar multi-campus NSF-USDA-NIFA funded network. Zohdi is the PI of the UC Berkeley hub/node. 
  • Modeling and simulation of advanced manufacturing processes: He has  been heavily involved in the National Network of Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) system that has been developed over the last decade by the US Government. The goal is to add capacity to the National Network of Manufacturing Innovation, a 2014 initiative to increase the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing by streamlining research and development and increasing collaboration among industry, academia, national labs and federal partners.  Form   2016-2021, he   was the Northern California PI for the Northern California Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CESMII); see Whitehouse announcement: http://engineering.berkeley.edu/2016/06/california-new-headquarters-smart-manufacturing-institute  and http://www.me.berkeley.edu/about/news/president-obama-announces-winner-new-smart-manufacturing-innovation-institute-competition which is part of a 140,000,000 dollar consortium of universities, national labs  and companies geared towards smart clean manufacturing (headquartered at UCLA). The mission of the consortium, consisting of 200 partners from 30 states representing a wide spectrum of interests across industry and academia, is to help hone advanced manufacturing’s competitive edge in the United States by increasing efficiency and accelerating the adoption of technologies such as advanced sensors, data analytics and digital controls in manufacturing. Also, from  2016-2021, he was the California Principal Investigator for another successful consortium NNMI grant (the Advanced Robotics Manufacturing (ARM), headquartered at Carnegie Mellon) in which he  was appointed the coordinator of the Northern California  Branch; see announcement http://www.me.berkeley.edu/about/news/dod-announces-award-new-advanced-robotics-manufacturing-arm-innovation-hub and http://engineering.berkeley.edu/2017/01/berkeley-regional-center-new-robotics-manufacturing-consortium which is part of a 253,000,000 dollar consortium of universities, national labs and companies focused on  advanced robotic manufacturing.  

Remark: For overall record,  see the CV provided for lists of papers and similar data.

 

Public Service:

Pro bono as an engineering consultant for the ABC news on spontaneously shattering car sunroofs. Located here:
http://abc7.com/archive/8026317/

 

Pro bono as an engineering consultant for the ABC news on exploding shower doors made of tempered safety glass. Located here: 
http://abc30.com/archive/9313662/

 

Pro bono as an engineering consultant for the ABC news on a faulty baby zipper device from a sleeping bag. Located here:   
http://abc7news.com/archive/8433331/

 


Research Description:

Research themes:

(1)  Modeling and simulation of advanced manufacturing and 3D printing systems

(2)  Modeling and simulation of multiphase/composite material behavior

(3)  Modeling and simulation of fire propagation and control with the Fire Research Group

(4)  Modeling and simulation of UAVs and swarms

(5)  Modeling and simulation of biological systems

(6)  Modeling and simulation of ballistic fabric shielding

 

Methods of analysis:

(1)  Discrete Element Methods

(2)  Finite Element Methods

(3)  Finite Difference Methods

(4)  Computational Optics

(5)  Machine-Learning Algorithms

(6)  Agent-Based Methods

 

A set of “summary” slides on the above topics can be found here https://cmmrl.berkeley.edu/

 

Related papers and books on the above topics can be found here: https://cmmrl.berkeley.edu/zohdi-publications/

 

Related Links:

Fire Research Group: https://frg.berkeley.edu/ and  http://www.dailycal.org/tag/fire-research-group/

Editor, Computational Mechanics: http://www.springer.com/materials/mechanics/journal/466

Editor-in-Chief, Comp. Particle Mechanics: http://www.springer.com/engineering/mechanics/journal/40571

NAS-USNC/TAM AmeriMech Coordinator: http://sites.nationalacademies.org/pga/biso/iutam/pga_086043

Chief Technology Officer, Fung Institute: https://funginstitute.berkeley.edu/about-us/our-people/staff/

Chair, UC Berkeley Computational Data Science and Eng. Prog: http://citris-uc.org/decse-organization/

Faculty Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab: http://www.lbl.gov/

Key Publications:

To view a list of Professor Zohdi’s publications, please visit the Computational Manufacturing and Materials Research Lab website.

Hayden Taylor

Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering

6159 Etcheverry Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
hkt@berkeley.edu
(510) 642-4901

For more information see: Design for Nanomanufacturing
Current Classes Taught

Hayden Taylor is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. He was previously an Assistant Professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Biosystems and Micromechanics group at the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, and a Research Associate in the Microsystems Technology Laboratories at MIT.

