Dr. Suzanne Weaver Smith runs the non-linear dynamics research in the lab.  She is from Morgantown, West Virginia.  She received her BS in Mechanical Engineering and her MS in Engineering Mechanics from Clemson University.  She then went on to obtain her Ph.D. from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.  She taught at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University before coming to the University of Kentucky in 1990.  She has industrial experience through her work at McDonnell Douglas Aerospace in Houston, Texas, where her experience topics included damage detection for large space structures, among others.  Her general research interests include system identification, structural dynamics, vibration testing, and composites.  For more information on Dr. Smith, click on her picture above to see a more extensive biography.
 

Dr. John Main runs the advanced structure research in the lab.  He was born in Lexington, KY and grew up in Bowling Green, KY.  He received his BS in Physics and Mathematics from Western Kentucky University.  He then went on to obtain both his MS and Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University.  He received the NSF Faculty CAREER Award in 1999 and was a NASA/Marshall Advanced Concepts Research Fellow from 1996 to 1999.  He taught and researched at Vanderbilt University and the University of Maine before coming to the University of Kentucky.  He has worked for NASA/Marshall, the Department of Veteran Affairs Medical Center in Nashville, and Westinghouse Electric Company.  His research affiliates include NASA Marshall, NASA Langley, Sandia National Laboratories, the National Science Foundation, and United Applied Technologies.  For more information on Dr. Main, click on his picture above to see a more extensive biography.
 

Haiping Song is from Nanjing, China.  He received his BS in Aeronautic Engineering, his MS in Mechanical Engineering, and his Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautica (NUAA) in China.  He previously worked as an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Vibration Engineering and later as an Associate Professor at the Institute of Pilotless Aircraft, both at the NUAA.  He is currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the ETL.
 

Jon Black is from Downers Grove, IL.  He received a BS in Indsutrial Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MS from the Joint Institute for Advancement of Flight Sciences, a combined NASA Langley Research Center and George Washington University program.  His current PhD work focuses on design and testing of ultra-lightweight and inflatable "Gossamer" space structures.
 

Philip Hadinata is from Bandung, Indonesia.  He received his BS in Physics Engineering from the Bandung Institute of Technology.  He then received his MS in Physics Engineering from the same institution.  His academic advisor, Dr. Main, is currently guiding him in his research to obtain his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at UK.

Through his research, he is studying the properties of piezoelectric material under electric flux influence.  Piezoelectric materials react to electric fields like, say, a metal rod reacts to a changing surrounding temperature: it either expands or contracts.  The piezoelectric material is polarized with respect to electric fields, so depending on which way the field is oriented, the material may either expand or contract.  However, if two plates of the material are fused back to back, no matter how the field is oriented, the plate will "curl up", just as a bimetal does upon heating or cooling.

The difficulty is in producing a useful film when there are electrodes on both sides of the material.  This is where Philip is focusing his energy: rather than using a positive electrode and negative electrode, he uses individual electrons on the "front side" and a positive electrode on the "back side" (if it were used for telescopes, the back side would be on the opposite side of the mirrored surface).  Perhaps the most important aspect of his research is to determine what happens when the electrons hit the plate and then how the charge is distributed.  Once charge has been deposited on the plate, he then measures the expansion with a strain gauge, which sends the data to a data acquisition machine and then to a computer.  The software used for this are MATLAB and ANSYS.  This data he uses to meet the ultimate goal: to find an overall transfer function and details of the charge, mass or energy interaction between electron flux and the material during impact.
 

Vijay Kulkarni is from Mumbai, India.  He received his Bachelors of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering at the Regional Engieering College in Jaipur, India.  He then went on to receive his MS in Manufacturing Systems at the University of Kentucky.  His academic advisor, Dr. Suzanne Smith, is currently guiding him in his research to obtain his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at UK.

He has actually taken up three tasks in his research.  He is working with Kapton material, a polymide that is used for inflated beams for space structures.  He is testing for non-linearities and is testing the parametric excitation behavior in Kapton strips.  The first task involves shaker tests of these strips in a vacuum chamber, which was largely designed and built by Michael Roche.  The importance here is the difference in behavior of the material in the ambient (normal) conditions and in a vacuum (the pressure in the vacuum chamber is only .5 inches of Mercury).  His second task involves experimental work to design a test procedure to differentiate non-linearity and non-proportionality in an L-shaped beam mass of Kapton.  His third task is then to use non-linear finite element analysis using ANSYS and LS DYNA to match the experimental data.
 

