Appendix A
Committee Members
L. Catherine Brinson (Chair) is currently the Jerome B. Cohen Professor of Engineering at Northwestern University, with primary appointment in the Mechanical Engineering Department and a secondary appointment in the Materials Science and Engineering Department. After receiving her Ph.D. in 1990 from the California Institute of Technology, Dr. Brinson performed postdoctoral studies in Germany at the DLR (German Air and Space Agency), and since 1992 she has been on the faculty at Northwestern University. She focuses on the modeling and characterization of advanced material systems, including high-performance composites and intelligent materials. Current research investigations involve studies of aging in polymeric-based systems, nanomechanics of nanoreinforced polymers, characterization of microporous materials for bone implants, and experiments and modeling of shape memory alloys, where investigations span molecular interactions, micromechanics, and macroscale behavior. Dr. Brinson has received several awards, including the ASME Special Achievement Award for Young Investigators, an Alexander von Humboldt Research Award, an NSF Career Award, and the ASEE New Mechanics Educator Award; she held the June and Donald Brewer Junior Chair at Northwestern University from 1992 to 1994 and was a member of the Defense Science Study Group (1998-1999). She has made numerous technical presentations on her research, co-organized symposia at conferences, and authored over 50 journal articles. She is a member of several professional societies and served 5 years on the Society of Engineering Science’s board of directors, including 1 year as president of the society. She has also been an associate editor of the Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures and the Journal of Engineering Materials and Technology.
Kenneth L. Reifsnider (Vice Chair) is the Pratt & Whitney Chair of Design and Reliability in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Connecticut and is the director of the Connecticut Global Fuel Cell Center at that University. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He joined the School of Engineering and the Connecticut Global Fuel Cell Center in 2002 from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, where he was the Alexander Giacco Chair Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics. Dr. Reifsnider serves on the editorial boards of five journals and is the current editor in chief of the International Journal of Fatigue. In addition, he is the co-founding editor of the Journal of Composites Technology and Research and the International Journal of Fuel Cell Science and Engineering, published by ASME. He recently completed his signature text, entitled Damage Tolerance and Durability of Composite Material Systems. While at Virginia Tech, Dr. Reifsnider cofounded the Virginia Tech Center for Composite Materials and Structures and served as director of the Virginia Institute for Material Systems. He also served as deputy director of the NSF Center for High Performance Polymeric Adhesives and Composites. From 1974 to 1992, he was chairman of the Materials Engineering Science Ph.D. program at Virginia Tech. Dr. Reifsnider also served as associate provost for interdisciplinary programs at Virginia Tech from 1995 to 2000. He holds the Distinguished Research Award from the American Society for Composites, the J. Shelton Horsley Research Award from the Virginia Academy of Science, the Award of Merit from the American Society for Testing and Materials,
and the Alumni Award for Research Excellence from Virginia Tech. He has served on the board of directors of ASTM and the Institute for Standards Research, serving as chairman of the board of trustees of the latter in 1989. Dr. Reifsnider earned his Ph.D. (1968) in mechanics and in metallurgy and solid mechanics from the Johns Hopkins University.
Paul A. Bartolotta is a senior technical staff member at the NASA Glenn Research Center. He has worked for the past 20 years in the area of advanced high-temperature material systems for NASA. Dr. Bartolotta has created new material systems, identified and corrected potential design flaws in propulsion and power systems, investigated new advanced material systems, developed specialized test methods, and created world-renowned test facilities. Dr. Bartolotta is also involved with the development, characterization, evaluation, and verification of life prediction models used by government and industry. He was a pioneer in conducting strain-controlled, high-temperature fatigue tests on composite materials and identified the phenomenological damage progression within a composite from both the environmental and mechanical viewpoints. Dr. Bartolotta is a recipient of NASA’s Exceptional Service medal award, four NASA Space Act Awards for technical achievement, one R&D 100 award, and the NorTech Innovation Award. He has authored or coauthored over 100 articles and technical presentations.
Matthew B. Buczek is a principal engineer for composites in the Materials and Process Engineering Department of GE Aircraft Engines. Dr. Buczek has held several different positions of growing responsibility, from engineer to department staff engineer, and is currently leading the DARPA Engine System Prognosis program. He has led or participated in numerous efforts to develop and demonstrate new materials and processes for engine application, including the F414 composite inlet device, the GE90 composite fan blade, 700°F polyimide composite materials, and the F118 polyimide composite exhaust ducts. Dr. Buczek holds over 20 patents on materials and processes. He is a graduate of GE's Six Sigma Black Belt program in its Commercial Engine Division, where he supported GE's airline customers. Prior to joining GE, Dr. Buczek was a materials engineer for the Atlantic Research Corporation, where he led efforts to analyze and evaluate high-temperature composites for solid propulsion rocket motors. He holds a Ph.D. in materials engineering from the University of Dayton, an M.S. in engineering mechanics from Virginia Tech, and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Michigan Tech. He is a registered professional engineer in the State of Ohio.