 

Hayden was born in Bristol, United Kingdom, in 1981. He attended Bristol Grammar School and Trinity College, Cambridge, receiving the B.A. and M.Eng. degrees in Electrical and Electronic Engineering in 2004. He was sponsored as an undergraduate by ST Microelectronics. He is a Senior Scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge, and received the Cambridge University Engineering Department’s Baker Prize in 2004. Hayden received the Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT in 2009, working with Professor Duane Boning.

 

Hayden is a member of the IEEE, the Institution of Engineering and Technology, and the Institute of Physics. He was an Institution of Electrical Engineers Jubilee Scholar 2000-4, and was a Kennedy Scholar for the academic year 2004-5.

 

To view Professor Taylor’s CV, please click here.


Research Description:

The invention, modeling and simulation of micro- and nano-manufacturing processes, materials-testing techniques operating down to the nanoscale, and applications of polymeric materials in micro- and nano-fabrication—including for tissue scaffold engineering.

 

Key Publications:

To view a list of Professor Taylor’s publications, please visit the Design for Nanomanufacturing website.

Sara McMains

Professor of Mechanical Engineering

5145 Etcheverry Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
mcmains@me.berkeley.edu
(510) 852-9359

For more information see: McMains Home Page
Current Classes Taught

Dr. McMains is a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley. Her research interests include Geometric DFM (Design for Manufacturing) feedback, geometric solid modeling, CAD/CAM, GPU algorithms, computer aided process planning, layered manufacturing, computer graphics, visualization, virtual prototyping, and virtual reality. Her current research focuses on new techniques for accessibility analysis and collision detection, with applications in haptic design environments, design for manufacturing for injection molding, design for cleanability, layered manufacturing, and machining.

 

McMains received her A.B. from Harvard University in Computer Science, and her M.S. and Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in Computer Science with a minor in Mechanical Engineering. She is the recipient of Best Paper Awards from Usenix (1995) and ASME DETC (2000), a Best Poster and a Best Paper Award from the ACM Solid and Physical Modeling Symposium (2007, 2008 — 2nd place), and the NSF CAREER Award (2005).


Research Description:

Geometric and solid modeling, computer aided design, computer aided manufacturing, layered manufacturing, computer graphics and visualization, virtual prototyping, virtual reality.

 

Liwei Lin

James Marshall Wells Academic Chair in Mechanical Engineering

Professor of Mechanical Engineering
James Marshall Wells Academic Chair
Co-Director, Berkeley Sensor & Actuator Center

5135 Etcheverry Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
lwlin@berkeley.edu
(510) 643-5495

For more information see: Lin Lab
Lin Home Page
Current Classes Taught

2006 – 2009  Vice Chair – Graduate Study, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of California at Berkeley

2004  Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of California at Berkeley

2001  Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of California at Berkeley

1999  Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of California at Berkeley

1996  Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Michigan

1994  Associate Professor, Institute of Applied Mechanics, National Taiwan University

1993  Senior Research Scientist, BEI Electronics Inc.

1993  PhD, Mechanical Engineering, University of California at Berkeley

1991  MS, Mechanical Engineering, University of California at Berkeley

1986  BS, Power Mechanical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University


Research Description:

MEMS (Microelectromechanical Systems); NEMS (Nanoelectromechanical Systems); Nanotechnology; design and manufacturing of microsensors and microactuators; development of micromachining processes by silicon surface/bulk micromachining; micromolding process; mechanical issues in MEMS including heat transfer, solid/fluid mechanics, and dynamics.

 

Key Publications:

For a list of Professor Lin’s publications, please click here.

Kyriakos Komvopoulos

Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering

5143 Etcheverry Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
kyriakos@me.berkeley.edu
(510) 642-2563

For more information see: Current Classes Taught

Professor Komvopoulos has been in the faculty of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) since 1989. Before joining UCB, he was in the faculty of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1986-1989). Professor Komvopoulos is internationally known for pioneering research in surface nanosciences and nanoengineering, with important implications in several emerging technologies including communications, microelectronics, information storage, and biotechnology. He is the founder and director of the Surface Sciences and Engineering Laboratory (SSEL) and the Computational Surface Mechanics Laboratory (CSML) and holds the positions of Professor of Mechanical Engineering at UCB, Faculty Scientist, Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Principal Investigator, The Berkeley Stem Cell Center, and Principal Investigator, Center for Information Technology in the Interest of Society (CITRIS).

 

The research of Professor Komvopoulos is at the interfaces of mechanical and electrical engineering, materials sciences, surface physical chemistry, bioengineering, and biology. His work is characterized by a multidisciplinary nature and the combination of analytical and experimental techniques used to analyze complex surface and interface phenomena. His research is based on the integration of fundamentals from mechanics, materials, surface chemistry, and biology, and spans a broad range of scales, from the mesoscopic to the atomic and molecular levels. 