George Nelson is from Ellsworth, Maine.  He received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maine in 1995 and his MS in Mechanical Engineering from UK in 1998.  His Masters Thesis was "Electron Gun Shape Control of Piezoelectric Materials".  He just received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering here at UK.  His dissertation topic was about "Design and Control issues of an Electron Gun Actuated Piezoelectic Wavefront Conjugating Reflector for use in Orbital Telescopes".  While studying here, he was a NASA Graduate Student Researchers Program (GSRP) Fellow at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.  His research interests include Smart Structures/Materials, Structural Dynamics, Controls, and Orbital Telescope Mirrors.   He now works at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
 

Michael Roche is from Bowling Green, KY.  Michael received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from UK in May 1999.  He then worked in the Advanced Structures Laboratory the next summer, designing and overseeing the fabrication of the large volume vacuum chamber pictured above.  In September 1999 he was awarded a NASA research fellowship through the Graduate Student Researchers Program at NASA Langley Research Center.  In addition, during the summer of 2000, he worked at NASA Langley in the Structural Dynamics Branch, located in Hampton, VA.  He recently received his MS in Mechanical Engineering.  He was originally studying PVDF, a piezoelectric polymer which he was trying to develop for use in the manufacture of controllable mirrors.  It was thought that a PVDF bimorph could be stretched over a parabolic or spherical shape.  This technique would create a very lightweight, deformable mirror.  However, this method proved to be less effective than hoped.

His most recent work included modeling composite mirrors in ANSYS.  The mirrors being modeled were made from a 6-layer fiber composite laminate.  A piezoelectric backing of PVDF or PZT-5H was then applied.  A circular spot load of electric potential was applied to the nodes on one side of the model, thereby simulating the actuation due to an electron gun.  Images of the modeling can be seen below.

Mike now works for Xinetics, Inc., a company that makes deformable mirrors for adaptive optics applications.  Application examples include astronomical telescopes and defense satellites.  The company is also heavily involved in researching new concepts concerning deformable mirrors, actuators, lightweight materials and general optical engineering problems.  Mike is currently working on a project involving the design, fabrication and analysis of a lightweight, deformable secondary mirror for use in a space telescope.
 

Eric Herndon is from Leominster, Massachusetts.  Having received hs BS in Mechanical Engineering from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1996, he is currently pursuing his MS in Mechanical Engineering.  As of 2002, he was a research assistant in the ETL, but we don't know exactly what he's up to these days.
 

Daniel Hutchens is originally from Murray, Kentucky.  He received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kentucky in August 2002.  He got married to Jackie Allshouse on October 26, 2002. 

Daniel worked in the ETL from November 2001 till graduation in August 2002.  Daniel and Ben put their heads together to research thin-walled Kapton struts for possible use on aerospace structures.  Aside from his research skills, he also always blessed his colleagues with excellent guitar skill and an unmatched wit.  Today Daniel works for Furness-Newburge, Inc. in Versailles, KY, where he plays the roles of project manager, designer, and manufacturer.
 

Benjamin Tyler Macke was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on January 2, 1979, but has lived in Kentucky his entire life.  Ben graduated from Bishop Brossart High School in May of 1997 with honors.  In May of 2001 he received his Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and Associate of Art degree in Mathematics from Thomas More College, graduating Magna Cum Laude.  As a University Scholar student at the University of Kentucky, Ben graduated in December 2003 with his MS and BS in Mechanical Engineering.  He worked in the Dynamic Structures and Controls Lab at the University of Kentucky as a research assistant from November 2000 to December 2003, and as a student intern at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico from May 2002 to December 2003.  Ben’s professional interests include research and development, design, controls, and vibrations.  His Master's Thesis title was "Characterization of an electron gun controlled multiple spatial region piezoelectric thin film".  A PDF version of his thesis can be obtained by clicking on Ben Macke's Thesis.

Ben just got hired at Cummins, Inc. in Columbus, Indiana, where he'll be working on alternative fuel-powered vehicles.

Ben got married to Caroline Van Kempen on May 10, 2003, and in February 2004, they'll have a baby girl!  His personal interests include rock climbing, hiking, camping, biking, and traveling both nationally and internationally.