Lambros elected as American Academy of Mechanics Fellow

The American Academy of Mechanics (AAM) has elected Aerospace Engineering at Illinois Prof. John Lambros as a Fellow, recognizing his outstanding contributions to, and leadership in, the field of Experimental Mechanics.

The latest recognition adds to Lambros’ honors, which include Fellowship in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM). He was also recognized with SEM’s M.M. Frocht Award for Excellence in Mechanics Teaching in 2015.
Lambros’ research interests include:

• Static and dynamic fracture mechanics,
• Thermomechanical Fatigue,
• Wave propagation and fracture in multiphase systems,
• X-ray tomography and Digital Volume Correlation,
• Failure mechanisms of energy storage systems.

For the past six years Lambros has directed an Army Research Office-sponsored $6.25 million Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative program on “Nonlinear stress wave mitigation.” He also directed the Air Force-sponsored Midwest Structural Sciences Center from 2010 to 2013, educating 25 graduate students and 15 undergraduates in experimental mechanics and mechanics of materials.

In addition to his research contributions to mechanics, Lambros has also been responsible for introducing innovative graduate level courses on topics including fracture mechanics and dynamic response of materials. Over the years, graduate students in civil engineering, materials science, and mechanical engineering, as well as aerospace engineering, have attended these courses.

In his role as AE Associate Head for Graduate Programs, Lambros has led in creating an online master’s degree program in aerospace engineering that emphasizes the same quality curriculum that students experience on campus. The effort has significantly expanded the reach of AE’s graduate teaching.

Additionally, Lambros has spearheaded the creation of AE’s more recent online certificate program in which students on or off campus can gain expertise in a particular area of aerospace engineering.

Lambros earned a bachelor’s of engineering in aeronautical engineering from the Imperial College of Science and Technology at the University of London in 1988; and a master’s and PhD degrees in aeronautics from Caltech in 1989 and 1994, respectively. He joined Illinois in 2000 as an associate professor after spending 5 years at the University of Delaware, Mechanical Engineering Department. He became a full professor in 2007, and AE Associate Head for Graduate Programs in 2011.