University of California, Berkeley Mechanical Engineering

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Research Interest

Vassilia Zorba

Associate Adjunct Professor

6163 Etcheverry Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
vzorba@lbl.gov

For more information see: Laser Technologies Group

Professor Vassilia Zorba is the Group Leader for the Laser Technologies Group at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, CA. She is also an Associate Adjunct Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on the development of the next-generation of laser tools for advanced sensors and laser-based manufacturing. Her research interests include ultrafast laser-material interactions, non-linear optics, remote sensing, laser-induced plasma chemistry, and laser ablation-based chemical analysis in electrochemical energy storage, with emphasis on next-generation Li-ion batteries. Her work has also focused on femtosecond laser surface structuring technologies and biomimetic material functionalization. Professor Zorba’s credits include 72 publications in peer-reviewed journals, more than 40 invited, keynote and plenary talks and a 2011 R&D 100 Technology Award. She serves as a senior editor for the Springer-Nature journal Applied Physics A and is a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, Applied Spectroscopy and Spectrochimica Acta Part B.

 

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


Research Description:

Energy Science & Technology; MEMS/Nano; Materials

More information about Professor Zorba’s research can be found on her group website, teamd.lbl.gov.

Key Publications:

To view a list of Professor Zorba’s publications on Google Scholar, please click here.

Medical Polymer Group

The MPG represents an interdisciplinary team of graduate and undergraduate students who work closely with faculty, surgeons, and industry scientists in order to develop biomaterials for structural function in orthopedic applications. We bring together academic, industrial and clinical perspectives to improve designs and materials used in total joint reconstruction and related devices. Our research broadly …

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 …

Berkeley Biomechanics Laboratory

Our lab is focused on soft tissue biomechanics and tissue regeneration. Specifically, our goal is to understand the mechanical function of the healthy, degenerated and injured soft tissues, including the intervertebral disc and articular cartilage, in order to develop more physiologically relevant repair strategies. Injury, through herniation, or degeneration may lead to debilitating lower back …

Robert O. Ritchie

Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Professor of Materials Science & Engineering

216 Hearst Mining Memorial Building
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 4720-1760
ritchie@berkeley.edu
510) 642-3803

For more information see: Ritchie Group
Current Classes Taught

To view Professor Ritchie’s CV, please visit the Ritchie Group website.


Research Description:

Metallic Glasses, Hypersonic Materials, Mixed Mode Fracture of Human Cortical Bone, Fatigue and Fracture of Mineralized Biological Tissue, Fatigue and Fracture of SiC at High Temperatures, Fatigue and Fracture of Biomedical Materials, Fatigue and Wear of Silicon Structural Films, Fracture and Fatigue of Mo-Si-B High Temperature Alloys, Grain Boundary Engineering in Promoting High-Cycle Fatigue Resistance, Mechanisms of Fatigue and Fracture of Metal/Ceramic Interfaces, NiTi Shape Memory Alloys for Biomedical Applications, Toughness in Brittle Materials: Atomic-resolution Studies of Fracture in SiC

 

Key Publications:

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

Lisa Pruitt

Lawrence Talbot Chair in Engineering

Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Lawrence Talbot Chair in Engineering

5134 Etcheverry Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
lpruitt@berkeley.edu

For more information see: Medical Polymer Group
Current Classes Taught

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


Research Description:

Research is focused on structure-property relationships in orthopedic tissues, biomaterials and medical polymers. Current projects include the assessment of fatigue fracture mechanisms and tribological performance of orthopedic biomaterials, as well as characterization of orthopedic tissues and associated devices. Surface modifications using plasma chemistry are used to optimize polymers for medical applications. Attention is focused on wear, fatigue and multiaxial loading. Retrievals of orthopedic implants are characterized to model in vivo degradation and physiological loading. Biomechanical characterization of structural tissues is performed to assess clinical treatments and to develop constitutive relationships. Laboratory techniques for structural characterization include SEM, TEM, FEM, SAXS, USAXS, XPS, DSC, GPC, FTIR, AFM, confocal microscopy, wear testing, fatigue testing, fracture mechanics analysis, and nanoindentation. Research has been supported by NIH, NSF, ONR, DARPA, OREF and industry. Pedagogical experience includes curriculum development in mechanical engineering and bioengineering. Teaching includes freshman seminars; undergraduate courses on Mechanical Behavior and Processing of Materials, Structural Aspects of Biomaterials, and Principles of Bioengineering; graduate courses on Fracture Mechanics, Mechanical Behavior of Materials, and Polymer Engineering.

 

Key Publications:

2014

F. Ansari, C. Major, T. R. Norris, S. B. Gunther, M. Ries, and L. Pruitt. “Unscrewing instability of modular reverse shoulder prosthesis increases propensity for in vivo fracture: a report of two cases.” Journal of shoulder and elbow surgery/American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons…[et al.] 23, no. 2 (2014): e40-5.

 

E.W. Patten, D. Van Citters, M. D. Ries, and L. Pruitt. “Quantifying cross-shear under translation, rolling, and rotation, and its effect on UHMWPE wear.” Wear 313, no. 1 (2014): 125-134.

 

To view a complete list of Professor Pruitt’s publications from previous years, please click here.

Ravi Prasher

Adjunct Professor

University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 4720-1740
prasher@berkeley.edu
(510) 486-7291

For more information see: Prasher Research Group
Current Classes Taught

Ravi Prasher is the Associate Lab Director of the Energy Technologies Area and Senior Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). He is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.