John W. Davis is a senior manager at the Boeing Company. For the past 40 years Mr. Davis has been actively involved in the development in high-temperature materials and structures for hypersonic vehicles and advanced energy systems. The group is currently investigating new materials such as aluminum-lithium-based alloys, oxide- and silicon-based ceramic composites, and chlorofluorocarbons. In addition, the group is evaluating new thermal barrier materials that could function as insulators or fire barriers for flight vehicles. His group is designing and fabricating high-heat-flux components for Sandia National Laboratories for use in fusion experiments. It is also supporting the ARIES magnetic and inertial confinement studies and the Princeton FIRE design. Prior to joining McDonnell Douglas (later, Boeing) in 1969, Mr. Davis worked at Fansteel, Inc., on the development of refractory metals (molybdenum, niobium, tantalum, and tungsten alloys) and dispersion-strengthened nickel-based alloys for use in reentry vehicles and hot structure. Later, he worked on the metallic thermal protection system (TPS) of the space shuttle Orbiter and on a predictive model for cyclic creep under NASA Langley sponsorship. Mr. Davis has a B.S. degree in metallurgical engineering from the University of Illinois.
Norman J. Johnston, retired from the NASA Langley Research Center, is an expert in composites technology for aeronautics and space applications. Dr. Johnston received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Virginia in 1963. He was a polymer development chemist for GE and an assistant professor of chemistry at Virginia Tech prior to joining the NASA Langley Research Center senior research staff in 1967. He served as a section head and, from 1989 until his retirement in 2001, he was manager, Composites Technology, Advanced Materials and Processing Branch, Structures and Materials Competency. At NASA, Dr. Johnston championed the development of high-temperature polymers such as pyrrones and polyimides and toughened composite materials. He worked on multi-million-dollar programs to develop high-performance fiber-reinforced polymer matrix composites and associated automated fabrication technologies for both subsonic and supersonic commercial aircraft, including NASA’s Advanced Composites Technology program and its High Speed Research program. He also
consulted for various government agencies and industries and served on several NMAB committees. More recently, he served on the X-33 composite liquid hydrogen tank failure investigation team and helped develop a recovery plan for the X-33 composite cryotank. He also helped conduct an assessment of the state of the art in high-performance composites technology in the United States. He coauthored over 90 technical papers and patents and gave over 150 technical presentations on his research activities, including coauthoring two Best Papers at SAMPE International Meetings. He received numerous NASA awards for his technical achievements, including the prestigious NASA Exceptional Service Medal.
Ann Marie Sastry is associate professor of mechanical engineering, biomedical engineering, and materials science and engineering at the University of Michigan. She holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Cornell University and a B.S. from the University of Delaware, all in mechanical engineering. After receiving her doctorate, she was a senior member of the technical staff at Sandia National Laboratories. She joined the faculty at the University of Michigan in 1995. Her contributions to research in disordered biological systems span modeling and experiments on biometal homeostasis in cells, collagen alterations in the diabetic nerve, deformations and failure in marine invertebrate eggs, and formation of apoptotic pores in neural mitochondria. In engineered materials, her group has investigated statistical damage progression in composites, the processing of polymeric materials, and mechanical failures in Li-ion and nickel-based batteries. Dr. Sastry, a fellow of the ASME, has received several awards for her work, including the University of Delaware Presidential Citation for Outstanding Achievement, the UM College of Engineering 1938E award, the University of Michigan Henry Russel Award, and the NSF Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). She has delivered over 40 invited university seminars and has also given invited lectures at Gordon, NSF, and NIH workshops. She also organized numerous ASME symposia and served as chair of the composites committees of both the Applied Mechanics division and the Materials division of the ASME. She has been serving as associate editor of the ASME Journal of Engineering Materials and Technology since 2000.
Sanford S. Sternstein received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering in 1961 from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and joined the Rensselaer faculty in chemical engineering shortly thereafter. In 1976 he was appointed the William Weightman Walker Professor of Polymer Engineering in the Materials Science and Engineering Department. He also served from 1987 to 2003 as director of the Center for Composite Materials and Structures, which coordinated composite activities on the campus, including the Composite Sailplane Program, which began in 1976. Professor Sternstein’s research interests focus on the physics and physical and mechanical properties of polymers and composites, and particularly on viscoelastic behavior, dynamic mechanical spectroscopy, polymer-filler interactions, inhomogeneous swelling theory, thermal conductivity, and instrumentation for rheological measurements. Dr. Sternstein has also investigated the dynamic behavior of ceramic single fibers and their creep rates at temperatures to 1600°C in custom equipment developed in his laboratory. In this investigation, techniques used for many years to characterize polymers are being applied to ceramic fibers. Currently he is investigating the mechanisms of reinforcement and damping in nanofilled elastomers and melts as related to filler surface characteristics and volume fraction, and the intrinsically nonlinear viscoelastic behavior of polymers at large shear strains.