APPOINTMENTS

• 2008-              Associate Professor, Aerospace Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)
                         Research Professor, Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory, UIUC
                         Part-time Faculty of Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, UIUC
• 2005-2008      Assistant Professor, Aerospace Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)
• 2001-2004      Assistant Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Virginia
• 2003               Visiting Researcher, Mechanics and Durability Branch, NASA Langley, Hampton, Virginia

HONORS AND AWARDS

• Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), 2009
• Willett Faculty Scholar of Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009
• Best Paper Award at the 4th IASME/WSEAS* International Conference on Continuum Mechanics, Cambridge, UK., 2009
• National Science Foundation CAREER Award, 2008
• First Prize in MEMS Design University Competition by Sandia National Laboratories in the category “Novel MEMS Designs for Nanoscale Measurements” with graduate student M. Naraghi, 2008.
• Best Paper Award in journal Fatigue and Fracture of Engineering Materials and Structures, 2007
• First Prize in MEMS Design University Competition by Sandia National Laboratories in the category “Novel MEMS Designs for Nanoscale Measurements” with graduate student M. Naraghi, 2007.
• Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, 2007
• Xerox Award for Faculty Research: College of Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007
• Best Research Paper Award: 6th International Symposium on MEMS and Nanotechnology, Annual Meeting of the Society for Experimental Mechanics, Portland, OR, 2005
• American Academy of Mechanics (AAM) Founders Prize and Grant: ASME Congress 2000, Orlando, FL, 2000
• Charles Babcock Memorial Award: California Institute of Technology, 1999
• Outstanding Research Presentation Award: American Vacuum Society (AVS), 1998

EDITORSHIPS

• Associate Editor of journal Experimental Mechanics, 2006 -2012
• Guest Editor for special issue on “Mechanical Measurements at the Nanoscale” in Experimental Mechanics, 2006
• International Advisory Board of Experimental Mechanics, 2005-2008
• Associate Editor for Strain, 2006-2009

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

• Instructor of tutorials organized by the American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME) on “Scanning Probe Microscopy Applications in Nanotechnology” and “Nanotechnology Bootcamp” at:
  
  1. Northwestern University, 2004
  2. George Washington University, 2005
  3. University of Minnesota, 2006
  4. The Boeing Company, 2009
   
• Organized/ co-organized the technical symposia:
  
  1.“AMD Student Paper Competition” American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME), 2009
  2.“Panel on Junior Faculty Development” Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM), 2009
  3.“Panel on Junior Faculty Development” Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM), 2008
  4.“Dynamic Properties of MEMS” American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME), 2006
  5.“Novel Techniques in Experimental Mechanics at the Nanoscale” ASME 2005
  6.Conference Track: “Multifunctional Polymeric Materials” Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM), 2005
  7.“Fatigue and Fracture at the Micron and Nanometer Scale” ASME 2004
  8.“Bridging Length Scales using Experiments and Modeling” Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM), 2004
  9.“Mechanics of Time Dependent Materials, Contact Forces, and System Performance” SEM 2004
  10.“Thermomechanical Behavior of Polymer Materials at the Nanoscale” SES 2003
  11.Conference Track: “Measurements and Models for Nano-structured Materials and Systems” SEM 2002
   
• Chair of Experimental Mechanics Technical Committee, (ASME), 2007-2009
• Chair of Committee of Junior Member Development, Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM), 2008-2009
• Chair of the Time-dependent Materials Technical Division, Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM), 2007-2009
• Chair of Research Committee, Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM), 2009-2011

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

• Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM)
• American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
• Materials Research Society (MRS)
• American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) 
• American Academy of Mechanics (AAM)

TEACHING

AE 523: Nanoscale Contact Mechanics (Fall 2005, Fall 2007, Fall 2009)
The course focuses on aspects of SPMs to provide fundamental/theoretical background in connection with practical operations. Topics include adhesive contact mechanics, short & long-range force interactions, principles of Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM), electron tunneling, tip & surface preparation, AC and DC Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), detectors, control systems, basics of piezoelectric elements, issues and solutions in SPM instrumentation, force/scale calibration, modeling of oscillating cantilever, force interactions with surface, stability conditions, optimization of AC/DC experiments, high-resolution AFM, force spectroscopy, energy dissipation at the AFM tip, lateral contact stiffness, scanning thermal microscopy, electrostatic force and Kelvin probe microscopy, capacitance sensing, quantitative magnetic force studies, near-field optical imaging, molecular spectroscopy, macromolecular deposition/unfolding/binding, atomic friction, quantitative mechanics at the nanometer scale, application of SPMs in biological systems. The course includes four laboratory assignments where basic and advance principles in AFM are taught, the appication of theory in instrumented nanoindentation is studied, and the measurement of adhesive energies at the nanoscale using SPM probes is conducted.

AE 360: Structures and Controls Laboratory (Spring 2006, Spring 2008, Spring 2010)
The course examines theory and application of experimental techniques in aerospace engineering with emphasis on structural mechanics, vibrations, dynamics, and control systems. The course includes 2-hour lectures and 9 laboratory assignments with regular pre-lab and post-lab reports and memos.
 

AE 321: Aerospace Structures I (Fall 2006)
The course examines fundamental concepts in the linear theory of elasticity, including stress, strain, equilibrium, compatibility, material constitution and properties. Introduction to failure mechanisms and criteria. Application to plane stress/strain problems, beams in extension and bending, and shafts in torsion.

AE 322: Aerospace Structures II (Spring 2007)
The course examines fundamental concepts in the analysis of beams and shafts of monocoque and semi-monocoque construction, energy methods, theory of elastic stability with applications to buckling of columns, introduction to finite element structural analysis - with application to trusses, frames, and plane stress/strain problems.

College of Engineering   University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign