CCM Special Bulletin -April 25, 2005

Chou to Deliver Nowinski Lecture

On May 5, 2005 , Prof. Tsu-Wei Chou joins 28 other outstanding individuals in the area of applied mechanics as a Nowinski Lecturer. The lecture series, which began in 1975, honors the late Jerzy L. Nowinski, H. F. Brown Professor Emeritus in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Delaware , for his contributions to this field. It is fitting that Chou is delivering the lecture on its 30th anniversary: Before becoming Pierre S. du Pont Chair of Engineering in 2003, Chou was the Jerzy L. Nowinski Professor of Mechanical Engineering.

Chou joined the University of Delaware faculty in 1969 and, along with Prof. Jack Vinson, taught UD's first course in composite materials. He went on to make major contributions in polymer-, metal- and ceramic-based composites over the next three decades. His Nowinski Lecture will address “The Mechanics of Carbon Nanotubes and Their Composites,” an emerging area in which he has been actively involved for the past several years. The work is part of an ongoing program of research aimed at synthesizing, characterizing, and modeling aligned nanotube arrays for nanoscale devices and composites.

To facilitate the engineering application of these materials, Chou and his research team, which includes Dr. Chunyu Li and Dr. Erik Thostenson, are working to develop a fundamental understanding of their process-structure-property relations. “Dr. Li's contributions in analysis and Dr. Thostenson's on the experimental side have been invaluable,” Chou says. “They are very talented and capable people, and I have been fortunate to work with them.”

Although he initiated the work several years ago as a logical outgrowth of his work in fiber composites, the 2004–2005 academic year has provided Chou with an unprecedented opportunity to pursue the research full-time: He finished a term as Chair of the ME Department in June and began a one-year sabbatical in September.

“For my previous sabbaticals, I went to China , Japan , Germany , the U.K. , and Europe ,” he says, “where I spent extended periods of time in residence at national labs and worked on technology assessments. This time, I chose to dedicate the time to pursuing my nanomaterials research.”

But Chou has not exactly been holed up quietly in his office in Spencer Lab. By the time his sabbatical is over, he will have delivered more than 20 lectures—most of them invited, keynote, or plenary—at conferences, workshops, research centers, and universities in the United States and overseas. He and his colleagues have also published the results of their work in a number of prestigious physics, applied mechanics, and composite material journals.

Chou's entry into the field of nanomaterials and nanostructures is timely. A number of government organizations, including NSF as well as the defense agencies, are extremely interested in the potential of these materials and are funding projects through a variety of programs. Chou is the PI for grants from NSF's NIRT (Nanoscale Interdisciplinary Research Team) and NER (Nanoscale Exploratory Research) programs, as well as from the Army Research Office (ARO), the Office of Naval Research (ONR), and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR).

Despite the fact that the work represents essentially a second career for this composites pioneer, Chou still has ambitious long-term goals. “I'm thinking seriously about a book that would merge the mechanics and materials aspects of nanomaterials, including nanotubes, nanofibers, and nanoparticles,” he says, “to elucidate the physics and chemistry of nano-entities and enable their use in composites for structural and functional applications.”

At the same time, Chou admits that the sabbatical has enabled him, for the first time in 35 years, to slow down and enjoy the UD campus. “I resolved that I was going to take time every day to get some exercise,” he says, “so I'm fitting in a daily walk on the Green. The University of Delaware campus is truly a beautiful place.”