 

Dr. Prasher joined Berkeley Lab in June, 2015. Previously, he was vice president of product development of Sheetak Inc., a startup developing solid state thermoelectric energy converters. He relocated to India for a while to develop these technologies for the rural Indian market. Dr. Prasher earlier worked as one of the first program directors at the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). While there, he created the Building Energy Efficiency Through Innovative Thermodevices (BEET-IT) and the High Energy Advanced Thermal Storage (HEATS) programs. Prior to joining ARPA-E, Dr. Prasher was the technology development manager of the thermal management group at Intel. He was also an adjunct professor in the school of engineering at Arizona State University (ASU) from 2005-2013, where his research was funded by the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research.

 

Dr. Prasher has published more than 120 archival journal papers in top science and engineering journals such as Nature Nanotechnology, Physical Review Letters, Joule and Journal of Heat Transfer. He holds more than 35 patents in the area of thermoelectrics, microchannels, heat pipes, thermal interface materials, nanostructured materials and devices. He has served on the Ph.D. committee of students at Stanford and ASU. He is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He was the recipient of an Intel achievement award (the highest award for technical achievement in Intel). He is also a recipient of the outstanding young engineer award from the components and packaging society of IEEE. He has served on the editorial committee of Annual Reviews of Environment and Resources, Nano and Microscale Thermophysical Engineering, the IEEE Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology and ASME Journal of Heat Transfer. He has given multiple invited talks all over the world on nano to macroscale thermal energy processes and systems. More information about Ravi’s research can be found on his group website, prasherlab.lbl.gov.

 

Dr. Prasher obtained his B.Tech. from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and Ph.D. from Arizona State University.

 

To view Dr. Prasher’s CV, please click here.


Research Description:

Dr. Prasher’s primary research interests are fundamental and applied studies of Nano-to-macroscale thermal energy process and systems, using both theoretical and experimental methods. Some topics of current interest include thermal transport in Lithium ion batteries, microelectronics thermal management using microfluidics, solar thermal energy conversion, high density thermochemical storage, solar thermal desalination, heat and mass transfer in roll-to-roll manufacturing process and applications of machine learning in inverse design of optical metamaterials.

 

Key Publications:

To view a list of Dr. Prasher’s publications, please click here. You can also view Dr. Prasher’s profile on google scholar.

Grace O’Connell

Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence, College of Engineering

5122 Etcheverry Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
g.oconnell@berkeley.edu
(510) 642-3739

For more information see: O'Connell Lab
Current Classes Taught

Education
2001 – 2004 B.S. Aerospace Engineering, University of Maryland
2004 – 2009 Ph.D. Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania
2009 – 2013 Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Columbia University


Research Description:

Biomechanics of cartilage and intervertebral disc; tissue engineering; continuum modeling of soft tissues; intervertebral disc function, degeneration, and regeneration

 

Key Publications:

2015

Tan AR, Alegre-Aguaron E, O’Connell GD, VandenBerg CD, Aaron RK, Vunjak-Novakovic G, Bulinski JC, Ateshian GA, Hung CT. Passage-Dependent Relationship between Mesenchymal Stem Cell Mobilization and Chondrogenic Potential. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, In Press

 

2014

O’Connell GD, Newman IB, Carapezza MA. Effect of long-term osmotic loading culture on matrix synthesis from intervertebral disc cells. BioResearch, Oct 1;3(5):242-9, 2014.

 

Ponnurangam S, O’Connell GD, Chernyshova I, Woods K, Somasundaran P, Hung CT. Ceria nanoparticles modulate development and interleukin response of chondrocyte-seeded hydrogel constructs. Tissue Engineering, Part A, Nov; 20(21-22):2908-19, 2014.

 

O’Connell GD, Nims R, Green J, Cigan A, Ateshian GA, Hung CT. Time and dose-dependent effects of chondroitinase ABC on growth of engineered cartilage. eCells and Materials Journal, Vol. 27: 312-320, 2014.

 

To view a complete list of Professor O’Connell’s publications from previous years, please visit the Berkeley Biomechanics Laboratory website.

Kyriakos Komvopoulos

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.

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.

Kosa Goucher-Lambert

Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering

6179 Etcheverry Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1740
kosa@berkeley.edu
(510) 664-5376

For more information see: Current Classes Taught
Co-Design Lab

Kosa Goucher-Lambert is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. He is an Affiliate Faculty member in the Jacobs Institute of Design Innovation and the Berkeley Institute of Design. Kosa received his B.A. (2011) in Physics from Occidental College, and his M.S. (2014) and Ph.D. (2017) in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. His primary research interests focus on understanding decision-making processes in engineering design using a combination of mathematical analyses, computational modeling, human cognitive studies, and neuroimaging approaches. Kosa was a recipient of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, 2014 ASME IDETC Design Theory and Methodology Best Paper Award, 2015, 2017, and 2019 International Conference on Engineering Design Reviewers Favorite Award, and 2019 Excellence in Design Science Award. Kosa primarily teaches courses on integrated product development, with an emphasis on complex socio-technical challenges.


Research Description:

Design theory, methodology, and automation: decision-making applied to engineering teams and individuals; ideation and creativity; analogical reasoning in design; preference modeling and design attribute optimization; design cognition; neuroimaging methods applied to design; sustainable design; new product development; crowdsourcing and collaboration.

 

Key Publications:

To view a list of Professor Goucher-Lambert’s publications, please click here.