Volume 13, Number 1, 2004
Two College of Engineering researchers are among 26 scientists nationwide who have been recognized by the prestigious U.S. Office of Naval Research Young Investigators Program.
Anette Karlsson, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, and Daniel Weile, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, each received three-year, $300,000 awards. Karlsson is investigating a novel approach to establishing lifetime material performance for coated structures, and Weile's research seeks to predict and correct electromagnetic interference problems using a time domain integral equation technique.
The Young Investigators Program is designed to identify and support academic scientists and engineers who have received doctorates or equivalent degrees within the last five years and who show exceptional promise for doing creative research. Only UD, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Pennsylvania received multiple awards this year.
"The College of Engineering has great hopes and expectations for our new faculty members, and I am proud and excited to have two more Office of Naval Research award winners in our College," Dean Eric Kaler says. "The awards are difficult to win, and it is strong validation of the importance with which the outside community views the work of both Anette and Dan."
In developing the new life-prediction methodology, Karlsson plans to use a novel spatial continuum paradigm for modeling lifetime factors of layered and coated structures that fail through cyclical use.
"Such lifetimes have historically been modeled by repeated cyclical testing," she says. "Although this approach is suitable in some cases, more advanced problems cannot be accurately represented by pure experimental investigations. Our life prediction model will bridge this gap."
The work, which will increase the usefulness and reliability of multilayered structures, has potential applications in a number of technological areas. Such structures may be used in wear protection to improve durability, in thermal barrier coatings to increase energy efficiency or in fuel cells to provide environmentally sound, reliable transportation.
Weile has been working to develop a new method for doing computational electromagnetics that could be of great use to the Navy in modeling complex systems of electromagnetic devices, such as antennas and circuits, which might interfere with one another.
His method is based on time domain integral equations, which he says has special significance in the development of sophisticated military systems.
"Ships and submarines are like cities in sardine cans," Weile says. "All of the complicated electronics on the ship can cause interference, and the problem is exacerbated by the fact that it is all encased in an enclosure that is usually made of metal."
To read more about Weile's work and his recent recognition by the National Science Foundation, see the article "Emerging Scientific Stars" in this Messenger.
--Neil Thomas, AS '76