Professor Romesh Batra receives Engineering Science Medal

Clifton C. Garvin Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics Romesh C. Batra received the Engineering Science Medal of the Society of Engineering Science (SES) at the recent meeting of the 2009 Joint American Society of Civil Engineers-American Society of Mechanical Engineers-SES Conference on Mechanics and Materials that was held in Blacksburg, Va.

The Engineering Science Medal is awarded in recognition of a singularly important contribution to engineering science.

Batra was cited for his “important contributions to studies of adiabatic shear bands. His pioneering research has identified material and geometric parameters that influence the initiation and propagation of material failure at high strain rates with applications to blast loading, projectile penetration, hot forging, high speed machining, grinding, ore crushing, and failure of components subjected to explosive thermo-mechanical loads.”

His work has found broad application in the defense, automotive, mining and materials processing industries. Batra has a range of research interests that include: multiscale analysis of multiphysics problems involving material and geometric nonlinearities; nanomechanics; dynamic failure under shock loads; smart structures; and functionally graded materials.

Batra was the 1996 SES president. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Mechanics, American Society of Engineering Education, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and SES. He is co-founder and editor of the journal Mathematics and Mechanics of Solids, and editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Computational Methods.

Batra received the medal from Judith A. Todd, president of SES and P. B. Breneman, engineering science and mechanics department head chair at The Pennsylvania State University.