 

Early research accomplishments of Professor Komvopoulos include contact deformation at submicron scales, new friction theories of surfaces interacting in the presence of physicochemically adsorbed monolayers, surface plasticity and fracture of contacting bodies, acoustic emission in surface sliding and machining, synthesis and characterization of ultrathin diamondlike and amorphous carbon films, adhesion forces in miniaturized electromechanical systems, and rheological behavior of boundary films. 

 

In the past two decades, Professor Komvopoulos broadened his research activities, branching into the exploration of various surface microprobe techniques for atomic and molecular level surface analysis, synthesis of self-assembled organic monolayers for reducing adhesion between silicon microdevices, invention of plasma-assisted surface treatments for biopolymers (used in total joint replacements, catheters for minimally invasive treatment of diseased arteries, and cell platforms), deposition of ultrathin (a few atomic layers) amorphous carbon films by sputtering and filtered cathodic vacuum arc for ultrahigh-density magnetic recording and heat-assisted magnetic recording, phase transformations and nanomechanical properties of shape-memory alloys (both in thin-film and bulk form) for retina disks and artery stents, a surface-specific spectroscopy technique (infrared-visible sum frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy) for in-situ studies of entropically driven molecular rearrangement at various biopolymer surfaces due to in-plane and out-of-plane stretching and aging effects.

 

Professor Komvopoulos’ most recent work includes plasma-assisted polymer surface functionalization for controlling adhesion and growth of cells, protein secretion due to mechanotransduction in articular cartilage, cell mechanics, patterned media for single-cell growth, and cell infiltration into fibrous scaffolds synthesized by electrospinning, new electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries, flexible and stretchable bioelectronics, skin mechanics, and transdermal drug delivery by microneedle arrays, mechanics of biological surfaces, and synthesis of scaffolds with special cues for enhanced biofunctionality.

 

Professor Komvopoulos’ research is documented in 379 publications consisting of 277 papers published in peer-reviewed archival journals, 71 papers in refereed conference proceedings, 19 papers in symposium proceedings, 2 book chapters, 65 technical reports, and 10 US patents. As of June 2021, Professor Komvopoulos’ publications and patents have been cited more than 13,750 times (h-index = 62, Google Scholar). He has also authored an undergraduate-level textbook (Mechanical Testing of Engineering Materials) and co-authored two monographs (1999 Interface Tribology Towards 100 Gbit/in2; Long Term Durability of Structural Materials: Durability 2000). He has given 225 scholarly presentations at various international conferences, academic institutions, national laboratories, industries, and various media, supervised the research and dissertations of 58 graduate students (33 PhD and 25 MS) and 17 post-doctoral students, visiting faculty, and industry fellows, and consulted with a wide range of industries and law firms on various litigation matters. 

 

Professor Komvopoulos has been elected to the grade of Fellow of STLE (2004) and ASME (2000) and has been the recipient of several awards, including NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award (1989-1996), IBM Faculty Development Award (1990-1992), Berkeley Engineering Fund Award (1989-1990), ASME B. L. Newkirk Award (1988), and NSF Engineering Initiation Award (1987).

 

At UCB, Professor Komvopoulos teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Plasticity, Fracture, Fatigue, and Tribology and devotes significant time to administration duties at the Department, College, and University system-wide levels. His most recent system-wide committee service includes UC Faculty Welfare, Assembly Representative, Divisional Council, Educational Technology, Courses of Instruction, Graduate Study, and Committee on Academic Planning and Resource Allocation.


Research Description:

Theoretical and numerical studies in nano-/micro-scale contact mechanics, tribology, mechanical behavior of bulk and thin-film materials, deposition and characterization of single and multi-layer ultrathin films by sputtering and filtered cathodic vacuum arc methods, reliability of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), surface force microprobe techniques, surface modification of biopolymers, surface chemical functionalization for enhanced biocompatibility and cell activity, mechanotransduction effects at the single-cell and tissue levels, scaffolds for tissue engineering, and flexible/stretchable bioelectronics.

 

To learn more about Professor Komvopoulos’ research, please click here.

 

To view a list of Professor Komvopoulos’ supervised current and past graduate students and visiting scholars, please click here.

 

Key Publications:

To view a list of Professor Komvopoulos’ publications, please click here.

