Ashley Spear – Page 6 – Multiscale Mechanics & Materials Laboratory

MMM Lab to Participate in $15M NASA Space Technology Research Institute

February 26, 2017February 26, 2017

Researchers in the MMM Lab will participate in a NASA-funded Space Technology Research Institute (STRI), which will receive $15M over the next five years. The Institute for Ultra-Strong Composites by Computational Design (US-COMP) is a multidisciplinary team of 22 faculty members led by Greg Odegard (Michigan Tech), Mike Czabaj (University of Utah), Richard Liang (Florida State), and John Hart (MIT). The purpose of US-COMP is to develop and deploy a carbon nanotube-based, ultra-high strength, lightweight aerospace structural material by relying largely on computational design. A full press release can be found here....

Coats and Spear receive $591K grant from U.S. DOJ to study skull fracture

February 3, 2017October 4, 2023

Profs. Brittany Coats (PI) and Ashley Spear, along with collaborator Prof. Susan Margulies from the University of Pennsylvania, have received a $591K grant from the U.S. Dept. of Justice for infant skull fracture research. The three-year award, titled “Skull fracture patterns from head impact in infants”, will develop and validate a computational toolset for predicting skull fracture patterns in infants. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that approximately 686,000 children were victims of abuse and neglect during 2012. The highest percentage of these children are between birth and 3 years of age, and are more likely to experience a recurrence...

Undergraduate Researcher, Jayden Plumb, Accepts Internship at LLNL

January 19, 2017October 4, 2023

Undergraduate Researcher, Jayden Plumb, has been appointed as a Student Intern to the Engineering Directorate/Computational Engineering Division at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Jayden will spend three months this summer at LLNL in California conducting research related to high-energy X-ray diffraction microscopy (HEDM). He will be advised by Drs. Nathan Barton and Jon Lind. Congratulations, Jayden!...

Brian Phung Passes PhD Qualifying Exam

November 29, 2016October 4, 2023

MMM Lab member Brian Phung recently passed the PhD qualifying exam, formally admitting him to the PhD program. As part of his qualifying exam, Brian wrote a literature survey entitled “Computational Methods to Represent Fracture in the View of Microstructurally Small Cracks”. Congratulations, Brian!...

Conventional Versus Additively Manufactured Open-Cell Metal Foams

October 31, 2016October 31, 2016

Recent work from the MMM Lab reveals some interesting comparisons between conventional open-cell aluminum foam and “twins” created by additive manufacturing, or 3D printing. The work was presented at the Materials Science & Technology conference held here in Salt Lake City. Access full paper on Research Gate (link)....

MMM Lab Fall Party

October 19, 2016October 19, 2016

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Recent activities at the Advanced Photon Source

October 17, 2016October 17, 2016

MMM Lab members, Jayden Plumb and Wes Tayon, along with collaborators Jake Adams (University of Michigan) and Dr. Jonathan Lind (Lawrence Livermore National Lab) recently traveled to the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Lab to carry out measurements on two sets of samples. Dr. Peter Kenesei assisted with the measurements. Professor Spear also presented a talk entitled “3D Grain Mapping to Inform High-Fidelity Numerical Simulations of Microstructurally Small Phenomena” at the APS User Science Seminar. Upcoming publications will feature the group’s latest measurements at the APS!...

Spear, Czabaj, Fletcher Receive $952K NSF Grant

August 18, 2016August 18, 2016

(From article originally posted on ME webpage) Mechanical Engineering Assistant Professors Ashley Spear and Michael Czabaj and Associate Professor Tom Fletcher from the School of Computing have been awarded a four-year grant from the NSF for $952K to study open-cell metallic foams. The University of Utah team, led by Spear, will partner with a firm that specializes in manufacturing such foams. The grant is jointly funded by two NSF programs, Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF) and Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI), and is entitled “DMREF/GOALI: Novel 3D Experiments, Simulations, and Optimization for...

Nate Wilkinson Selected for UROP

August 18, 2016August 18, 2016

MMM Lab member, Nate Wilkinson, has been selected to participate in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP). Nate is an undergraduate student in Computer Science and joined the MMM Lab in the spring of 2016. Along with Ph.D. student, Brian Phung, Nate is developing tools to improve predictability of fatigue life for aerospace components. Congratulations, Nate!...

Exciting Student News in the MMM Lab!

May 11, 2016May 11, 2016

Congratulations to Wes Tayon for passing the Ph.D. Qualifying Exam! New M.S. student, Karen DeMille, joins the MMM Lab after completing her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Utah State University. Karen will join Prof. Spear and Brian Phung at the Air Force Research Laboratory this summer. Welcome, Karen! Jayden Plumb has been selected for the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP). Congratulations, Jayden! Kory Cross has been selected for a renewal of his UROP award. Congratulations, Kory! ...