Homayoon Kazerooni

Professor of Mechanical Engineering

6147 Etcheverry Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
kazerooni@berkeley.edu
(510) 642-2964

For more information see: Berkeley Robotics & Human Engineering Laboratory
Current Classes Taught

Dr. Kazerooni is a professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, where he also serves as the director of the Berkeley Robotics and Human Engineering Laboratory. With more than 30 years of mechanical engineering experience and a doctorate degree from MIT, he is a leading expert in robotics, control sciences, exoskeletons, human-machine systems and augmentation, bioengineering, mechatronics design, intelligent assist devices, and power and propulsion.  Prior to his more well-known research on lower extremity exoskeletons, Dr. Kazerooni led his team at Berkeley to successfully develop robotics systems that enhanced human upper extremity strength.  The results of this work led to a new class of intelligent assist devices that are currently used by manual laborers in distribution centers and factories all over the world. These technologies are currently marketed worldwide by leading material handling corporations.

 

Dr. Kazerooni’s later work focuses on the control of human-machine systems specific to lower human extremities. After developing BLEEX, ExoHiker, and ExoClimber–three super-light, load-carrying exoskeletons–his team at Berkeley created HULC (Human Universal Load Carrier). It is the first energetically-autonomous, orthotic, lower extremity exoskeleton that allows its user to carry 200-pound weights in various terrains for an extended period, without becoming physically overwhelmed.  The technology was licensed to Lockheed Martin and now is used for a variety of military applications. Dr. Kazerooni has also developed lower-extremity technology to aid persons who have experienced a stroke, spinal cord injuries, or health conditions that obligate them to use a wheelchair.  His medical exoskeleton, Ekso, has successfully allowed those who have been paralyzed to walk, stand, and speak face to face with peers in an upright position.

 

In addition to his teaching work and research experience in a academia, Dr. Kazerooni is also an entrepreneur. In 2005, he founded Ekso Bionics (www.eksobionics.com), which went on to become a publicly-owned company in 2014 and now supplies medical exoskeleton (Ekso) to a great number of rehabilitation centers worldwide.  He is the founder and chairperson of U.S. Bionics, a VC, industry, and government funded company that provides accessible, affordable exoskeletons for the industrial, medical, and military markets (www.usbionics.com).

 

Dr. Kazerooni has won numerous awards including Discover Magazine’s Technological Innovation Award, the McKnight-Land Grant Professorship, and has been a recipient of the outstanding ASME Investigator Award. His research was recognized as the most innovative technology of the year in New York Times Magazine. He has served in a variety of leadership roles in the mechanical engineering community and is notably the editor of two journals: ASME Journal of Dynamics Systems and Control and IEEE Transaction on Mechatronics. A recognized authority on robotics, Dr. Kazerooni has published more than 200 articles to date, delivered over 130 plenary lectures internationally, and is the inventors of numerous patents.


Research Description:

Bioengineering, robotics, control systems, mechatronics, design, automated manufacturing and human-machine systems

 

Key Publications:

To view a list of Professor Kazerooni’s publications, please visit the Berkeley Robotics & Human Engineering Laboratory’s website.

Grace X. Gu

Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering

6177 Etcheverry Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
ggu@berkeley.edu
(510) 643-4996

For more information see: Gu Research Group
Current Classes Taught

Education:
PhD Mechanical Engineering, MIT, 2018
MS Mechanical Engineering, MIT, 2014
BS Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2012


Research Description:

Research interests: Composites, additive manufacturing, fracture mechanics, topology optimization, machine learning, finite element analysis, and bioinspired materials.

 

Key Publications:

GX Gu and MJ Buehler. Tunable mechanical properties through texture control of polycrystalline additively manufactured materials using adjoint-based gradient optimization. Acta Mechanica, 2018, Accepted

 

GX Gu, CT Chen, and MJ Buehler. De novo composite design based on machine learning algorithm. Extreme Mechanics Letters, 18:19-28, 2018

 

GX Gu, M Takaffoli, and MJ Buehler. Hierarchically enhanced impact resistance of bioinspired composites. Advanced Materials, 29 (28), 2017

 

GX Gu, S Wettermark, and MJ Buehler. Algorithm driven design of fracture resistant composite materials realized through additive manufacturing. Additive Manufacturing, 17:47-54, 2017

 

GX Gu, F Libonati, S Wettermark, and MJ. Buehler. Printing nature: Unraveling the role of nacre’s mineral bridges. Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, 76:135-144, 2017

 

To view a complete list of Professor Gu’s publications, please visit the Gu Research Group website.

David M. Auslander

Professor of the Graduate School

Professor of the Graduate School

5120 Etcheverry Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
dma@me.berkeley.edu
(510) 642-4930

For more information see: Current Classes Taught

Research Description:

Automatic control system design, mini-microcomputer system bioengineering, modeling and simulation of dynamic systems, process control.